Another Year…

Every year since I was about 18 my dad and I have gone on some sort of adventure trip for our birthday’s. This year we decided to hang out in La Veta and climb Trinchera Peak, a 13er in the Sangre De Cristo Range. We got up early on Saturday drove the 20 minutes to the trail head, a major bonus to having a place so close to the mountains. Other than a few campers on the way up we had the trail and summit to ourselves. On the way up we saw a heard of mountain goats so we stopped to watch them for a while. It was pretty amazing to see, especially when two of the males started butting heads. I have only seen that on the Discovery Channel, not in real life.

After oohing and ahhing we continued up the trail. It got steeper towards the top, but I think that was more because my dad was making the trail up as we went along. We turned quite a bit of the final ascent into true rock climbing, and there was some major exposure in some areas. We didn’t spend a whole lot of time on the summit because it was really windy and cold. So we hiked down a little bit to a more sheltered area to have lunch and take in the views. The leaves from the surrounding aspens were intense with their changing color. I know that our foliage out here doesn’t compare to out east, but it is still spectacular to see, especially from high on a peak where you can see for miles.

After we ate some lunch we started heading down, again off the beaten path. We traversed across the face of the mountain, making it a nice class 3 in most areas. The rocks were pretty incredible and I found it was so interesting the difference of rocks at high altitudes from mountains created by volcanic movement versus mountains created by plate tectonics. That whole process of how the land developed down there is so fascinating to me and I feel so fortunate to get to experience it all first hand.

Carol ended up meeting up with us towards the bottom of the trail, so we all hiked down together then went back to the cabin to relax the rest of the weekend.

