Travels and Vagabonds
Many moons ago, Ben had a great idea for a mountaineering trip up the great volcanic peak of Mount Rainer. It took many hours of planning on his part and some serious commitments from others in the group to make this a reality, but this summer it finally happened. A group of four unguided climbers made they run on Rainier, the Icy Jewel of the Northwest. Continue reading “Seattle: Mount Rainer (14er) (the mountain)”
Taylor Park Reservoir
An early weekend in August, Ben and I set off for a fishing trip to the Taylor Park Area of Colorado, which is nestled deeply behind the Collegiate Peaks and north of Gunnison. We left Friday evening and decided to cut through Cottonwood Pass to get to the park quickly. Continue reading “Taylor Park / Tomahawk Wildlife Area”
Cheesman Canyon
In the middle of July, I felt the need to get out of the town of Colorado Springs and just relax in the middle of a stream. I mentioned this to Paul and Lindsey and they were game to go on an canyon adventure for the afternoon. I decided to try out Cheesman Canyon, which is right next to Deckers, Colorado. Cheesman is known for it world class fishing and it hearty population of Cutthroat trout. Continue reading “Cheesman Canyon”
One of the last weekends in July, everyone (Lindsey, Alison, Jimmy, Z, Dave and myself) finally had a flexible enough schedule for us all to climb Mount Lindsey (14,042 ft) together. Although the drive to the mountain was a great adventure on its own, we all were able to meet up at the same location around the same time (even though some left hours ahead of the others). The first dirt road was a lot of fun driving in at night. Not knowing how steep the dropoffs were or how deep the streams were added to the excitement. On a couple occasions, I needed to get out and wade though the water to make sure the Blazer would make it.
Continue reading “Mount Lindsey (14er)”
So its summer again and Dave’s girl Katie was in town, so we all piled in the Z-mobile and headed out to “Paradise Cove” aka “Cripple Creek Cliffs” aka “Guffy Falls.” I brought along the camera with the fast lenses to get some action shots. When we got there, I actually stopped to read the signs at the location this time, and noticed that this was BLM land. Free for all. Continue reading “Cliff Jumping Redux – Guffey Falls”
In early June, I ran away for a weekend to the North Carolina/Tennessee area. I met up with a couple of friends, Jason, Caitlin and Alexis. It was little reunion trip to the town of Gaitlinburg (I pronounce it Gat-lynns-burgh).
Continue reading “Runaway to the Smoky Mountains”
Bottomless Pit of Pikes Peak
On Memorial Day, after a weekend of being very unhealthy, a small party of us decided to the hike Pikes Peak from the Westerly side. This came to be after a late night call on Sunday from Ben and Amanda looking for a hike. After deciding not to do the hellish 26 mile trek that is Barr Trail, we set off in the morning for the Crags of Pikes Peak.
Continue reading “Pikes Peak (14er)- The Crags/Devil’s Playground Route”
Antero Fishing
Antero Reservoir is the first in a chain of reservoirs in the middle of the high plains section of Colorado. Located south of South Park and close to the mosquito range, the lake offers some awesome views of many mountain ranges. Antero is one of the oldest reservoirs in Colorado and was formerly the location of a small lake. The lake itself is still relatively shallow. Average depth is about 6-8 feet deep and at its deepest only about 18-20 feet. The lake boasts some of the best lake trout fishing around with an average trout size of about 17 inches and 2 lbs. The lake maintains a cold water temperature year round, promoting a healthy rainbow trout population. Weather can be very volatile as with anywhere that is high altitude. During our day fishing, we had it go from calm winds to 35 mph gusts, which created whitecaps on the lake.
Exploring Moab
Wayback in the spring of 2009, Paul and I took a trip out to Moab, Utah to join Ben and Amanda on some desert adventures. The trip out to Utah from Colorado Springs was a very grueling drive, which caused us to make an emergency nap-stop in Fruta, Colorado on the top of a dinosaur mountain. Once crossing into Utah the next morning, we were greeted by the “Eagles on Highway” sign, which Ben had first hand experience with the previous night by almost running over one in the dead of night. Continue reading “Wayback Wednesday #2”
Friendly Neighborhood Blowfish
Since everyone likes to go snowboarding on the weekends and I’m still banned, I talked to Paul and we decided to check out the Denver Aquarium. I’ve been wanting to go to the aquarium for a long time (also, I needed some more places to fill out my foursquare account). To make the most of it, I decided to bring along my camera and snap some pictures of the fishes. Continue reading “Denver Aquarium”