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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Roy,
I see the answer to my question on the other thread is here.
Fine, frigid adventures, beautifully documented.
This thread is a ski tour de force.
Rick
PS
Be careful out there. I went for a b/c outing near Berthoud Pass last weekend and the avalanche danger was as bad as I've ever seen it. Low angle slopes collapsing to the ground and sliding with little provocation.
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Ezra
Social climber
WA, NC, Idaho Falls
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Roy,
Thanks so much for the pictures!
Please provide more detalis.....:)
Does the Calcium channel blocker, help with forearm endurance?
Best,
-Ezra
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 9, 2010 - 01:42pm PT
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No.
Did nothing for my severe coldness in extremities either.
And it may have lowered blood pressure to a point where aerobic athletics were problematic.
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Jan 11, 2010 - 05:44pm PT
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This thread just gets better and better.
Thanks Tar,
Zander
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 18, 2010 - 01:00am PT
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Okay back to work.
As I may have mentioned occasionally here and there,
I'm not really a skier: I'm a climber type guy who sometimes likes to go bouldering and mountain traveling...
Perhaps scrambling, ridge traversing 'n such, by himself.
The skis just smooth that process out, mostly the travel part, and usually in winter.
Another big plus with the Indian Peaks being in my backyard, given the obvious access they provide to take a look at oddball backcountry crags, is their proximity to Boulder Canyon, Eldorado Canyon and the like.
So when it gets real warm midwinter, as it almost always does sometime in January and like it did just this week,
And if the connective tissue aligns with the stars and stuff,
I go play down the street instead of in the backyard.
That would be Boulder Canyon:
I refrained from handling much of anything for a few days and got the green light to go and check things out. This yielded about five hours of stomping up along the hillside (great cross training for ski touring), slowly gaining significant elevation from the canyon floor while gleefully routing out dusty gems:
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Jan 18, 2010 - 10:19am PT
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Beautiful photos as always. You're living the right place!
The relief drawings and topo maps help a lot in orienting your photos and trip stories. It looks
like the Front Range has been well drawn. Have anything like that for the Gore Range traverse on
your other thread? I was trying to puzzle out your path there from the photos, but not getting
very far.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 18, 2010 - 11:22am PT
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I loaded the topographical/interpretive portion of that Gore Range thread to my photo bucket last night.
Should be up in a few minutes...
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 14, 2010 - 10:19pm PT
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Just got through that typical Front Range January dry spell.
Not that I haven't been out...
With Lisa off marathon training and ramping up the mountain running season,
Time to get out for some short burst aerobic tours in the trees:
Peace Bridge is 2.2 miles of northward climbing trail from below Colorado Research Station,
or 3.5 miles of southward trail from Brainard Lake winter parking Red Rock Trailhead...
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Feb 15, 2010 - 09:43am PT
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There's not much snow out our way, I need crampons to walk the dogs.
Keep posting those shots from the heart of the Rockies!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 21, 2010 - 05:06pm PT
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Sourdough Trail
Given that I just showed a couple pictures of the Peace Bridge,
It’s a good time to talk about the Sourdough Trail:
Those pictures above depict the first short leg,
Entertained as a 4.4 mile out and back to Peace Bridge, from the beginning of the Sourdough Trail, picked up off the Research Station/Rainbow Lakes Road, just off the Peak To Peak Highway, between Nederland and Ward.
This is a long lateral trail that roughly parallels the Continental Divide and Peak to Peak Highway.
As such it doesn’t give access to a high cirque or get any spectacular views of things to climb, but it does have a particularly sweet ambience.
It’s also 13 miles long as a point-to-point, primarily entertained at elevations in the mid 9,000 to low 10,000 foot level, with options to get on or off it at 4 different points to create quite short tours, yet, completed in its entirety as an out and back would constitute a marathon.
Below are pictures showing the 7 mile round trip from Brainard Lake Redrock Trail parking lot to Peace Bridge and back:
The whole enchilada:
(motorized access points are marked with green dots)
In the middle of one leg is the Wapiti/Baptiste loop, where you could pick up the extra fraction of a mile to constitute a true marathon. The shortest way to get to that loop is using Beaver Reservoir Road, (signage reads Boy Scout Camp), which is also the access to Coney Flats, but you park a bit short of that trailhead, by a half mile or so and pick up the Sourdough Trail heading to the loop.
From left to right,
Kiowa, Albion, Navajo, Apache, Shoshone:
Navajo Peak:
The key to any of these portions or all of this trail is waiting till the snow levels get sufficient; otherwise it’s bare in many places. It’s good to go right about now, as some of our recons in the last few weeks, before the recent snows, showed it had just enough, bare-ly.
Okay, you might see some things to climb...
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Ezra
Social climber
WA, NC, Idaho Falls
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Feb 27, 2010 - 10:02am PT
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Thanks for the Pics Tar,
Beautiful scenery!
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roadman
climber
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Feb 27, 2010 - 11:08am PT
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great stuff. Thanks!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 6, 2010 - 04:35pm PT
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It's beginning to feel like spring around these parts.
Notwithstanding the usual heavy precipitation in March and April... hopefully yet to come.
So I wish: while many folks are tired of winter, I welcome the low impact activity afforded by seasonal snow cover.
Not to mention it's been pretty thin in general snowfall terms.
Anyhow, back to the task of stuffing this barge to the gills with local ski touring facts, fiction, and pictures.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 6, 2010 - 05:45pm PT
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I’ve got a mix of photographs interspersed here from two different years.
The ones with deep snow were taken January 25, 2009, while the second batch, which I start with below, was from February 15, 2010.
Signage down in Jenny Creek:
As Yogi Berra once said: “When there is a fork in the road, take it”…
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 6, 2010 - 05:53pm PT
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Once leaving Jenny Creek and getting past the initial narrow trail climb,
A wilderness feel sets in:
Sometimes folks can be seen at the cabin:
On that note,
Here is a link to the CMC management page for the Arestua Hut:
http://www.cmcboulder.org/cabins.html
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 6, 2010 - 06:02pm PT
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From that Hut,
It’s roughly another 20 minutes to turn the corner and push through lush trees to get to the top of Guinn Mountain:
This year, wandering around up there during sunset and gazing upon the Continental Divide:
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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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Tarbuster, back in the '80's sometime my first wife, Janie and I spent New Year's Eve up at that hut. We brought up gourmet foodstuffs and enough good wine for a great meal. Later we went out skiing in the moonlight. Best way ever to see in a new year!
Your posts are the best, 'Buster! And t.r. I really like the things you add...thanks.
-JelloInTheMoonlightCruisin'ThePowPowAsEkatWouldSay
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Very cool photo journeys. Haven't been out that way since the 70s, but I can still feel the wind.
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SuperTopo on the Web
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Guinn Mountain
Let us know!