In August we decided to return and climb Mt. Neva’s North ridge. The trail starts from the Fourth of July trailhead outside Nederland, CO. On Friday, we followed the Arapahoe Pass Trail for about 2 miles and setup camp 1/4 mile shy of the old mine. Saturday morning we were up early for our summit attempt.

A creek along the Arapahoe Pass Trail. Hiking poles were helpful.

Mt. Neva coming into view over Lauren’s shoulder.

From camp, the hike up to Arapahoe Pass wasn’t too bad. (Side note: going to Arapahoe Pass would be an excellent day hike)

Early morning light hits Mt. Neva

From the pass, we gained Mt. Neva’s North ridge. The ridge is considered class 3 with a couple class 4 sections.

Lauren along one section of the ridge.

The route starts on the right of this photo and works to the high point on the left.

The ridge was super fun and had stunning views of the surrounding IPW, James Peak Wilderness, and some RMNP. The descent was a bit sketchy (loose rock). We were also glad that we packed our ice axes…we were still able to descend a few hundred vertical feet on snow.

Something tells me that this lake isn’t melting out completely this summer.

Looking up after descending.

I know it was a long day for Lauren, but she handled the mileage well. Once back at camp, we packed up and headed out.

Crestone Needle in the background

After some research, we turned our eyes towards Chicago Basin in southwestern Colorado (near Durango). Chicago Basin is a fairly remote wilderness area home to three of Colorado’s 14,000 ft. mountains.

Just getting to the Needleton trailhead requires a fun train ride via the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad or a long backpack in. If you want to save money or just have the time, I suppose the backpack option could be fun. We all felt the train added to the experience and was well worth the money.

Lauren took the train with us and waved bye as we got dropped off at the Needleton trailhead. She enjoyed a weekend exploring Silverton, Mesa Verde, Durango, etc.

Bye Lauren!

Lauren @ Mesa Verde

From the Needleton trailhead we made the fairly arduous hike (3,000 ft elevation gain, 6 miles, 3 hours) to Chicago Basin.

The basin was quite beautiful!

We expected to see a lot of mountain goats based on our information, and they were literally everywhere.

We only had one full day for climbing. We hoped to climb all three 14ers, but Sunlight and Windom were enough to wear us out pretty well. Eolus would have to wait until another trip. We could have potentially climbed Eolus before hiking out to meet the train, but we didn’t feel like taking the risk of missing our only ride. Most people that climb all three in a day (props to you) start with Eolus and then end with the Sunlight/Windom combo. Sunlight was our main objective, so we opted to start there.

Nearing the summit of Sunlight

I was the only one in our group dumb enough to climb up the block on top of Sunlight. I’ve seen it described as the single hardest move on any 14er. Really its just a bit awkward and nerve-racking (sorry mom!).

Kyle part way up Sunlight’s summit block.

Me perched awkwardly on the Sunlight’s summit block.

Kyle making a quick descent of Windom.

Chicago Basin really is a special place…no wonder why it is so popular.

Take aways:

• Give yourself 4 days in the basin (1 hike in, 2 climbing, 1 hike out)
• Start really really early if you want to climb all 3 peaks in a day
• If you go over a holiday weekend (July 4th in our case) expect plenty of friends
• Hang everything and leave nothing in your tent. Lots of marmots and goats that would love to eat your stuff.
• Take Jake with you. He’ll make you laugh.
• For more tips on Chicago Basin, check out this post on 14ers.com

In the morning, we headed to Mt. Bierstadt. Yes, this is the Mt. Bierstadt we climbed when my parents came out with us in 2009 and I got altitude sickness. And yes, this is the Mt. Bierstadt that we attempted last winter in the snow when we did not have appropriate gear. And finally, yes, this is the Mt. Bierstadt that is considered to be perhaps the “easiest” of the 14ers, and it took me 3 tries to reach the summit! So, here we are.

I would think that it’s understandable that I was tired when we reached the top. It’s a mountain. However, Mr. Mountain Energy was ready for more. Joel then crossed the Sawtooth ridge and summitted Mt. Evans before beginning a grueling descent. Here he is at the top of Mt. Evans (and yes, this is the same Mt. Evans that you can drive to the top of).

Here’s a view of Mt. Bierstadt (right), the Sawtooth (center), and Mt. Evans (left).

When it was time to go, the Lanzen girls couldn’t handle it. I mean, we are not that exciting, but it was flattering. This was taken while they were holding on to our hands so we couldn’t leave!

