So a couple of days ago I was JRA (just riding along) when I heard a loud bang from the back of my mountain bike.
Continue readingThe thoughtful mechanic
History repeating itself
A vacation from our vacation
Pandemic weirdness and the occasional cleaning day aside, since retiring and moving to Salida, our lives have pretty much felt like one ongoing vacation every single day. Riding, hiking, skiing, life is indeed good. But even living in God’s country, sometimes you need a change of scenery.
Continue readingCollegiate Peak Redemption
After my recent ignoble defeat on the Wetterhorn, I was thinking that I would be ending my 2022 climbing season on a down note.
Continue readingSometimes the bear eats you
In my ongoing pursuit to climb Colorado’s 14ers, so far I have managed to finish 18 out of 58 of them. That puts me squarely in the beginner-intermediate category, I think. This year I’ve been trying to improve my skills and fitness by focusing on longer and more difficult climbs. And so far, I’ve had success.
Continue readingFall in Colorado
In keeping with a Colorado tradition I remember since I was a kid, we took a drive into the mountains this weekend to view the changing aspens.
Continue readingBanana Belt 2022
It’s on the list, it must be climbed
Peak bagging is a strange pastime. Getting up at gawdawful hours of the morning, driving all over the state to spend all day walking up and down steep slopes until your toenails turn black all because a mountain appears on some arbitrary list. Is a 13,000-foot mountain less worthy of climbing than a 14,000-foot mountain? No. But the 14,000-foot mountain is on a list. Actually, the 13,000-foot mountain is on a list too, a different list. But one list at a time.
Continue readingGet the gear
Hiking is a simple activity. A walk in the woods requiring nothing much more than strong legs and sturdy boots. It’s certainly less involved than cycling. Or is it? If you’ve browsed any of the hiking-related retailers like REI, Backcountry, etc. lately you’d think you couldn’t possibly survive a hike without carbon fiber hiking poles, high-end Italian hiking boots, the latest GPS watch and a complete water filtration and storage system. Which made me think of this. An oldie but goodie and if you live in Colorado (or Portland, I presume), probably more relatable than ever.
A Massive Day
Mt. Massive is the second highest mountain in Colorado, only 11 feet shorter than its neighbor across the valley, Mt. Elbert. It makes up for those 11 feet by being the mountain with the most area over 14,000 feet in the contiguous 48 states. With a summit and four sub-summits over 14,000 feet and a three-mile-long summit ridge Mt. Massive is truly massive. If you’ve been to Leadville, you’ve seen Mt. Massive and you may have mistaken it for a whole mountain range. Massive doesn’t so much dominate Leadville’s western skyline as it IS Leadville’s western skyline.
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