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Speleothing posted:Do you want boots or shoes? At that price point there's a huge difference. I'm going to recommend the Salewa Alp Trainer - you can get them low or high-topped with GoreTex or without. But, as we've said a million times in these threads, it's all about finding a good fit. Don't buy these if you are doing anything that involves jamming your foot into rock cracks. I shredded the Kevlar rand in less than a month with some (light, in my mind) desert scrambling. Also, buy new shoelaces in advance. It sucks that they have basically fallen apart, because otherwise I love them. 
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Apr 29, 2013 14:55
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JAY ZERO SUM GAME posted:Please don't hike in jeans. Don't assume good weather all day, and jeans are awful and dangerous in bad weather, especially Colorado this time of year. This, forever, but cotton in general. Please do not wear cotton hiking.
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Jun 4, 2013 20:37
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Some truly outstanding glissading to be had on Mt. Sherman today: IMG_2943 by WestslopeBruin, on Flickr Had a crew of 12 - all summitted; three bagged their first 14er. Season is ON!
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Jun 10, 2013 01:59
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Southern Colorado is still on fire. IMG_2981 by WestslopeBruin, on Flickr Neat lighting effects, but man I was a little wheezy after even just a little scramble. That's Kineo Mountain near Colorado Springs. Hoping to peak it sometime this summer.
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Jun 22, 2013 15:10
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Received an invite to do Four Pass Loop with a great group of ladies in a few weeks...as an overnight trip.  I'm both looking forward to it and actively dreading it all at the same time!
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Jul 22, 2013 02:58
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 I am jealous and sort of scared at the same time. Looks like an awesome trip! So, I was supposed to backpack Four Pass Loop this weekend (that's 28mi ... as an overnighter). My iliopsoas injury flared up though and we ended up staying at Snowmass Lake and hiking back out. As it was, it took half a hydrocodone to get my butt back up over Buckskin Pass. Some choice photos:  Untitled by WestslopeBruin, on Flickr  Untitled by WestslopeBruin, on Flickr  Untitled by WestslopeBruin, on Flickr  Untitled by WestslopeBruin, on Flickr Whistlepigs   Untitled by WestslopeBruin, on Flickr ALSO! My Lowas decided to chew up part of my leg and I have a huge contusion where the tongue of my boot was evidently pressed hard into my shin. This has never happened before with these boots, and I'm hugely disappointed.
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Aug 12, 2013 06:12
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Smoove J posted:Awesome pics, I need to get a real camera. I love those mountains, Long's Peak was my first 14er but I spent most of my time in CO in the San Juan Range area. Those are all iPhone pics.  I'm a Durango baby myself - well, grew up there anyways. I live out in the Springs now but will forever consider the Western Slope my home. I'm hoping to hit a lot of San Juans next year. When did you do Longs? I am thinking of doing it as a late fall climb, depending on the weather.
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Aug 13, 2013 01:08
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Smoove J posted:This is my kinda hike in the San Juans: http://www.summitpost.org/jagged-mountain/154515 Nice man. I generally prefer Class 3+, myself. The Weminuche is incredible. I haven't been in about 20 years - long before I started actually being interested in this sort of thing. I hope to backpack that way next year, if I don't end up spending my vacation time making a Rainier attempt. If you head up to Telluride, it's not exactly a hike, but the via ferrata there is pretty fun (http://www.summitpost.org/telluride-s-krogerata/750815). It's one of the only via ferrata routes in the US. Highly recommend the SW ridge of Sneffles (near Ouray) if you haven't already done it. It's short but sweet. I still have to do a grudge hike of the NE ridge of Lone Cone (http://www.summitpost.org/lone-cone/151801). I got weathered off last year - a constant hazard in the San Juans. Also want to do Engineer Mountain (http://www.summitpost.org/engineer-mountain/150328) just because it's so distinctive. Growing up in that area, it's sort of a landmark. I might do that over Labor Day with the via ferrata thrown in. Longs - I'm not accomplished enough to try the Diamond yet. I'm doing my first multi-pitch trad climb tomorrow (following; not leading) so I am still a long ways off. I'd probably just do the Keyhole route as an overnighter. I would like to try the Cable Route, though.
