If ‘heavily trafficked’ is used to describe the volume of other potential recreationists one might see on a trail, I often make a point to seek out a lesser-trafficked path. One of the great comforts of nature for me is solitude, quiet—a respite from Denver’s constant cacophony—somewhere to clear my thoughts and enjoy the natural […]
Read more "Continental Divide and Seek"The day, characteristically for a hiking day, started before sunrise. Out of convenience and partiality we journeyed again to Rocky Mountain National Park. Our goal this time was to reach a mountain lake called Helene Lake. Not often visited in the winter, Helene Lake’s lack of traffic is the result of the lake shore being […]
Read more "When Helene Freezes Over"West of Denver on the mostly 2-lane highway 285, a short ways before the iconic Kenosha Pass, there’s a jagged dirt road up to the trailhead for Gibson Lake. This was meant to be an easy hike for us: relatively low mileage and good scenery. However, we hadn’t accounted for the amount of smoke in […]
Read more "This Was Supposed To Be A Martini"I needed an escape: a recess from the existential gloom that is living through this pandemic. Ty unfortunately could not join for this escapade, he has been hard at work helping to run time-sensitive COVID-19 diagnostic tests for CU Boulder through his lab research gig. Godspeed, Ty! Lurking just beneath the jagged precipices of the […]
Read more "Hot Take on Lonesome Lake"Two rules of thumb when going on day hikes in Colorado: always try to leave before sunrise, and never take east-bound I-70 on a Sunday afternoon. We managed one of these on a recent Sunday when we left for the Vail area to make the hike up to Deluge Lake. The sun hadn’t yet crested […]
Read more "Climb To Safety"With so much happening in both our personal lives and the broader world, Skyler and I opted for a shorter hike on June 7th. Strawberry Lake, directly East of Granby and south of Lake Granby’s Arapaho Bay, would be about 3.7 miles round-trip according to online sources. The trailhead was easy to miss, as it […]
Read more "Strawberry Letter"The morning air was brisk and the sounds…unusual. Typically, we want wilderness when we set out: going to great lengths to seek settings of solitude, pursuing peace and quiet. The unusual sounds? The thunder of cars and semis barreling along I-70. Never before had we started a hike so close to a major interstate, but […]
Read more "Fountain of Booth"Back in March, when snow still blanketed the ground in the mountains, I set out into the Wild Basin of Rocky Mountain National Park in an effort to find the sub-alpine Bluebird Lake. I trudged over five miles through the snowy landscape on a bleak, overcast day. After surpassing 10,000 feet in elevation, I began […]
Read more "Bluebird is the Word"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 […]
Read more "High Hopes on Talus Slopes"The grimy and over-labored workers of the small mining camp of Buckskin Joe took solace in few things. The miners drudged to find the hidden treasures beneath the granite, the prospectors scoured the land for the promise of riches… but at the end of a hard day these men knew they could reconcile their struggles […]
Read more "Beyond the Veil"
The Overcast Adventurers 