2017 mountain goals

Need to figure out what do in 2017, ski a few more 14ers, at 48 currently, it would be cool to get to 50 this year.  Here's the 10 left:

• pyramid
• capitol
• n. eolus
• eolus
• sunlight
• windom
• culebra
• wilson peak
• el diente
• crestone needle

The list is getting thin, lot of them far away, and really difficult.  It'd be cool if I could do 2 or 3 this year, maybe back to telluride to try for el diente and wilson peak, maybe even do mt. wilson for a pure summit ski.  If the snow totals are epic it might be a good year to try Pyramid or Capitol too, as the more snow on those peaks the easier they'll be.  It's exciting times for sure though.  

In addition to the 14ers, last year I got to ski 2 new peaks, Citadel, and Peak 1.  It was cool skiing some of the peaks closer to home, in the ski what you see mentality.  Some of the other local peaks that are on the to do list:

• Tenmile peak
• Apache
• Navajo
• Shoshoni
• Hagar
• Flora
• Red Peak

Come summer time, it'd be really cool to get the kids into rock climbing outdoors, maybe figure out a way to incorporate that into a summer camping trip.  I know the kids would love that.  Some other hiking with the family and maybe a family backpacking trip too, if that is at all possible, maybe just me and Grady.

Either way, lots to do, several lifetimes of adventures in the Colorado rockies and I couldn't be happier to live here and have a family that not only supports me in my endeavors but also likes joining right in!

One political post

So Trump was elected and I was surprised that he was, all along I felt there is no way he we will win, and yet he did. So some people ask why or how he could be elected. Trump getting elected is the byproduct of a generation of apathy. A passive population ignoring politics, having had it usurped from them by the minority of people who feel that something different is better than anything like the current state of affairs.

For those that feel the government no longer serves them the blueprint was laid out 240 years in the Declaration of Independence. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

The question is now whether or not this will precipitate any change, or will it be more of the same. People posting on Facebook or Twitter, claiming to abhor the current system, and then doing absolutely nothing about it. Personally I believe this is all part of the natural evolution of any civilization in decline, similar to the Roman Empire in 400 AD. It is part of the cycle of the ascendency and decline of a civilization. The eventual byproduct will be a civil war in this country with the lines this time being drawn on the left or the right, with perhaps abortion being the main dividing line, as slavery was during the first civil war.   Time will tell, but I do know that I'm as ashamed of the fact that our country could elect a bigot like Trump as I am of the general political apathy that has stained my generation.

I find myself reading this passage over and over to help stay grounded during these tumultuous times.  "You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

A weekend in the alpine

Spent the weekend in the alpine on the backside of the Indian Peaks with Gabe and Jared. Nice weekend to get away, even saw some big horn sheep too!

Turquoise Lake Camping and Galena Peak

Spent the weekend with some great friends up at Turquoise Lake for the weekend, we managed to get the kids up to the top of Galena Peak, no small feat at 12,900 feet, 3k elevation gain, and 7 miles round trip. The whole hike took us 7.5 hours round trip. After the hike we met up with everyone at the lake for some kayaking, snacking, and drinking. A wonderful weekend all around immersed in the beauty of Colorado's mountains, oh and we didn't see another soul all day long hiking Galena, via la 12ers.

Rosalie and Epaulet Hike

Managed to get out for an afternoon hike in the Mount Evans wilderness area, great hike up the Tanglewood Trail to a saddle below Rosalie, then up Rosalie and over to Epaulet, reversed the route on the way back. The upper part of this route from Rosalie to Epaulet was magical, not another soul around, wandering in the high tundra, free from any cares and worries, haven't felt like that in quite sometime. One of the cool things about this trip was hiking the route late in the afternoon, normally, it's up early to avoid the storms but it was a slow morning and the forecast and weather looked good all day, that was unique to be descending off a high peak in summer at 6pm. I was recovering from a bad cold, and it was super hard to breathe on the uphill so I took it slow, but ran the last 4 miles from the saddle back to the TH in 50 minutes. On the run down I tripped and was heading for a rock and somehow miraculously managed to get my feet under me and not crash, pretty scary. The overall trip was 15 miles and 6000 vertical feet and it took me 6 hours and 40 minutes to completed.

Citadel Hike and Ski

First time out skiing with Ward, we had planned on skiing Hagar, but the south face route on Citadel is a little more straightforward so we just switched to that route. We had a few bumps along the way, but overall the route went well, good first day out and hopefully the first of many, Ward's got the right attitude for a long and fruitful ski mountaineering career for sure.

16 years of Memorial Day Weekend Trips

Memorial Day weekend is an annual ritual in which we not only hike and ski some 14ers usually, but we camp, we travel, we eat, we drink, and we honor those who sacrificed the ultimate to afford us the freedom to pursue.  Indeed to not enjoy the freedom that is provided us would be an insult to those who fought and gave all to provide it.

The trips started innocently enough in 2000 with a trip up to Maroon Peak, where we camped at Crater Lake and climbed and skied the east chutes of Maroon Peak.

• 2000 - Bells area, bachelor party for Mike, east chutes of s. maroon, Mike, Marcel, Jim, Jared, Cab, introduced money into marmot society.
• 2001 - Challenger Peak and camping by Willow Lake with Gabe and Mike
• 2002 - Bad snow year, no snow left by Memorial Day
• 2003 - Belford group, Marcel's bachelor party, backpacked up in the basin, Marcel, Cab, Mike Hetzel and Jim
• 2004 - Wetterhorn/Redcloud/Oxford, great camping at the trailhead, Cab, Mike, Jim, Hetzel
• 2005 - Harvard, backpacking in the basin with Gabe, Hetzel, Cab and Jim
• 2006 - Castle/Conudrum/Snowmass, car camping, climbing and skiing Castle, then backpacking up to Snowmass Lake and doing Snowmass.  Cab, Mike, Hetzel, Marcel, and Gabe, probably the best of them all.
• 2007 - Huron/Columbia - Gabe, Hetzel and Mike, car camping and listening to Starman on repeat.
• 2008 - Princeton and Yale, camping with Jay, Adan, Gabe, Mike and Hetzel, the pot milk.
• 2009 - No trip, most likely because we were about to have Phoebe, but I don't really know.
• 2010 - Camping at the difficult campground with Jay and his buddy, Adan and Hetzel, Mike and I camped a night at Crater Lake too, Maroon peak from the summit, dropped a ski and retrieved it.
• 2011 - Camping on south colony lake road with Jay V, Adan, Hetzel, and Mike, climbed and skied Crestone Peak
• 2012 - No trip, bad snow year.
• 2013 - North Maroon, camping at the difficult campground again, Cousin Jay, Adan, Hetzel, and Mike.
• 2014 - Camping at Ridgeway state park with Mike and Adan, climbed in skied Sneffles, rain and cold all weekend, but we survived.
• 2015 - The Sangres, camped on Lake Como, climbed and skied little bear with Mike, Gabe picked me up and we camped and went to the sand dunes and a beautiful waterfall.

Many trips, many memories.