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Aug 13, 2013 03:34
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Picnic Princess posted:I'm jealous of all you southerners who can claim mountains that high and so easily because of your climate. All the peaks over 11,000' up here are glaciated craggy horns of death. Highest I've been was somewhere around 9,600'. Don't know for sure because we went off route and hit an impassable vertical wall on a knife-edge ridge not far from the summit at 10,200'. Thanks, vertically tilted strata! Your climbs sound really awesome and I am continually jealous of your photos. alnilam posted:What are some good brands of duct tape? Gorilla Tape 4 lyfe
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Aug 13, 2013 13:52
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Finally did Bierstadt-Sawtooth-Evans   Untitled by WestslopeBruin, on Flickr Sunrise over The Sawtooth  Untitled by WestslopeBruin, on Flickr My ~boyfriend~ starting up The Sawtooth. Data! http://runkeeper.com/user/WestslopeBruin/activity/227441895 Consulting the Trails Unlimited map and 14ers.com, we decided to come down the Scott Gomer Creek Trail. The bottom section is sort of like the willows section of the Bierstadt trail, only unimproved and 2 miles long. Basically we bushwhacked through 2 miles of swamp and came out soaked and reeking. Also we saw some moose! It was awesome! It was ridiculously hot on the 'Tooth, hot enough I was seriously considering making the traverse in my frilly underthings. By the time we got to Evans though it was hailing. It's weird doing a combo like that to come to a parking lot at nearly 14k feet and being stuck behind a line of people making the summit in flipflops whilst smoking in a hailstorm. Also a fun thing happened as three Bierstadt summitters decided to follow the crazy people with the helmets. They were hiking in shorts, one bookbag between the three of them, perhaps a quart of water, and certainly not a shred of rain gear. What brought my attention to them was the tremendous rockfall I heard behind us on The Sawtooth. I was waiting for screams, honestly. I hope they learned, though. Smoove J posted:If you've ever wondered what those mountains around you are named, or if you want to see a little preview silhouette of what you're about to climb, get the PeakFinder app, best app ever. Gotta get this app 
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Aug 20, 2013 05:44
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krispykremessuck posted:Take a course in wilderness navigation, and get a decent GPS and bring extra batteries. You can kind of forego the wilderness nav course if you have at least a GPS and know how to use it AND aren't planning off-trail excursions. It's really easy to lose you way in the hills/mountains, especially if you're dozens of miles in. Also learn how to use a map and compass. And use them. Batteries run out, poo poo breaks.
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Aug 23, 2013 04:01
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The aspens are starting to turn gold here, so now I have winter on my mind, and it has occurred to me that I need to re-evaluate my base layer. Currently I've got 3 sets of polyester long johns that were hand me downs from my Mom and that fit me at one time when I was hugely fat but no longer. Also I don't think they're going to stand up to my winter plans, which are getting a bit more ambitious with my growing experience. What's the good stuff these days? Merino, silk, or some kind of synthetic (I don't care about being a smelly beast, my boyfriend is used to it)?
