High Dune (Great Sand Dunes NP)

No trail, open route up to High Dune
Trailhead Elevation: 8,242 ft.

High Dune Elevation: 8,709 ft.
Distance: 1.93 mi. (my Forerunner 235)
Elevation Gain: 850 ft. (my Forerunner 235)
Start Time: 9:44am
End Time: 10:49am


Trip Report:
We hit all the nails on the head with our visit to Great Sand Dunes. We had read on the NPS website beforehand about the potential for 2-hour waits for entry at midday on weekends. We were planning to head down there on a Saturday morning before my brother and his family had to leave town. We made it down there just after 9am and had only 2 cars at the entry booth ahead of us. When we left later on around noon the line may have been 30-40 cars deep. Arriving early also helped with parking. The Dunes Parking lot is definitely not big enough to handle a busy summer day. The lot was probably 90% full when we arrived. Later as we were leaving cars were hunting spots in the lot and ending up parking along the road or in the picnic area up the hill. We also hit the weather well today. Temps were low 60s and almost felt cool with a light breeze upon arrival. The temp maybe hit low 70s when we had left. The cloud cover stay consistent and so the sun never really had a chance to overheat the sand. All of this made for great hiking weather.

Immovable Mountains

[Originally published in the Monroe News on July 24, 2020]

If you’ve ever been out to the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado you’ll likely have strong memories of the shifting sand dunes which make up the park’s namesake.  But will you also remember the crowning peaks that sit at the north end of the park?  The tallest of them is a beautiful giant of a peak with amazing red conglomerate sandstone named Crestone Peak.  It is made of such a sturdy rock one could wonder if such a mountain would stand forever.

In 2008 I was on a climbing adventure with my father and brother and we were seeking to climb Crestone Peak.  Its summit stands at 14,294 feet above sea level.  Its no easy climb.  To gain the summit of this peak you have to climb up a steep, narrow red gully of rock which is over a 1000 feet tall.  If you have fears of heights this definitely wouldn’t be a place for you.  Compounding the challenge for us in 2008, about halfway up the gully a snowfield still remained from heavy winter snows.  While climbing on steep snow is very do-able if you have the right equipment and skill, it is also an unforgiving activity.  A fall on such snow could easily send you flying down the mountain into a bed of rock.

Silver Creek to Point 12505

Silver Creek TH, Colorado Trail to Pass then unmarked trail to Point 12505
Trailhead Elevation: 9,446 ft.

High Elevation: 12,505 ft.
Distance: 8.85 mi. (my Forerunner 235)

Elevation Gain: 4,088 ft. (my Forerunner 235)
Start Time: 8:44am
End Time: 12:13pm


Trip Report:
This hike came about on a whim. Our initial intentions for this morning were to hit a 14er summit but the weather reports were pretty poor for above treeline. Couple this with a bit of a later start and a big summit was sailing out the door. Nonetheless we didn't want to lose a good day out in Colorado. We left the house, my brother and I, with the intentions of heading up the North Cottonwood trail to Kroenke Lake. As we headed up the road my brother mentioned trying a different trail today as we had ended up yesterday's hike on Mt. Harvard in the same spot here. So I mentioned the Silver Creek trailhead and the nice hike it offered. We opted for this and changed course.

Mt. Harvard Traverse

Frenchman Creek Trail to Harvard Summit and descent on Mt. Harvard trail through Horn Fork Basin to N. Cottonwood Creek trail.
Start Elevation: 9,414 ft.

Summit Elevation: 14,420 ft.

Finish Elevation: 9,892 ft.
Distance: 14.30 mi. (my Forerunner 235)
Elevation Gain: 5300 ft. (my Forerunner 235)
Start Time: 5:37am
End Time: 1:46pm


Trip Report:
I've had my eye on a return trip to Harvard in recent years. I first climbed it in 2010 with my friend Matt when we did the Harvard-Columbia traverse from our campsite in Horn Fork Basin. I instantly fell in love with the area. I wanted to change the route up slightly this time. I had read good things about the Frenchman Creek approach and decided to make a scenic up-and-over route on Harvard to keep things fresh. With all of this being relatively close to my folks place in the BV area we had an easy way to get vehicles in place for the two trailheads we'd be using.

Harvard Lakes Backpacking - And a Missing Hiker

Three Elk trail to Colorado Trail
Lower Trailhead Elevation: 8,831 ft.

Upper Trailhead Elevation: 9,302 ft.

Harvard Lakes Elevation: 10,246 ft.

Hike In
Start Time: 4:57pm
End Time: 6:07pm (6:59pm)

Distance: 1.91mi. (4.18 w/ search)

Elevation Gain: 1082 ft. (1309 w/ search)

Hike Out

Start Time: 8:40am

End Time: 9:55am

Distance: 2.77mi. (to lower TH)

Elevation Gain: 116 ft.

Trip Report:
This summer was the first time my whole family and my brother's whole family would be together in Colorado and staying at my parent's house. This meant wonderful amounts of family time and opportunities to give the kids new experiences in the backcountry. I knew immediately I wanted to find a way to take out all the young cousins backpacking. My boys have had a few short experiences already and the chance to get my brother's kids out to enjoy the same was enticing. We weighed through a number of options and places of how to accomplish this. One of the times I've taken my boys out was merely hiking a half mile up the North Cottonwood Creek trail and picking a spot. A short excursion like that is necessary with new young backpackers as they likely won't be carrying much of their gear. The adults in the gear get overloaded packs with extra sleeping bags and tents.