Two Weeks to Go!

Hello everyone! We are now halfway through our month of training and have only two weeks left to go. Although the official "Summer of Fourteeners" hasn't even begun, we have already discovered some amazing places and had some unbelievable experiences. Here are the numbers behind the last two weeks of training:

miles hiked: 57.50
elevation gained: 18,926 feet
miles jogged: 12.57
miles biked: 34.89
push-ups: 175
squats: 250
curls: 300
calf-raises: 370

Exactly two weeks from today we will be departing on the first of our four major trips for the summer. I can only hope that the next two weeks are as fun and enjoyable as the last two and that they are only a tiny taste of what's to come in the many climbs and hikes we will be doing later on.

Some highlights from the last two weeks:

Among the first places we explored was the area just north of New Castle off the Colorow Trail. We found a massive cliff set/sandstone formation that is very difficult to see from anywhere besides this remote vantage. These amazing cliffs are so remote and hidden, in fact, that even after living less than five miles away for ten years, I had no idea even of their existence until doing this hike.


A few days later, on a hike in a similar location, we were approached by a desperate faun whose mother was mysteriously absent. It was clear that this poor baby deer was on the brink of starvation, but, sadly, there was little we could do to help. It tried to follow us for a while but soon gave up. Not far away we found a kill site with several half-masticated deer corpses and tried not to guess that one of them could have been this baby's mother. This was a sad reminder of the brutal nature of nature.



To begin week two, I explored Main Elk Canyon, northwest of New Castle. Main Elk is a relatively short, beautiful hike into a narrow defile that is lush with ferns and a canopy of green pines and aspens. The following picture is taken near the canyon's mouth looking upstream:



The day after hiking up Main Elk I explored nearby Hadley Gulch, which is an off-shoot of Main Elk. The trail here is very steep and a good test for my leg muscles in preparation of much harder climbs ahead. As it winds tortuously to the top, the trail offers impressive views of the nearby canyons as well as dramatic formations in the top layer of limestone. Sport climbers covet the area for some very good climbs as well as for the "Fortress of Solitude", a formation that boasts several 5.12-5.14 climbs. I have heard the Fortress described as the "future of sport climbing in America".
Some sights along Hadley Gulch trail:







This past Wednesday Ella and I hiked up Williams Peak just west of the Sunlight Ski Area and looped down Babbish Gulch, which divides Williams Peak and Sunlight. This beautiful hike offered views of the Fourmile area and the Elk Range to our southeast. Williams Peak's summit is just over 10,000 feet and spring had not yet greened the aspens in the area. In the following picture, taken from the summit of Williams Peak, you can see the southern flank of Mt. Sopris (12,953') on the left, Capitol Peak (14,130') in the center, and Snowmass Mountain (14,092') just to the right of Capitol. I admit that with just over two weeks until our first fourteener, it was disturbing to see so much snow still on these tall mountains.


The view to the west/northwest from the summit of Williams Peak:


The view back at Williams Peak from the ridge at the head of Babbish Gulch:


Yesterday we decided to return to the same region. This time, however, we set-up a car shuttle and started at Marion Gulch outside of Carbondale and crossed over into Babbish Gulch where our other car was waiting. The backcountry between Marion Gulch and Babbish Gulch was only lightly trodden, and we found some amazing sights including teal-blue springs, green meadows, and towering vistas of Mt. Sopris and the other Elk mountains.
This teal-colored pool was even bluer before Keebler and Mia (dogs, not humans, for those of you that don't know them) jumped in for a swim:

Mark and Ella hiking through just one of several beautiful, green meadows between Babbish Gulch and Marion Gulch:

A striking view of Mt. Sopris, Capitol Peak, and Snowmass Mountain:


And finally, to close off the first two weeks of training/hiking, I hiked to the top of Grizzly Creek in Glenwood Canyon today. This has been a favorite hike of mine for over a decade. It is a beautiful eight-mile roundtrip to the top, and today was a perfect, azure-sky day. Unfortunately, since it was Memorial Day weekend and nearby favorite Hanging Lake trail was closed, there were many other hikers.

That's it for now. What a great couple of weeks of hiking. I hope everyone is having a great summer. Only two weeks and counting until the real adventure begins! Happy trails!