Once again I have delayed quite a bit in updating this site - as you can probably tell, writing is not my favorite activity in the world. The following weekend after mountain biking in Fruita, I headed to the mountains with my new roommate in an effort to bag a couple 14ers. Though I had done both Bierstadt and Evans before, I had not previously done the combo on the same day, traversing the aptly named Sawtooth connecting the two in the process. We started early in the morning in order to have enough time to get up and down before any afternoon storms rolled in. Getting to the top of Bierstadt was quick and painless, as we were able to summit in around two hours. The next task at hand was the Sawtooth. Looking down at the ridge from atop Bierstadt, I instantly wasn't too sure I wanted to attempt it. There was not much of a route that I could see from my vantage point and the first portion of the traverse required crossing decently large snowfields on somewhat steep angles. Despite the view, we decided to trudge onwards. The Sawtooth was not quite as difficult as I envisioned while atop Bierstadt but it did not pass without some unique sections. There were snowfields to cross, rocks to climb (with our hands as well as our feet), cliffs to avoid, and views to take in all along the route. By the time we crossed the Sawtooth, we still had quite a ways to go to reach the top of Mt Evans. Eventually I reached the top and was greeted by the many tourists who drove to the top via the highest paved road in North America. The return trip down to the trailhead ended up being a feat all of its own. Rather than exposing yourself to the Sawtooth again, most people return to the Bierstadt trailhead by taking an alternate route. This route funnels into a ravine and eventually into the meadows below. The problem is that the meadow is really just one giant wetland in the spring and if you attempt to avoid the water then you are required to bushwhack through extremely dense willow bushes until you reach the original Bierstadt trail a couple miles away. While I was warned by a coworker of this last portion of the day, I did not envision it being nearly as bad as it ended up being. For literally hours we bushwhacked (without machetes, mind you) through the brush before finally making our way to the trail. If I were alone during this time I probably would have cried... I had long ran out of water and food and there was a storm in the distance that seemed to be rolling in. Eventually however, we did make it back to the car and promptly drove home where we indulged in great amounts of water and pizza.
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| Looking back along the now conquered Sawtooth route |
The following weekend I headed out to Breckenridge with a few of my friends to take part in Demo Days which is where different bike makers will set up tents and rent out mountain and road bikes for free to the visitors. So we got to Breck early and rented mountain bikes to take up the ski slopes (no longer covered in snow). The downhill riding on the slopes was alright... nowhere near as awesome as Fruita had been a couple weeks before. The trails had too many switchbacks which slowed you down from barreling down the mountain at any decent speed. It was only when we left the trail to get down to the parking lot that we encountered any true downhill. Regardless, we had a great time and proceeded to have a late lunch in town. While the rest of the group walked around Breckenridge, Cale and I visited the Breckenridge Brewery in order to gear up for the World Cup group match between the USA and Portugal. For the actual game, we met back up with the group at a sports bar in town. The game was a roller-coaster of emotions as the US saw itself go down 1-0 early in the match, only to score two unanswered to put them up by one in the second half. Portugal then scored a heart-breaking goal on the game's final play to end the game in a tie. A bittersweet ending to an otherwise great day.
The next weekend I was itching for another 14er and so my roommate, his friend, and I ventured out to the mountains to conquer Grays and Torreys Peaks. I had completed this combo before last year but this time was a bit different. The night before, a bit of snow came through the area and left a dusting over the mountains, making them even more majestic than usual. The weather system must not have moved all the way out of the area either because the wind whipped throughout most of the day and made me regret wearing shorts. We were able to keep a solid pace between the three of us and before we knew it we had completed the combo in no time at all. Here are a couple pictures from our journey...
Fourth of July weekend was up next and the three day weekend lent itself to being a prime time for my friends to leave town. While others were away, Cale and I were left to fend for ourselves. After meeting up with some work friends Thursday night downtown, we headed back towards the center of the city Friday afternoon in order to catch some of the World Cup matches at an English pub called Three Lions. We spent much of the afternoon rooting on Colombia as they took on Brazil, falling 2-1 in the end. We had such a great time with the Colombians despite the loss that we decided to come back the following day to cheer on Costa Rica against the Netherlands. That game ended in a 0-0 draw and therefore moved onto penalty kicks, unfortunately resulting in a Costa Rican loss.
The subsequent weekend I decided I would try to knock out some more 14ers. While my original goal was three for the weekend, I did not nearly end up with quite so many by the end. All day Friday at work I was watching the weather and debating whether or not to carry through with my plan to drive out to the mountains and climb Mt Sherman that night. When I got off work I went back to my apartment and debated a little longer than I should have, for by the time I made up my mind and made it out to the trailhead it was 9pm and the sun was pretty well gone. I brought a flashlight though and went ahead with the hike. About a third of the way up the mountain, I looked out in the distance and saw some dark clouds which seemed to be heading in my direction. I initially decided to keep going; however, I kept second-guessing my decision. Finally, after seeing multiple lightning strikes in the distant clouds I turned around to return to the car. Early the next morning I met a buddy at the nearby Mt Massive trailhead in order to climb the second highest mountain in the state and third highest in the continental USA. Four years earlier I climbed this mountain with one of my co-counselors at the camp I worked at and remembered it as being my favorite 14er I had yet climbed. This time around we took the non-traditional route which, though shorter distance-wise, was much steeper and I think probably harder overall. There seemed to be no letting up as the trail crept higher and higher with not even a level section of trail to rest on. We reached the top in two and a half hours: a very respectable time, considering the length and difficulty. The view from the top was magnificent and we were able to see the mountains out by Aspen, Mt Sopris, the Flat Tops, and numerous other mountains with clear skies to boot. After the hike, we spent an hour or so in nearby Leadville,getting lunch at a pizza place in town. I then returned to Denver exhausted and fell asleep on the couch while watching the second half of the World Cup third place game. The next day I returned to Three Lions for the World Cup final, where Germany was victorious over the Argentines. Despite the USA not making it past the first knockout stage, I was satisfied with the World Cup because if the USA wasn't going to win then I wanted Germany. With the tournament over, I'm going to have to figure out how to make it through the toughest part of the sports calendar: the month or two before NFL/College Football begins. The good thing though is that with the mountains calling me on the weekends and plenty of sports leagues and pickup games to take part in during the week, passing the time between sporting events on television can be quite easy out here.
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