Grand Teton

A journey 11 years in the making. At 13 years old I looked up at the massive 13,770ft peak, and knew that I would conquer it someday. This thought came to me while my dad and his brother were conquering it themselves. 11 years later, I am joined with my dad, Carol and Tyler, to set out on this journey of our own. I could not have asked for better companions on this trip. We spent 6 days on some of the most beautiful parts of the country, and one of my favorite places on earth. We arrived on Wednesday, settled in to our camp spot, and talked about our upcoming days while the rain came down lightly outside. I was so excited to be there, even though there was a part of me that couldn’t believe this time had finally come. On Thursday we went over to Exum for our intermediate full day climbing course. We spent 8 hours doing technical climbs and rappels over Jenny Lake. Had lots of time to sit on the side of the mountain and think about life. Couldn’t have done it in a better place…On Friday we arrived back at Exum for our actual Teton journey. We set out with our guide, Forrest, to the saddle where we were to camp for the night, which was 7 miles and 6,000 feet of elevation gain away from us. We set a good pace, and enjoyed some amazing scenery. It had rained all the night before, so it was a really humid hike through the forrest. We crossed a big boulder field, and hiked steep switchbacks to a natural spring where we filled up our water bottles. Best water I have ever had. Through another rock field, and a small technical section, and we were at the saddle. We arrived around 6pm, 7 hours after we departed. The view from the saddle were spectacular. It overlooked Idaho’s mountain ranges on one side, and the Gros Ventre Range on the other. It cooled off fast, so we layered up before having dinner. Forrest joined us to talk about the upcoming night, and what the summit day would bring. We were to sleep in a hut, 13 hikers total, and be woken up at 3:30 so we would be on the trail by 4. Hopefull summit by 9, be back to the saddle around noon, and head back from there. Long day ahead of us, so better get to sleep early.There are variations to what happened this night, mine and, well, everyone else’s it seems… My side is rather boring. We went into the hut around 8:30, some hikers were already in bed, some more trickled in after us, but it seemed everyone was in by 9. I was dreaming not long after, mainly about the climb ahead of us. I woke only a couple times during the night, but fell back asleep before my mind started. I then opened my eyes to a bright light above me, and people moving all around. I was the last one up and I felt everyone was looking at me. I got up, felt refreshed and was ready for the climb. I sat down to have some coffee with my group, and my cheeriness was met by evil looks and tired eyes. Which brings on their side… While I was peacefully dreaming, Dad, Carol and Tyler lay in their sleeping bags, unable to sleep, and counting every slow minute that passed. There were three snorers in the group, one constant, next to Tyler, the other 2 intermittent. Once one would stop, the other would take their place. It went on all night. Things quited down for a bit, they got used to the snoring, and were on the verge of going into a deep sleep when they heard lurching from outside. One of the guides got sick, and threw up a few times outside. They were wide awake again. Things once again quited down after the guide got it all out of her system, but sure enough, so close to falling asleep again, a fellow climber got the guides bug and threw up in the hut. She then ran outside to finish up, and was out there for a while. This got her boyfriend up, who ended up walking in and out of the hut for a good 1/2 hour. It was after this that my family gave in to the fact that they were not going to get sleep, and instead just glared at my sleeping face the rest of the night, jealous of the dreams I was having. Needless to say, I don’t think I will ever live this down.After a quick breackfast and coffee, we were hiking up the trail by moonlight at 4am. We set a good pace, and got to our first technical section still in the dark. We knew there was a couple hundred foot drop below us, but we were left to our imaginations since we were unable to see. The started hitting the neighboring peaks while we were setting up for the long sets of pitches to the peak. I took up the rear, so I had lots of time to take in the incredible views, as well as plenty of time for my hands to get so cold I thought I was going to get frostbite. On the first pitch we had to scoot over an edge that dropped to where there was no end in sight. Keeping a cool mind was rather important here, especially when I had to clean up the gear, which was a cam I had never used before. I was hanging on the side of this peak, one hand holding me to the rock, the other trying to dislodge the cam. Having numb hands made this all the more difficult. I finally got it free and continued up to where Tyler was belaying me. We continued up 6 more pitches to where we all met up again and kiwi coiled together for the final ascent to the summit. Words cannot describe how I felt, or what I saw. Spectacular, amazing, breathtaking… none can completely say it all. It was a big accomplishment, and I felt it. I felt so lucky to be up there with the people I was with, my dad especially. Amazing… We headed back down, downclimbing the rocks we had ascended earlier. We had one rappel, that would get us to easier terrain. It was still freezing and the wind had really picked up. I went over, and looked to the bottom of the 300+ foot drop. Tyler was a spec to me. Sweet. I was in between the point of where I could touch the rocks with my feet and a free hang when I stopped. Unable to continue down for some reason. I let go of the brake completely, but I still went nowhere. I could only swipe my toes on the rock in front of me, and still had 250+ feet until the bottom. Another time to keep a stable mind. (Easier said than done) I could not see Forrest, who was rappeling me, and the wind was so intense that I could barely hear my own voice, let alone anyone else’s. I was on the verge of losing it, when I started moving again. there was a knot in the rope where Forrest was feeding it through. He had called out an apology to me, but I never heard. I made it to the bottom pretty quick after that! It was an uneventful hike back to the hut, where we had lunch and then took off for the bottom. After the boulder field, I felt I needed to let some more energy go, so I took off and met up with everyone back at the car. We hiked/climbed a total of 12 hours that day. Great climbing. On my way down, I will say I had a slight since of sadness. Something that I had looked forward to for all these years, is now going to be just a memory. We celebrated that night at the Cowboy Bar steak house. Great ending to a great journey.

West Spanish Peak

I have spent my ‘weekend’ down at our cabin in La Veta. It has been great weather and very relaxing, which I really needed! I took the kayak and the dog out on the lake yesterday, and other than a severe sun burn, had a great time! Seranno loved the water, it was hard to get her to take a break from swimming! This morning I got up early and Seranno and I headed up to hike West Spanish Peak (13,626 feet). We started right at 7am and were the only ones on the trail. It was a cool morning, but very comfortable for hiking. We saw lots of wildlife, including a Lynx, which I have never seen before, and a heard of about 15 big horn sheep! It was an easy hiking trail for the first 2 miles or so, but it changed very quickly to steep unstable rocks. It felt like it was never ending, as it continued for quite a while! Seranno did great, and ended up picking the trail we hiked up. It was well worth the climb when we got to the top at just after 9am. When we got to the saddle, the other side of the mountain was visible and you could see for miles in every direction. We made it to the top, and got the binoculars out to find the cabin. It wasn’t too hard to find with it’s bright blue roof. It was neat seeing it from a completely different perspective! We only stayed about 20 minutes at the top, then the clouds started rolling in, so we headed down. Coming down was easier than I thought it would be, and only passed a few other hikers. I was back to the car by 11, a good 4 hour round trip and about 7 miles. I was happy with it, and so was Seranno, she slept the rest of the day! I plan to get some more relaxing time in, too, before I head home tomorrow.