Google Earth look at the location of the Jewell Lake Icefall.

Jewell Lake Icefall is a beautiful wall of ice just southwest of Jewell Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. It’s a fairly popular destination on weekends but most weekdays you’ll have the place to yourself. It’s a quick 3.2 mile hike from the Glacier Gorge trailhead off of Bear Lake Road (about 8.4 miles from the Beaver Meadows Entrance of RMNP) that passes by — or in this case, over — Mills Lake and Jewell Lake.

The crew on the windy approach to Mills Lake.

The Jewell Lake Icefall is IN!

Bouldering around on the icefall. Fun!

Mills Lake was windy as could be but you can't beat a blue, Colorado winter day!

It was a fun little outing and I can’t wait to get back and do some more legit climbing on the ice. All told it’s about 6.2 miles round trip with a modest elevation gain of about 900 feet on the way up. Both Mills Lake and Jewell Lake were frozen hard, so I wouldn’t suggest following my GPS tracks in the summer

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Mount Alice 360 degree view. Click for larger image.

Download the free Mount Alice & Tanima Peak guide!

Though it was getting late in the season, my buddy Kyle was on a mission: to climb 13,310 ft. Mount Alice in Rocky Mountain National Park. He had been thwarted on two previous attempts due to such unforeseen circumstances as climbing the wrong peak (neighboring Chiefs Head, oops!) Alice is a long day so we decided, what the heck let’s make it longer by tacking on 12,420 ft. Tanima Peak and making a humungo 17.2-mile loop via Boulder Grand Pass. We recruited Belgian strong man/beer expert Bart and set off on October 23, 2011 on a picture perfect autumn Colorado day.

A look at the 17.2 mile round trip adventure to Mount Alice and Tanima Peak via Lion Lakes and returning by Boulder Grand Pass and Thunder Lake.

The above map shows our route and here’s the elevation profile.

The 5,000 ft. plus elevation day is good for the legs and the lungs!

The approaches to Mount Alice are long but quite fast. The 5.7 mile trail to the start of the Lion Lakes can be reached in about 2.5 hours at a strong pace. Navigating through the lakes is relatively easy and the scenery in Wild Basin is flat out amazing.

Bart gets his first glance at Mount Alice's sort of famous east face, known by some as the "Mini-Diamond" in homage to the Diamond on nearby Longs Peak. Some prefer to call it the cubic zirconium.

The boys grab a bite at Snowbank Lake just below Hourglass Ridge.

Since we were doing a lollipop loop, the best way to get up Mount Alice is the class 3 route that follows Hourglass Ridge. There is an established trail to Lion Lakes that fades out, meaning a good chunk of the navigation is off-trail, though the ridgelines are fairly obvious. Hourglass Ridge connects with a saddle between Chiefs Head and Alice and an ambitious hiker could snag both peaks in a day if they felt so inclined.

The Ptarmigan is one of Colorado's masters of disguise. Can you find him in this picture?

Kyle in red and Bart in black at the start of Hourglass Ridge.

A good look at the Mini Diamond on the east face of Mount Alice.

Kyle navigates a small notch on the way up Mount Alice's north ridge.

Kyle at the base of the half mile scramble to the top.

Bartman gettin' it done on the way up Mount Alice.

The crew on the summit of Mount Alice. Not a cloud in the sky!

Tanima Peak is 900 feet lower than Alice but is a surprisingly fun summit with great views.

Kyle on the final push up to Tanima's summit with picture-perfect views of (left to right) Chiefs Head, Longs Peak, the Notch and Mount Meeker.

The final approach to Tanima had some surprising mini-moves.

Bart is king of Tanima Peak! This cool mushroom rock is the 12,420 ft. summit.

Kyle and Bart chillin' on Tanima.

I made it to the summit of Tanima Peak too!

A very cool look at the Moomaw Glacier (middle snowfield) on the shoulder of The Cleaver/Isolation Peak.

The red line shows our escape couloir, which for some reason Kyle refuses to follow. The gully was a little loose but safe and easy to scramble down.

Bart is making tracks just past the Lake of Many Winds as we bushwack towards Thunder Lake.

A look back at the route we took to bushwack from the top of Boulder Grand Pass to Thunder Lake, where a well worn trail would lead us home.

When we finally made it to the heavily used trail to Thunder Lake, it was just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other. Even at a fast pace, the entire journey took us 12 hours and the stars were out by the time we made it back to the Wild Basin parking lot. It was a spectacular day with perfect weather and I couldn’t have asked for better company.