When Lauren returned from the beach, I tried to tell her that the crampons were part of her birthday present. That went over well.

Even though she wasn’t super excited about the idea, Lauren graciously agreed to climb Cristo Couloir with me. Cristo Couloir is a snow climb on Quandary Peak (Lauren’s first 14er when we moved here). We had record or near record snowfall this winter, so there was still plenty of snow, even on June 17th. We tried for a super early start to avoid soft snow conditions once the sun was on the route. Fog, rain, and snow prevented a really early start. With partly cloudy skies, we got started around 6:30 AM. The conditions were great, and we made it up in just under four hours.

Lauren motoring ahead of me. I’m the one that runs and she was kicking my butt!

Excellent views! Still looked like winter up there.

On top! 4 hours up and 1 hour down. Glissading down was a rush. Check out this video (not us in the video) if you don’t know what glissading is.

Just as we were finishing, we saw this fox! Look closely and you’ll see that it started snowing again. We had a perfect weather window.

1. Started the garden/seedlings (yes, we are still looking for a house, so the garden thing is a bit of an issue). I’ve planted spinach and pea seeds and started tomatoes and peppers inside.

2. Skiing/snowboarding. We’ve been a good bit this year since we got season passes, and we’ve had fun times with friends like the Potorffs, Thomases, Simmons, Clendenins.

3. Joel had jury duty again, but he got dismissed right away. That was a relief after the terrible case he was on in Nashville.

3. We finally had our “Boo-rito” party that we won from Chipotle on Halloween. We had our small group plus some visitors over and had about 20 people in our skinny house!

3. We had a short but fun visit with Joseph while he was in town.

3. We got to hang out with the Mortons! They were in town for a youth rally, and we were able to spend two fun evenings with them.

4. My cousin Brent had a conference in town and spent the weekend with us. We had a great time snowshoeing, hiking, etc.

Saturday morning my friend Lewis McAll and I got an early start and headed towards our destination, Loch Lomond. Loch Lomond is located at the base of Mt. Bancroft which Lauren and I climbed last summer. Visiting the area in the winter proved to be a much different experience. The bustling jeep trail (Stewart Road) was sitting under feet of snow, and we only encountered two other parties (four people total).

It took under two hours to snowshoe two miles (over 1,000 ft of elevation gain). Once we were about 1/3 a mile from the lake, we started looking for the perfect snow drift. The lake is above treeline and very wind-blown. Lewis spotted a sizeable drift, and I was convinced that it was actually a small hill. The avalanche probe proved that the drift was 7+ feet deep.

We set down our packs and got to work digging. The snow was hard-packed and proved very challenging for digging. About four hours later, our snow cave was complete. The completed cave had room for us and our gear.

Around 5 PM we climbed into our snow cave. We cooked an excellent curry backpackers meal and called it a day. Despite the cold outside (probably 0 – 10 degrees), the snow cave was fairly warm. It was also very quiet and dark which made for a decent night’s sleep.

Lessons learned and/or things that proved helpful:

• Snow conditions can vary greatly. Leave plenty of time for digging. Each person should carry a shovel if possible (but you could get tendonitis…Lewis!).
• Bring extra gloves. We got really wet while digging. Even though our gloves were Gore-tex, when we took them off to let them dry, they froze stiff as boards.
• If you don’t have a winter sleeping bag, consider using two bags. Lauren and I both have 15 degree down bags. I stole hers and put ours together. I stayed nice and toasty. Also, don’t forget a sleeping mat. Staying off the snow is very important.

1. I got a new job! I’m doing accounting at Save Our Youth, where Joel and I are mentors. It’s a great organization, and the job seems like a great fit for me, so I feel very blessed that the timing worked out perfectly.

2. We skied a lot before Christmas, and we’ve been a few times since then. I’ve improved this year, so it’s been more enjoyable. Oddly enough, we have been nearly a dozen times, and not a single day was just the two of us. We’ve had lots of skiing time with friends from in town and out of town (sadly few pictures–our camera died). Here is us with Kyle and Steph at Keystone.

3. We’ve had a few fun snowshoeing adventures. Here is a picture of Lewis and Vanessa eating lunch when we snowshoed near Loveland Ski Area. Following are pictures of us at Rocky Mountain National Park (we got a new camera!).

