This Area Is Closed

Hello? Oh hey, we didn’t see you come in. It’s been a while! Apologies for that. This is not the first hike we’ve attempted in 2020. Though, through a series of not-so-fortunate events, it is the first hike this year worth being written about here. With snow on the decline and temperatures on the rise, […]

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East Peak Story

The air was starting to warm, and the snow-pack of the Rocky Mountains beginning its slow decline for the upcoming Summer. As you might imagine, the mountains in southern Colorado are some of the first to clear up every year, and this year was not an exception, even with the wild weather the state has […]

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Black Ridge Blues

In Utah, there’s a place, a National Park, known far and wide for its naturally-occurring sandstone arches, worn over the years by wind and water. This entry isn’t about that place. This entry is about an area a bit closer to the Rocky Mountains, an area East of the Colorado-Utah border: Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness. […]

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The Amenable Venable Lake

This week we have just a quick post from the b-e-a-utiful Sangre de Cristo Range. The Overcast Adventurers, plus Skyler’s friends Jesse (a returning guest star) and Barkley (a dog), braved glaring sunlight to hike up to Venable Lake. The trailhead for this hike started just past the old towns of Silver Cliff and Westcliffe. […]

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Conquistador-able

West Spanish Peak—the United States’s easternmost 4,000-meter peak—enjoys prominence in elevation and notoriety in history. Standing at an imposing 13,626 feet, the mountain’s apex may not rise as high as many of the other peaks in Colorado, but still takes the rank as the state’s twelfth-most topographically prominent summit. Rising nearly 7,000′ over its north […]

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High Hopes on Talus Slopes

Mount Hope towers above the popular recreation area of Twin Lakes, Colorado. Despite its alluring contours and inviting slopes, it is often neglected; overshadowed by its slightly taller neighbors. Standing at an impressive 13,933′, Mount Hope is Colorado’s 64th tallest peak, and its proximity to larger and more popular summits in the Sawatch Range keep […]

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Orphans and Endorphins

Maybe the depiction on my atlas was deceiving, or maybe we were just victims of my own foolishness, but I definitely thought that Gardner, Colorado—a town with multiple churches and an herb shop—would have a gas station. With a flickering gaslight, we, the Overcast Adventurers and Ty’s friend Seth, opted to purchase five gallons of […]

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Leavick All Behind

This past December, at the start of my last winter break, I struck out for a summit attempt of Horseshoe Mountain. This peak is aptly named for its horseshoe-like curvature and can be seen rising high above the South Park Basin, just southwest of Fairplay. It’s Colorado’s 72nd-largest ranked mountain, standing proud at 13,898 feet. […]

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Bone Morrow Biopsy

A lazy weekend. My last day of classes. Encroaching finals week. These are the perfect ingredients for end-of-the-semester cabin fever. While there is no known cure for this cabin fever–medically speaking–adventuring seems to usually treat such an ailment. The Hermit’s Rest trail had been on my list for several years. Near the eastern terminus of […]

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