Third time’s a charm, Kyle!

Bonus picture of our GPS tracks in Google Earth view. Neat-o!

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Panoramic view of Mica Lake Basin. Click image for larger view.

There’s nothing particularly secret about the Zirkel Wilderness. It’s right there on the map, about 20 miles outside of Steamboat Springs with all sorts of well marked trailheads and plenty of incredible destinations. Maybe it’s the lack of 14,000 foot peaks or the longish drive from the Denver metro area that keeps the Zirkel Wilderness a low-traffic area. Whatever the reason, there’s no shortage of beautiful alpine scenery. Even when the popular trailheads seem a bit crowded with vehicles, people tend to disperse nicely. You probably won’t be entirely alone but you likely won’t encounter more than a handful of people on your adventure.

The colorful corridor that starts the Mica Basin Trail in Steamboat Springs.

Mica Lake Basin was on the agenda this October thanks to exquisite camping and dog-friendly trails. Starting from the Slavonia Trailhead, the well-marked trail to Mica Lake is 3.8 miles and 2,000 vertical feet one way – a nice, modest push and very amenable to backpacking. Starting with aspen lined corridors, the trail winds up through willows and several easy river crossings to exceptional camping around 10,428 ft. Mica Lake. Besides the ample camping around the lake, there are several nearby “shelves” of flat land with numerous creeks and water sources for more private camping. Add to that a full forest of blown down, dried deadwood for campfires and you have an ideal backcountry setting.

Fremont must have scared away all the frolicing nymphs in this pool along Mica Creek. The tongue to nose trick is really just showing off.

Willows are just as colorful as aspen!

Some of great camping areas in the Mica Lake Basin.

Once in the basin, summit hikers and technical rock climbers have great options for getting up on the nearby peaks. For example you can climb 11,497 ft. Little Agnes Mountain or 11,233 ft. Little Agnes Mountain (apparently Big Agnes had twins!) The highpoint of the basin is Big Agnes Mountain at 12,059 feet and a fantastic class 2/3 scramble. There are also some sweet, solid unnamed towers and rock walls for technical class 5 climbs and an exciting east ridge sawtooth scramble (class 4 or low 5) to 11,497 ft. Little Agnes.

Mystic on the ascent to Medium Agnes.

Since we were camping with dogs and wanted to them to be part of the adventure, we had to eschew the exposed scrambles of Big Agnes and go for “Medium Agnes” peak, a high point at 12,057 ft. 0.1 miles from the true summit (separated by a deep gully). This off-trail scramble is more dog friendly, though there are few exposed patches near the very top; you may want to avoid these if your dog is a rampant rock climber!

From the summit of Medium Agnes looking down.

The hot tub of the gods. Sort of.

The twin summits of Big Agnes (including the true summit on the left) are tantilizingly close from the top of Medium Agnes.

Sheila and the boys on the ridge back to Mica Lake.

Views from Medium Agnes are astounding. Besides the entire Mica Lake Basin, views to the east of 12,180 ft. Mount Zirkel are fantastic. Great swaths of aspen cut through the landscape, owing to the lower elevation of these quartzite summits. An unnamed high alpine lake just to the northeast of Big Agnes/Medium Agnes is chiseled out of the hard rock, sort of a hot tub of the Gods (you know, if it was hot).

Fremont takes in the views of Mica Lake.

Cool squiggly quartz.

Unlike the higher elevation areas of Colorado, water is abundant in the Zirkel Wilderness which can make it a bit buggy and mushy in the spring. Autumn may be the ideal time to go as the aspen change to fiery orange and bright lemon-yellow. Don’t underestimate the colorful willows that line Mica Creek as well.

Fremont and Mystic take a dip in Mica Lake after the climb!

There’s other fantastic areas to explore in the area including Gilpin Lake, Gold Creek Lake, the abandoned Slavonia Mine and the Mount Zirkel Basin. But for a great weekend outing to peak potential, you really can’t beat Mica Lake Basin. Top it all off with a visit to Strawberry Hot Springs after your hike and you’ll have Colorado mountain bliss written all over your face.

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360° view from the summit of Mount Audubon, January 30, 2011. Click for a larger view (then click again in your browser for full size).