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Sep 14, 2013 19:47
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Thanks dudes. I think I'll go polypro for now, since I sweat like a pig. Enjoy this picture of Little Bear Peak, I climbed it last weekend:  photo 2-2 by WestslopeBruin, on Flickr
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Sep 15, 2013 23:01
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JAY ZERO SUM GAME posted:Was little bear as dangerous as its reputation? How was the climb? Just helmets and a huge set of balls (metaphorically)? Get to the Hourglass early. It is definitely treacherous, but I think most of the risk can be mitigated by climbing during the week or really early. We rolled into camp around 2 on Saturday; about 3 some people were coming down and started laying into us accusing us of rockfall, until I explained we had just arrived. Evidently someone in the Class 2 gully got beat up pretty good. We started around quarter to 5 Sunday morning, and on the way got a snotty remark from some other climbers not to kick rocks down on them (well THAT ruined my weekend....). We had great conditions though, the Hourglass was dry except for a tiny bit of runoff down the center. Just enough to make the rope wet and the rappel a little chilly! In any case, we ended up summitting with some cool geezers we met up the way and the four of us were first to the top that morning. The snotty party was on their way up as we were going down and we waited about 50 minutes just above the rappel anchor waiting for them to come up (they were foolishly choosing to follow the ropeline, rather than veer left/west to climb on solid rock). SP was yelling "rock" about every 90 seconds. We descended once they cleared the Hourglass but unfortunately despite asking them to wait for us to get to the bottom, they kept going up and sending rocks down. Fortunately nothing too nasty. But it was clear from their routefinding and lack of courtesy/safety awareness that they didn't really belong on that mountain. I guess what I'm saying by all this is just to be careful and start early. Rock fall is nearly unavoidable on this peak, and if you are up there with a bunch of dopes, that ups the danger factor significantly. One of the (very experienced) guys we were with stepped on something he thought was solid and dislodged about a bowling ball sized rock, which bounced down the Hourglass, hit a gendarme and shattered into pieces; a resulting softball-sized remaining rock ricocheted off the other wall and exploded in a glorious rain of stones. It was spectacular and a great reminder to 1. be careful 2. call your rocks 3. wear a helmet 4. prepare your advance directives. I ended up getting hurt, but it was by spraining my ankle coming down that godawful Jeep trail. I think backpacking the Jeep trail was the hard part. eta: the climb is all mental, if you're decent at Class 2 - 4 scrambling it's a piece of cake. Just focus. remote control carnivore fucked around with this message at 01:15 on Sep 17, 2013 |
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Sep 17, 2013 01:12
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TerminalSaint posted:Welcome to my world. Stuff like this is part of why my park's mountain has possibly the highest number of emergency responses of any mountain in the country. You think that's great, come out to Colorado and set yourself up at a 14er trailhead. It's pretty amusing. Although the best one I ever heard came from my mentor, who came across a very well made up lady with nothing more than a fanny pack, and a much older, overweight, and very red-faced gentleman on the side of Mt. Sneffels. It turns out she was a stripper, he was her patron, and she decided she wanted to come out to Colorado (from Oklahoma City) to climb a mountain. The fanny pack? Filled with makeup.
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Sep 30, 2013 00:43
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Bottom Liner posted:Christmas came early! Been doing some light bike camping, but filled out my kit nicely with some Amazon credit. Cute weiner
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Oct 10, 2013 02:17
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Speleothing posted:You should be psyched. This year is already shaping up to be legendary for Colorado ice climbing. EVERYTHING is coming in strong. No fooling. I was just complaining to some friends that I need a freakin' vacation (nothing more than 4 day weekend since 2008). So I'm planning to head to the ice park in Ouray this season, hopefully for the fest in January, depending on my stupid court schedule. People are already ice climbing on Longs. Also hoping for an awesome ascent of the north face of Pikes Peak (y couloir) this spring because I'm too cool to go up Barr  JAY ZERO SUM GAME, come out and play.
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Nov 7, 2013 03:01
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TouchyMcFeely posted:I thought the First Accent stuff was mostly for mountaineers. Its that not the case? I have a First Ascent down jacket. It's OK, but my GoLite is a lot better.
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Nov 9, 2013 02:19
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MMD3 posted:I've always hiked in pretty thick socks, like the extra heavy smart wool mountaineering socks. These are also pretty much the best socks ever to wear just because. When they get worn out I retire them for pajama socks.
