Mount Sherman

“Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you.” - David McCullough

My husband loaded up the vansion and we headed over Independence Pass and into Leadville for the weekend to camp with family. And on Sunday, we decided to try our hand at the peak that's been dubbed "Colorado's easiest fourteener," Mount Sherman. 

We began our hike at 6:30 am; the trailhead is just a short distance from the town of Leadville, and was easy to find. The trail gets rocky and steep rather quickly; however, and we soon found ourselves scrambling up loose rock and gravel towards the high ridge in view above us. Switchbacks take you to the saddle where you join the trail from Fair Play and head up the ridge. 

For someone with a healthy fear of heights, like me, the ridge walk turned out to be slightly daunting but mostly harmless. We summited at 9:00 am, took a break and ate a snack. The sun snuck behind the clouds, and as the wind chill picked up, we decided to head back down. 

As we began our decent we noticed a steady line of people on the ridge heading towards the summit. I was happy to have missed the crowds. We were back at the car just before noon and were happy and grateful to have summited another of Colorado's mighty fourteeners. 

Cheers to Justin's mom, Diane, who didn't think she had another summit in her, but made it to the top of Mount Sherman triumphantly! 

CDT: Elbert to Hagerman Pass

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." - John Muir

My husband's sister, Shannon, set out to hike a section of the Continental Divide Trail in Colorado this summer, and she asked my husband and I to meet her in Twin Lakes towards the end of her trip and hike the last four days with her. The section we were asked to hike consisted of summiting Colorado's two tallest peaks, Elbert and Massive! 

We met Shannon around noon in Twin Lakes and drove up to the Mount Elbert Trailhead where we spent the night. In the morning, we woke up early and began our hike up Mount Elbert. For a Monday there was a surprising number of hikers on the trail. We summited around 11:00 am, and took a few pictures. It was a cold and windy day, but we were thankful for a clear sky as we made our decent and camped another night in the van. 

The next morning we hiked seven miles on the CDT to the intersection of the Mount Massive trail where we made camp for the night. This section of the CDT overlaps with the more popular Colorado Trail, and we saw a ton of other backpackers. We also encountered many day hikers; the most memorable of which was a self proclaimed "experienced hiker" from Boulder asking, "Do I sound okay to you?" from where he sat off the side of the trail, about 2 miles from the parking lot. This day hiker was completely out of food and water; Shannon gave him the last 3/4 liter of water she had along with a pack of fruit snacks, a granola bar and a baggie of nuts. The hiker drank some water and began eating the fruit snacks. He called us angels as we traveled on.

We got a late start on Wednesday morning, beginning our hike up Mount Massive at nearly 7:00 am. I was nervous about the late start, but tried my best to move at a fast (for me) pace up the mountain. We were about a mile and a half from the summit when some clouds began moving in, but we continued up anyway. We made good time to the ridge line and were on the summit before we knew it. And what a spectacular summit it was! It is rocky and harsh and exactly what the top of a mountain should be. 

I was elated to have summited Mount Massive, but I knew we needed to begin our journey back down as the storm clouds were moving in, and I never like to be on a fourteener summit after noon. We snapped several photos then began hiking back down and were surprised by just how quickly the afternoon storm moved in. It started with a sprinkle, then turned to heavy rain and finally decided to hail! We were literally jogging down the mountain to find safety and shelter in the trees below. 

Once we were out of harm's way, we hiked further down the trail and again setup camp for the night. Thursday was our last day on the trail, and we hiked 9 miles on the CDT to Hagerman Pass Road. We made it to the road in just under 5 hours, and hitched a ride to Justin and Shannon's aunt's house in Leadville. 

The trip was wonderful, although tiring, and it definitely satiated my itch for more fourteener summits and backpacking! 

Garlic Harvest

Holy garlic, Batman!

No vampires will be coming around my house - that's for sure!

Cross Mountain Loop

Lizard Head Wilderness can be accessed between Telluride and Rico, CO. I can't tell you how many times I've driven by without stopping; I decided it was finally time (long past time, really) to explore. After doing some research, we decided on hiking the Cross Mountain Loop, which takes you from Cross Mountain Trail to Lizard Head Trail.

It's not a traditional loop as the trailheads are two miles apart. We had two cars, conveniently,  and were able to park a car at Lizard Head Trailhead and shuttle our group up to Cross Mountain Trailhead. If you don't have two cars, you'll have to walk parallel to the road for an extra 2 miles once you pop out at  Lizard Head Trailhead.

Cross Mountain Trail is rather steep, and we found ourselves above tree-line before we knew it. Well, our lungs and legs definitely knew it and felt it! The Cross Mountain Trail takes you up the face of Black Mountain at the base of Lizard Head Peak before connecting with Lizard Head Trail. We went right on Lizard Head Trail and walked around the base of Lizard Head Peak and then dove back down into the trees.

The trail quickly climbs back out of the trees and up onto the ridge of another mountain. The 360 degree views from the highest point of this trail, an unnamed knob, are phenomenal, and provided a dramatic backdrop for our beef jerky and granola bar lunch.

