Mt. Bierstadt Winter Ascent

Route Name: West Slopes from Naylor Lakes Parking
Trailhead Elevation: 10,867 ft.
Summit Elevation: 14,060 ft.
Distance: 10.38 mi.
Elevation Gain: 3,431 ft.
Start Time: 11:31am
Summit Time: 3:43pm (10 minutes on top)
End Time: 7:47pm

Trip Report:

Its not often, and for good reasons, that one gets to about 10 in the morning and then finally decides today is the day to do a 14er climb.  That’s where we found ourselves as we decided on Mt. Bierstadt.  On our trip out to Colorado we had originally worked on plans to do Pikes Peak via Barr Camp as we had done in 2014.  We always left the option open to change plans and because of the weather possibilities that were headed the way of the Front Range we did change.  Pikes was due to get 2-4 inches the night before we would be heading to the summit and we decided that was more difficulty than we wanted.  That was especially true this year given we had already done the Pikes climb just 3 years prior.  We began investigating Bierstadt from the Naylor Lakes parking on the Guanella Pass road.  Recent conditions reports listed the upper parts of the mountain and the approaches in good shape.  Even with the possibility we figured 2-4 inches of snow on Bierstadt would be manageable still.  That is, until we decided at 10am this very morning to just go for it before the storm would hit.  

Pinckney Blind Lake Backpacking Jan '17

Potawatomi Trail:
Pinckney State Recreation Area
Trailhead Elevation: 888 ft.

Trail-run - Crooked Lake Loop
  Distance: 4.30 mi. 
  Elevation Gain: 208 ft.
  Start Time: 2:37pm

Jan. 1 Hike In: 
  Distance: 6.67 mi. 
  Elevation Gain: 240 ft.
  Start Time: 3:49pm
  End Time: 6:01pm

Jan. 2 Hike Out:
  Distance: 4.38 mi. 
  Elevation Gain: 174 ft.
  Start Time: 8:17am
  End Time: 9:41am

Crosswinds Marsh

I'd seen Crosswinds Marsh on the map a few times and it didn't look like much until I did some investigating and found there are several miles of really good trail there. A few weeks back I stopped in for a few minutes to grab a picture of the trail map though I didn't have time to do anything that day.

A World Series for the Generations

The seemingly impossible has become possible, the Cubs are World Series champs for the first time in over a century.  For 108 years Cubs fans have been waiting for this elusive third World Series title.  Who would have thought that after winning 2 of the first 5 World Series in history that the next would have to wait for more than a century. They did, after all, make it to seven World Series in the next 37 years which is no small accomplishment. Yet, not once in those next seven tries did they win the whole thing.  Once World War II came and went and the Cubs made the Series in 1945 the real drought began as the Cubs would not even make the Series again until this year, 2016. 

Jordan Valley Pathway

Jordan Valley Pathway
TH Elevation: 1332 ft.
Low Elevation: 841 ft.
Distance: 12.03 mi. (my FR230)
Elevation Gain: 992 ft. (estimate)
Start Time: 1:28pm
End Time 3:52pm


Trip Report:
This was one of those trails that I'd never heard, never even seen a hint of it on any map, and out of the blue I saw someone posting about it on a Trail-runners facebook group and their pictures had me hooked. Several expansive views with some growing fall colors and it looked great. Even better, I was going to be headed towards Boyne a week or so after I saw the photos and so it would all work out perfectly.