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Nov 13, 2013 04:24
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BF and I attempted Pikes Peak yesterday. We ended up experiencing some tranquil late fall hiking with 90mph wind gusts.  We got about half a mile from the summit before we decided the weather had changed from "uncomfortable" to "laughably ridiculous" to "loving dangerous". Small rocks were getting picked up by the wind and we got blown off our feet a few times, turning a Class 1 hike into a Class 3-4. This is probably the dumbest summit attempt I have ever made.
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Nov 17, 2013 16:03
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So I'm looking into planning a hut trip maybe in January or February, but we'll do it as a snowshoe trip. Does anyone have any pointers/tips/suggestions?
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Nov 23, 2013 02:26
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I remember when New Belgium was good beer. 
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Nov 23, 2013 04:21
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You should try to go canyoneering while you're at Arches (if you're into that sort of thing). I know there are guide groups that lead trips. I could probably get some good ones for you if you're interested.
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Dec 11, 2013 04:35
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FreakerByTheSpeaker posted:Speaking of defense, does anyone hike with a gun? Some people I talk to about hiking (esp solo backwoods stuff) say that they do/I should carry a gun for bears and/or meth producers, but that seems loving silly. I ran into some mountain lion tracks on a hike once and posted a pic on Facebook. My aunt got all  and bought me a .45 and a drop holster. Which sat in a drawer at home, unused.In other news, Loch Vale today at RMNP:  IMG_3548 by WestslopeBruin, on Flickr It was slightly breezy.
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Jan 18, 2014 01:56
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agarjogger posted:Anybody do Long's Peak in CO? Recommend it to a noobish solo hiker/boulderer? What route and what time of year? There's a big difference between "hourglass in July" and "cables in February". agarjogger posted:gently caress it I'll do Elbert. A good choice, but I'd say the premier "easy" winter 14er is probably the East Slopes of Quandary.
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Feb 4, 2014 04:57
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Hello thread! I am a swarthy person of southern European descent and as such have never found much of a need for sunblock. Until 1. snowshoeing at 13,000 feet last Sunday with consequences and 2. realizing I have developed some suspicious moles  . I freaking hate sunblock because all the sunblock I have ever used has been greasy crap that runs into my eyes at the barest hint of sweat. Any awesome recs for sunblock that doesn't do these things that will keep me from looking like a pink racoon? A friend recommended Neutrogena 100 SPF but that sounds like overkill.
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Mar 13, 2014 03:04
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spwrozek posted:Coppertone sport spf 30 is may go to in Denver and in the mountains. Use it for hiking, skiing, and biking. Never had an issue. n8r posted:Coppertone sport in the blue bottle Thanks, dudes. Will give it a test run on my backpacking outing this weekend, which won't be quite as near the sun anyways. 
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Mar 15, 2014 05:13
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Saw a billion posts to the thread, assumed everyone was playing show and tell over their dividend haul. Didn't we just do gunchat? I'm another one that bleeds money when I come into contact with an REI, so got $70.00 (actually, it's $69.69  ), plus I have some gift cards that I hoarded up from Christmas and my birthday. Personally I am thinking about picking up an Alite Monarch, some socks, and a bunch of new carabiners. You can never really go wrong with socks and carabiners.
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Mar 24, 2014 04:06
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Business of Ferrets posted:I've built my rack (what there is of it so far) essentially by tossing in a carabiner, runner, nut or screw each time I make a purchase. Slow going but doesn't break the bank. That was another thing I was considering: breaking into trad and building a rack 
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Mar 24, 2014 19:38
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Elbert is the highest and the easiest, in my opinion.
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Apr 12, 2014 00:59
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I went on a trip last year with some friends, and another acquaintance did a pretty nice spread of couscous with dehydrated vegetables and tinned chicken. The chicken is obviously a luxury item, but couscous doesn't weigh much and you only have to soak it. I think she found some dehydrated carrots at the grocery store. I can't find them at my grocery store, (she lives in Utah) but I imagine you might be able to find it at a health food store.