After the knob, the trail winds down the mountain with the help of TOO MANY switchbacks. We tried to keep count, but gave up around 20. We popped out at the Lizard Head Trailhead around 1:30 pm, just as the afternoon clouds were rolling in.

The Cross Mountain Loop was a great taste of the Lizard Head Wilderness, which boasts miles and miles of pristine, seldom traveled wilderness; I plan on backpacking there in the years to come. Until then...

Blue Lake, Telluride

Blue Lake is a must-see for any outdoor enthusiast who stops over in Telluride. It's a stunning, picturesque lake tucked into the high country. The hike starts on top of Bridal Veil Falls, the road to the trailhead requires a truck, SUV or another vehicle with a bit more gusto (and clearance) than a Toyota, Corolla.

Luckily you can park at the bottom of the road, if necessary, and walk or hitchhike up to the trailhead. The trail itself follows an old mining road and weaves it's way into the high country. We unknowingly took a detour, which lengthened our hike substantially, but turned out to be spectacular with lush green mountains, waterfalls and fields of wildflowers.

We made it to the lake around noon, and were quite impressed with the incredible color of the water. The old buildings nearby and the rusty metal mining equipment show the area's rich history, and gave me the opportunity to get extra artsy while photographing the lake!

I'll definitely be returning to Blue Lake in the future. In the meantime though, I'm off to find adventure elsewhere!

I'm Famous

Okay, so I'm not actually famous...

But it's not everyday that my children's book gets featured in US Weekly, and I feel very honored for the "buzz"!

And it's now time for a shameless plug; my books can be purchased at the following link: http://www.daddyncompany.com/all-products/bookstore/paige-nickell-books.html

Mount Quandary

Mount Quandary: 14,265 feet

Whenever I get a holiday off of work I try to make the most of it, so as the Fourth of July rolled around I decided I better do something special. My husband had to work all day, but I called up an adventurous friend and spontaneously asked if she wanted to climb a fourteener with me on the 4th! She said yes, and we quickly figured out a plan.

I left Carbondale at 5:00 am on Friday and picked my friend up in Minturn at 6:00 am. We made it to the trailhead at 7:15, and began climbing. The overflow parking lot was already full, but luckily we found a spot to squeeze into. We knew going into the hike that it was going to be a busy day on the summit of Quandary!

We didn't hike through the trees long before popping out above treeline and into the steep rocky trail that made up the majority of the climb. I had heard mountain goats are a common appearance on the trail up Quandary, and we were delighted to spot so many on our way up the mountain. They are really spectacular animals; to be in the presence of so many was almost magical.

We summited Mount Quandary at 10:30 am and celebrated with a beer! We took several photos before finding a great spot to hunker down out of the wind. The summit was crowded when we arrived, but it slowly thinned out until there were only a handful of us left. As the afternoon clouds made their way towards us, we packed up and headed back down the mountain.

For a fourteener, the hike up Quandary is short and relatively easy. It was the perfect first fourteener of the season, and I'm looking forward to summiting more! 

Celebrating Love at High Elevation

My husband and I celebrated our first anniversary on June 29th in the high country outside Aspen, CO. We began our day hiking up to Cathedral Lake, which is a stunning alpine lake complete with towering peaks and dramatic views.

We took a break at the lake for a snack before deciding to head even higher towards Electric Pass, the highest named pass in Colorado at 13,635 feet. At around noon we stopped for lunch in an alpine meadow below Electric Pass; we decided to save that summit for another day and headed back down after lunch.

Our dogs were pleasantly surprised to find snow in late June, and we paused to let them romp around and cool off. When we made it to the van, we loaded up and headed further up Castle Creek to find a spot where we could drink a cold beer and soak our feet in the icy creek.

We treated ourselves to appetizers and chilled wine on the patio of the Pine Creek Cookhouse (where we were married in 2013) then drove for about a half hour up a dirt road and made camp for the night. It was a wonderful first anniversary, and I look forward to many, many more! 

CHEERS!

Savage Lakes

Having never explored the Holy Cross Wilderness, I set out to hike to a beautiful lake in late June with three friends. I studied the map for a great while before deciding on Savage Lakes as our destination. The hike to Savage Lakes is an out and back hike totaling 4 miles, which was easy to accomplish in an afternoon.

We loaded up our camelbacks and hit the road around 11:00 on Saturday morning. The drive to the trailhead turned out to be longer than I expected due to windy roads and low speed limits, but that just gave us more time to sing along to terrible songs from the high school CD collection I still have in my car.

The trailhead to Savage Lakes is well marked and easily navigable. We made it to the first lake in good time, and we decided to stop there for lunch and a rest. After lunch, we searched for the second lake, but couldn't find it. The trail was still covered in snow, and after losing it several times, we gave up and headed back.

There are seemingly endless options for hikes in the Holy Cross Wilderness, and I'm already looking forward to exploring more. Of course I intend to head back up the trail to Savage Lakes in the near future to find that hidden second lake. I've also heard rumor of a small third lake with a beautiful waterfall that I'd love to find once the snow melts off a little more.

Here's to waiting for snow to melt, so I can get further into the high country; my favorite place on earth!