Leaf Peepin'

Fall is a magical season, and every year, one of my favorite seasonal activities is leaf peeping. This year, we decided to pack up the vansion and head up Kebler Pass in search of golden leaves.

It was the perfect weekend to view the changing colors, but we were certainly not the only ones who decided that. Kebler Pass was busy and crowded with photographers and others out to see the stunning colors for themselves.

We found a campsite at the way to Lost Lake and enjoyed an crisp evening under a late September sky. The next day, we drove further up Kebler Pass to Lake Irwin, which was super crowded. Once we were past the lake, however, we pulled off the road and hiked up to Green Lake. We only passed a few people on the hike and were able to get beautiful views of the valley.

SUP Moab

"A desert is a place without expectation." - Nadine Gordimer

Another weekend, another adventure; Justin and I packed up the vansion and headed to Moab for the Back of Beyond SUP race. We arrived late Friday night, and to our surprise EVERY campsite was reserved all along 128! 

Just as it started to rain, we pulled into a final campground and a gracious host allowed us to park our van there for the night. Relieved, we set up our spot and had dinner. The campground was crowded and it wasn't long before we met some folks also in town for the race; we made new friends and learned about an awesome local (to Carbondale) SUP company, Shaboomee. 

We made the most of the stormy night dancing to funk music under the E-Z-Up with new friends. The next morning when we awoke we were relieved to find the clouds had mostly rolled out, and we could see blue sky above us.

The race began at Dewey Bridge and ended at Hittle Bottom, so we headed to Dewey Bridge after a short hike. I demoed a Lava Grande Tri-tube Shaboomee board for the race and some of my girlfriends rode on the MacDaddy Super Shaboomee board with Shaboomee owner, Shaine Ebrahimi; everyone had a great time. 

Indian Creek

When the snow starts melting in Carbondale, Colorado, I start itching for the desert. I find comfort in the warmth of the red rock, the twinkling stars at night and the blooming desert flowers. Each of these things reminds me to appreciate every season, and every springtime desert trip teaches me to make the most of mud-season back at home.

We packed up the vansion and drove to Moab. Our destination was Indian Creek, a spectacular car-camping spot tucked up against Canyonlands National Park. We spent four wonderful and refreshing days at Indian Creek, exploring nearby canyons and soaking up the sun.

It was exactly what I needed; it always is.

One Day, Four Fourteeners

We loaded up in The Vansion and headed to Alma, CO to hike the Decalibron Loop. The Decalibron Loop gets it's name from the four fourteeners you summit during the hike: Mount DEmocrat, Mount CAmeron, Mount LIncoln, and Mount BROss. I have no idea why there's an "n" at the end, but we'll go with it.

The Kite Lake Campground was overflowing with hikers and climbers looking to get an early start on Saturday morning. But we were lucky enough to find a nice spot to camp just off the road on the way to Kite Lake on Friday night. We enjoyed a small fire and a beer and went to bed early. We woke up at 5:00 am on Saturday morning and were on the trail by 6:00 am.

We decided to hike the trail backwards, starting at Bross and finishing up with Democrat. The trail to Bross is all loose rock and gravel; I was glad to have my hiking poles on that ascent! The summit of Mount Bross is closed currently, and the trail takes you about 300 feet below the summit and over to a saddle that leads the way to Mount Lincoln.

Once you've made it up to Bross, the hike over to Lincoln is relatively easy. I enjoyed the ridge walk and the view from Lincoln. It was the perfect spot for a snack, and we spent some time hunkered down in a rock shelter before continuing on to Mount Cameron.

Mount Cameron is classified as an Unofficial Fourteener, because of it's proximity to Mount Lincoln, but I'm counting it nonetheless! The wind kicked up on top of Cameron, and we didn't hang out too long before deciding we ought to start our ascent of Democrat.

Mount Democrat was a struggle for us to do at the end of our day. It's steep and rocky, but not too long. I definitely understand why the majority of people begin their hike with Democrat - and not end it there! We made it to the summit just as the clouds began to move in, and after snapping a couple of photos we headed on down to beat the storm. To our surprise it began to snow instead of rain as we made our descent.

The dogs found a patch of snow near the top of Democrat that was begging to be frolicked in, and they took that opportunity to frolic indeed! In all, the Decalibron Loop took us 6 hours to complete. We took our time, stopped on the top of each summit and really enjoyed our time above 14,000'!

We camped again on Saturday night on the road to Kite Lake. We celebrated the epic day of fourteener summits with chilled wine and a delicious dinner.