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 […]

Read more "Conquistador-able"

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. […]

Read more "Leavick All Behind"

Tooth Decay

El Diente Peak. A high mountain summit within the San Juan Range named for its tooth-like visage (El Diente translates to “The Tooth” in Spanish). If this peak is the tooth of the San Juans, then these mountains have clearly forgotten their oral hygiene. El Diente Peak, and its neighboring summits of Mt. Wilson and […]

Read more "Tooth Decay"

Labor Day Ouray Soirée

I vividly remember the first time I knowingly laid eyes on Mt. Ouray (pronounced ooo-ray).  Last summer, the Overcast Adventurers had the opportunity to explore the vast reaches of Colorado on a biology class trip called Ecoregions (a blog for which can be found here). It was on the first day of that two-week journey […]

Read more "Labor Day Ouray Soirée"

Massive Aggressive

East Slopes. 14.5 miles RT. 4,500′ gain. 6 hours. 20 minutes.              High above the iconic Colorado mountain town of Leadville stands Mt. Massive—an aptly named wall of a mountain and several of its constituent sub-summits. It is the third highest peak in the contiguous United States, which is certainly not hard to believe when […]

Read more "Massive Aggressive"

Trip Report: Bagels and BelOx

Every day was (and still is) the same routine: wake up, go to work, go home, check condition reports, and go to bed with slight summit fever. Fortunately, my wonderful manager has been scheduling my weekends on weekdays. I had requested this for more solitary 14er hiking and climbing. My “Friday” was a Monday and after […]

Read more "Trip Report: Bagels and BelOx"

Trip Report: An Unlikely Pair

Mt. Sherman and Challenger Point. The Wednesday started as so many do: promptly waking up at 7AM for a dentist appointment and an oil change. I had requested both Wednesday and Thursday off, and I figured that after my morning appointments on Wednesday I could take a few friends out to the Sangre De Cristo […]

Read more "Trip Report: An Unlikely Pair"