The real Matterhorn:

This time, we wouldn’t just see it, we would make the point to climb it! The hike starts out at the popular Bear Lake trailhead. Our guide book had us exiting the trail near Lake Helene to approach the mountain. We kept commenting that Little Mattherhorn looked nothing like the real deal…and from this approach, it really didn’t.

After boulder and talus hopping for a couple hours, we finally reached the third class ridge.

We were in complete solitude until we met up with a couple nice guys on the ridge. They were kind enough to snap a picture of us on their decent and email it to us! Thanks Dan!

The ridge only took around thirty minutes in each direction. The summit is really just a big cairn at the end of the ridge. The most exciting part of the climb was a tight chimney (probably class 4) right before the summit. I don’t think Lauren was too excited! Note from Lauren: This was a fake smile because I had just gotten my leg stuck!

Happy on the summit!

By the time we reached the parking lot, we had been hiking/climbing for 9+ hours! Thanks to my great wife for being a champ! We ended the day with some great thai food in Boulder and crashed when we got home.

P.S. After doing a little research, I found a picture of Little Matterhorn from Odessa Lake, and it looked much more like the real deal from that angle. Photo Credits: Andrew Mace on Flickr

1. I learned how to paint
2. I learned that I hated painting

I guess while high on paint fumes one day, I decided that my friend Jason Rice and I should try to climb two of the hardest mountains in the states.

The first mountain I picked for us was Capitol Peak. Capitol Peak is one of Colorado’s 14ers located in the Elk Range (near Aspen). Unfortunately during our climb, we were rained/sleeted off the mountain and never got to finish.

Photo: Jason reading below Capitol Peak

Almost 10 years later…

Capitol Peak has always been in the back of my mind. It’s one of the most distinct and beautiful mountains I have come across. So, at the beginning of the summer, I told Lauren that I had only one thing I wanted to put on the calendar: round two with Capitol Peak.

We arrived late one Friday evening at the Capitol Creek Trailhead and set up camp. The trailhead is over 9,000 ft. in elevation, and is far away from city lights, so the stars were amazing. The next morning we packed up our backpacks, and made the 6.5 mile trip in four hours.

Our camp was just below Capitol Lake (and the peak).

Our arrival time was just about perfect. Within 15 minutes of setting up our tent, it started raining…and raining. From 2 PM on Saturday, to 7 AM on Sunday, it rained on and off. Our alarm was set for 4:15 AM to start the climb, and around 6:30 AM we knew we had missed our window to start the climb. In order to avoid dangerous afternoon storms, it’s extremely important to start early enough to be off the top by noon.

Despite another failed attempt, we still had a wonderful trip, and it’s hard to get tired of such beautiful scenery. Maybe the third time will be the charm.

As discovered by our previous trip, the 4×4 trail is pretty rough. This time we planned to park at the first gate, and backpack in. We went a little further past the first gate, looking for parking, and things got a bit hairy. I was about to turn around, and some guy drove up next to me and said, “Your rig will be fine”. Lessons learned:

1. Honda CRVs (“My Rig”) are not off-road machines.
2. Don’t trust creepy guys that use the word Rig to describe your vehicle (his wife was following behind his truck on a 4-wheeler).

Thanks second guy who didn’t really want to help us, but saved our vehicle from rolling off a drop-off while we were turning around (note back wheel that is off the ground)!

Finally we made it back to a safe place to park, and backpacked in.

We found a lovely camping spot, despite the bounty of rednecks around. The jeep trail to Mt. Bancroft comes directly out of a scene from my past (I’m from West Virginia, Alabama, & Tennessee). The loud music, gun shots, camo ATVs, drinking, dirt bikes, and yelling made us feel right at home. We assume the area’s popularity stems from the fishing lakes, free camping, accessibility to large redneck vehicles, and proximity to Denver.

The next morning we woke at 5:30 to start our climb. After some hot tea and a bite to eat, we were off. There were low-lying clouds all around, making it feel really foggy. By the time we climbed to 11,000 feet, the sun was shining on us, and everything beneath us was engulfed in a sea of clouds. It was breathtaking and a good reminder of how incredible our Creator is.

By 8:00 we had reached our route, the East Ridge of Mt. Bancroft. The ridge offered several hours of really fun class 3 & 4 climbing, one 80-foot rappel, and lots of great views of the Front Range, including Mt. Evans, Gray & Torreys, etc. By 10:30, in complete solitude, we stood on 13,200 ft. summit of Mt. Bancroft.