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May 2, 2014 04:49
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I need awesome hike recommendations for the Smoky Mtns - what is not to be missed? Also +1 on Merrell trail gloves and hike/backpack/snowshoe all of the things in RMNP.
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May 16, 2014 01:39
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Picnic Princess posted:I finally got out on Sunday. I don't drive right now, and I always work weekends when my husband is free, but my boss screwed up a time off request so I had Sunday free! I did a short jaunt up to a place called C-Level Cirque, near Banff on the east slope of Cascade Mountain. Cascade is one of our iconic peaks and if you've seen pictures of Banff, you've seen pictures of it because the town is built at it's base. I've never wanted to "like" posts so bad on SA before
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Jul 3, 2014 04:05
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An electric fence just sounds like a really efficient way to piss off the bear.
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Jul 4, 2014 15:52
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I spent yesterday at Mt. Evans Wilderness doing some trail work. I wish I had taken pictures, because holy poo poo, what a difference 6 hours of hard labor by 30 people makes. I have an entirely new respect for trails now. I really encourage people to participate in a trail project or projects. Also I fell asleep at 7pm last night.
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Jul 13, 2014 13:33
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Why didn't you just use a capped length of PVC?
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Jul 13, 2014 19:07
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BF and I, a few weeks ago, decided Little Bear wasn't enough and went for the Blanca traverse: IMG_4025 by WestslopeBruin, on FlickrBF in the Hourglass section of Little Bear (geez didn't I just post this?)  10644803_10202827721276247_5840886055650151792_n by WestslopeBruin, on FlickrThe traverse between Little Bear Peak and Blanca Peak. This is about a mile of Class 3 to 5.3ish climbing. Due to high winds and having to wait about 45 minutes for some climbers coming up the side (I'm guessing they were climbing infamous Captain Bivwacko tower - I later heard climbing commands), it took us nearly 5 hours to complete the traverse alone.  10628087_10202827721396250_8630044744467912729_n by WestslopeBruin, on FlickrYours truly bypassing Captain Bivwacko tower (that square thing back there)  IMG_4035 by WestslopeBruin, on FlickrBF on the ridge between Blanca and Ellingwood. After spending nearly 5 hours on the traverse, we were just too wiped to complete the trip to Ellingwood.  IMG_4043 by WestslopeBruin, on FlickrThe lakes coming back down from Blanca. Although the Lake Como Road is pretty busy with Jeepers and ATV enthusiasts, the upper trail was probably one of the most underrated stretches of 14er trail I've ever been on. It was gorgeous in the stark way that is typical for high-altitude landscapes. Scarce photos, as we were too busy focusing on what we were doing than taking photos! Biggest technical challenge was a black headwall with a small chimney problem, perhaps a 5.3. Most of the route was just nutting up foot-wide knife edges comprised sometimes of talus (seriously frightening) with thousands of feet of exposure. Itinerary: Friday we left from Colorado Springs and crashed in the back of the Subaru. Backpacked up to Lake Como Saturday and made camp. Sun LB -> Blanca, then a lazy afternoon playing by the lake. Sun hiked out and went for the obligatory Burger Quest (it was Labor Day so we had to settle for Chipotle).
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Sep 24, 2014 03:41
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n8r posted:Not to be a dick, but climbing that without a rope looks pretty loving stupid. It's class 4. It looks steeper than it is. Almost no one climbs it with a rope. People that do are weirdos. Traverse is class 5.3 or so, but most people still don't use ropes.
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Sep 25, 2014 01:04
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Any suggestions for SLC/Logan UT area hikes? I don't want to have to bring my entire winter kit (snowshoes, etc.) but I'd be cool for, say, a microspikes-needed tour. TIA.
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Dec 16, 2014 05:55
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Booked for Pikes Peak via Barr Trail. Stay at Barr Camp 3/16, summit St. Paddy's day. Suuuuuper stoked.
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Feb 26, 2015 02:35
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