Quandary Peak - 14ers.com Winter Welcomer

November 26, 2022

14ers.com Winter Welcomer on Quandary Peak (west ridge) 14,265'

Every year there is a gathering of folks hoping to get some experience in the mountains in winter conditions. This year, I decided to lead a small group and hopefully hope some people learn and gain experience on class 3 terrain in wintery conditions. Isaac, Nicole and Mike met me at the cabin in Alma on Friday night and we got an early start for the 15 minute drive to the Quandary Trailhead. We met three others there and carpooled to the upper trailhead at blue lakes. Setting off from the trailhead at 6:45 am, we hiked up to the West Ridge of Quandary, working our way through snow topped talus and battling a constant wind. We reached the ridge proper at nearly 10 am and started making our way across the fun class 3 scramble. I climbed mostly with the newer folks and Nicole while Isaac hung back with Mike. We all summitted, hung out on the summit for a while and then made our way back down to the lower parking lot via the standard trail. We relaxed with other hikers in the parking lot and had a beer while catching up with new and old friends. We were back at the cabin by 2:30 for a fun evening and relaxing rest of the weekend. 

Martha Couloir - Mt Lady Washington

November 22, 2022

Martha Couloir

You don't know if you don't go. Laura was wanting to try something in the park this weekend so we decided that we would take a look at Martha Couloir. There were no conditions reports so we took our chances and made the hike into the Long's cirque of Rocky Mountain National Park. We started from the Longs Peak Trailhead at 5:55 am and steadily made our way up the trail, taking all the shortcuts we know. It was a beautiful morning and the sun was shining. With only a short stop to put on harnesses and grab a snack, we made it to Chasm Lake just before 9 am. The couloir was not in great shape, holding almost zero ice. Laura talked me into going to take a look and by the time I knew it, I was a pitch into the climbing and heading up. We climbed on mostly wet rock and terrible snow for several pitches, finding a mass of cams left behind from someone who had recently bailed on the climb. The climbing was fun and a bit challenging, being mostly rock. We topped out on the couloir at 2 pm and rather than going to the summit of Mt. Lady Washington, we decided to cut down toward Chasm Junction. The long talus hop back to the Longs Peak felt never ending, but once we reached the trail, we made good time, once again taking the shortcuts back to the trailhead and arriving at the car at 4:30 pm. Today was a fun day in the mountains and it's hard to beat the beauty of RMNP!

Mt. Tweto, Treasurevault Mountain, Mosquito Peak

Nov 19, 2022

Mt. Tweeto 13,672'
Treasurevault Mountain 13,701'
Mosquito Peak 13,781'

Looking for something close to home on the weekend, we called Isaac and Nicole and made a plan to meet them for a few 13ers in the area. Without a plan, we set off from the trailhead on Mosquito Pass around 7 am. Some snow was present in the valley but by the time we reached tree line, most of the area was windblown. We all summitted Mt. Tweeto, then decided to continue on to Treasurevault and then over Mosquito Peak as we made our way to the road at Mosquito Pass. We hiked down the road, past a few mines and back to the cars by midafternoon. A windy and chilly day out but we all enjoyed some new peaks!

Guadalupe Peak, Guadalupe Peak National Park and Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Guadalupe Peak, TX

October 30 - Nov 4, 2022

Wanting to get away for a short trip out of Colorado, Laura, Hazel and I decided to join our friends Joe and Mareshah on a trip south to a few National Parks. Breaking up the drive, we made a stopover in Santa Fe. We visited the spiral staircase in Loretto Chapel as I recalled visiting there in my childhood. It was as unique as I had remembered. 

We also spent a few hours exploring Pecos National Monument. We walked and explored the history, Pueblos and ruins. 

In Santa Fe we went to a museum with Day of the Dead shrines and native American dancers as well as explored the city center where indians were selling their hand made jewelry and other wares.

After a relaxing time in Santa Fe, we drove through Roswell and made a stop at the international UFO museum before we met up with Joe and Mareshah at Carlsbad Caverns for the bat flight. 

The bat flight was a very interesting and fun thing to experience. About 1 million bats live in the cave and each night near dusk they fly out in groups to eat. As it was the last day of October, about half of the bats had migrated to Mexico already but seeing 400,000 bats fly out of a cave is a really neat experience. They appeared as huge clouds in the sky as the groups flew away from the cave and it took about 15 minutes for all of them to leave. After feeding overnight, the bats return each morning sometime before dawn.

Carlsbad Caverns is a great destination and the best showcase of geology I have ever seen. All of us walked the mile down into the cave, explored the big room and did a tour of the King's Palace. Pictures don't do this place justice. 

We camped several nights in Guadalupe Mountains National Park. The first day we hiked to Devil's Hall, a 5 mile round trip hike that tested Mareshah and her recovery from recent surgery on a broken ankle. 

Guadalupe Peak was one of our main goals on the trip and on our last day we had nice weather for the hike. The 5 of us met at the trailhead and started hiking at about 10 am. With a slow and steady pace, we summitted 3 hours after leaving trailhead. There is an excellent trail the entire way and since it is not steep and rocky, it was easy having Hazel in the backpack. We all relaxed on the summit for a half hour before heading down. I went ahead as I knew that Mareshah would be stepping very carefully going down hill and with Hazel, a more steady pace is much easier. Hazel and I reached the trailhead in about 2 hours and ate some snacks while relaxing in our camp chairs until the rest of the group got back down. We celebrated with a beer and a nice steak for dinner at the campsite.