Rock and Trail Tales

Day off? What beats a walk and a beer at the local brewery?  Two walks!  I get a fun loopy hike through Rabbit Mountain Open Space just outside of Lyons, Colorado.  Then I stroll through the sunset around the pretty ponds at Pella Crossing near Longmont.  From there, it's 2 miles to Oskar Blues Brewery and a pint of Pumpkin Ale.

Sorry for the delay! On account of illness and bad audio, I've been M.I.A. for the last 6 weeks. But today I bring you a tale of adventure, discovery, and beer. On two afternoons of hikes just north of town, I work up a thirst that can only be quenched with local brews straight from the tap of one of Boulder's six breweries. Today, we'll walk in Boulder Valley Ranch and on Hogback Ridge, then visit Twisted Pine for a Chocolate Spearmint Porter and Upslope for a Foreign Style Stout. Yum.

On a short late-September one night backpacking trip, I take in the "Best Ridgline" section of the Continental Divide Trail on a larger loop through Vasquez Peak, Byers Peak, and Ptarmigan Peak Wildernesses. On this first day, I head southwest along the divide itself through poorly cairned tundra with gorgeous views on the the way to a pretty campsite along the the south fork of the Middle Fork of the Williams Fork River.

After the terrible descent from Col de Voza, I sleep in Les Houches.  The next morning is a long valley walk then up Col de Balme.  A gnarly high level route under the Glacier de Trient leads to the start of the last climb, a steep one over Fenetre de Arpette.  The ugly drop into Champex Lac marks the end of the trip and the beginning of a 36 hour trip back to Colorado.

I leave a dingy, ruined hut to head over Col de Seigne, past the Glacier des Glaciers, buy some cheese, climb the Col de Fours, traverse to the Col de la Croix de Bonhomme, eat some cheese, pass through Contamines de Montjoie, climb the Col de la Voza, and descend, descend, curse, swear, descend to Les Houches.

Having been rained out of the Mauverans, I make my way to La Fouly, at the head of the Swiss Val Ferret to start an amended Tour du Mont Blanc.  On my first day hiking, I travel 29 miles and 13,000 feet cumulative ascent over several passes through the Italian Val Ferret, Val Sapin and Val Veni to end at Refugio Elizabetta

Leaving Jeff at the train station, I head up into the misty storm above Sion for the Tour des Mauverans.  The circuit travels through beautiful and rugged karst for 31 miles with 13,000 feet of elevation gain. Unfortunately, the weather really settles in, and I bail about two-thirds of the way through to make my way to the Tour du Mont Blan

With Jeff slightly convalesced and the end of his trip looming, we head out from our comfy hotel and take a short walk from Sunnega to Riffelalp on the east side of the Mattertal.  The next day, we're on one of the best dayhikes either of us has ever had: the beautiful, panoramic Hohneweg Hohbalmen. Finally, we work up a thirst for Valais wines with a canal-side walk above Sion and the banks of the Rhone

The fourth and short fifth days of our Haute Route hike take us from Cabane des Escoulaires over Pas de Chevre to camp in Arolla and then down the valley to Les Hauderes.  After crossing the beautiful pass and getting our first glimpse of the Matterhorn, Jeff's shin swells, reddens, and begins to throb.  With no remedy in the morning, we call the hike in Les Hauderes and head for Zermatt, beer, and cheese

On a long and stormy day, we head downhill from Champex to Le Chable, jump the Verbier gondola to Cabane du Mont Fort, cross the Sentier des Chamois, Grand Desert Basin and 4 passes on our way to the shores of Lac des Dix.

On the first two days of our Haute Route trip, Jeff and I make our way up from Chamonix to camp at Lac Blanc with great views of the Mont Blanc massif.  The next morning, we head down to Tre Le Champ, over Col de Balme, through Le Peuty, over Col de Forclaz, through Bovine and to Champex just ahead of a snowstorm. We sit and watch as the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc heads into the growing storm

A little more wild this episode on the beautiful trails to Arapaho Pass and Pawnee Peak, both in Indian Peaks Wilderness Area!  Switzerland here I come

With a little motivation from the upcoming trip to the Haute Route and Tour du Mont Blanc, I get out two afternoons for rugged local loop hikes over the summits of Green Mountain and Flagstaff Mountain

With episode 100 and the upcoming trip to the Alps as excuses, I finally head up Longs Peak. The beautiful mountain dominates the skyline west from Boulder and has allured me for years. 15 or so miles and 4,000 feet of elevation later, I stand on the summit for the first time!

Two local walks this episode: first comes an afternoon jaunt 12.5 miles to Lawn Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. A roaring Roaring River marks the course 2,300 feet uphill on a beautiful, sunny afternoon to a gorgeous alpine lake that was the source of one of the worst flash floods in the Front Range in the 20th century. Then a favorite easy walk up to Lost Lake and back to the Hessie trailhead via a beautiful, wildflower filled meadow.