Mount Audubon has a special place in my heart. The modest 13,233 ft. peak in the Indian Peaks Wilderness was the first high-altitude winter summit I climbed in Colorado and nearly 12 years later I still enjoy the challenge of getting to the top of this windswept mountain. January stood out as the only month I had never climbed Audubon, so on January 30^th I went for the top on an unpredictable winter’s day.

Blue sky and fresh snow make for a lovely Mount Audubon photo!

Every other time I’ve done Audubon in the off-season, I’ve reached the trailhead (3.2 miles one way) by riding my mountain bike. The road is closed from October through May but the wind usually scours the pavement, making it very bike friendly. However, this year the snow has come early and it was time to break out the cross country skis. A little variety is fun, even though I am an abysmal cross-country skier. My skill set includes going uphill and gliding on flats, but I’m not so good at stopping, turning or any downhill that is more than a 2% grade. So if nothing else, the prelude to the hike would be interesting.

The end of the ski and the start of the snowshoeing! Blue Lake trailhead en route to Mount Audubon.

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Leaving the skis behind.

The plan of attack was to ski to the trailhead, switch over to snowshoes and navigate my way to the open tundra above treeline. From there, I’d stash my snowshoes and bundle up for the chilly, windy trip to the top.

It’s amazing to see the hard frozen drifts of snow where the tree line begins to recede. Drifts are tough as hardened glass on top but underneath the snow is as fine as powdered sugar. A few times I did full body post-holes, even with snowshoes, but luckily the snow was mostly sturdy enough to guide me to treeline.

The hard drifts in the low bushes at treeline.

Once on the windswept shoulder of Mount Audubon, it was a pleasant but very cold hike with the occasional icy patch. Amazingly, the chirps of hearty pikas rang out, denoting the presence of some very tough critters that stay atop the high peaks year round. While the pikas continue their activity year-round marmots huddle in the frozen earth, hibernating the winter away. Clouds drifted in and altered the sunlight that bathed the mountain in shades of steel grey and pastel lavender.

Just before the summit dome.

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Approaching the saddle between Mount Audubon and Mount "Notabahn".

The summit itself was astounding; to the west a wall of cloud was slowly building. The winter air was clean and clear (in contrast to the brown smog that hovers on the horizon on most summer days). From the top, one could see Longs Peak to the north, Denver on the plains to the east and south all the way to Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs.

The elusive summit of Mount Audubon! The wind shelters are packed with snow.

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A spot of tea with Longs Peak to my right.

It was too cold to linger at the summit so after a quick spot of tea, I made my way down. The afternoon light during the descent highlighted the sepia shades of dead grass and rock. By the time I finished the 8-mile trip and returned to my skis at the trailhead, twilight was beckoning the brightest stars in the winter sky. I switched out my snowshoes, clicked into my skis and promptly wiped out on a 4-foot hill. With a little practice, I was able to glide out, making for a 14-mile round trip.

Cool light floods the mountains to the north.

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Alpenglow on the Indian Peaks.

It wasn’t an abnormally long day, about 7 hours total, but because the cold had become more penetrating as the day wore on, I was glad to be back to my truck. The last vestiges of daylight darkened as I watched the prominent dome of Audubon fade in my rear view mirror.

Beautiful sunset looking at the Indian Peaks from Brainard Lake at 10,300 ft.

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Our route starting with Carbonate and traversing over to Tabeguache. If done again, I would ascend the right side of the gully on Carbonate and descend the full south ridge on Tabeguache.

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Our tracks on the Google Earth map. Total mileage was 8.7 miles almost all off-trail with just under 5,000 feet elevation gain total.

We had a stunningly clear day, quite warm for October. Having slightly misjudged the start of our hike (we began at the Great Cyclone Creek instead of Jennings Creek) turned out to be a good choice — it set up a much better route for us. We topped Carbonate, headed over to Tabeguache and down. The only lousy part of the day was we descended yucky talus slopes rather than walk out the ridge of Tabeguache, but live and learn. I have the full set of pics on my Facebook Page from this hike, but here’s a few for the blog.

Jenny and Arvind ascend Carbonate with Calico Mountain in the background.

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L to R: Bart, me, Jenny and Arvind on the summit of 13,633 ft. Carbonate Peak.

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Bart hits the traverse between Carbonate and Tabeguache.

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Arvind about to summit 14,155 ft.Tabeguache.

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Balancing on the highest point of Tabeguache.

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Heading into the zone at Gore Creek out of the Meadow Creek Trailhead in Frisco. Good friends, great weather, dogs and mountains!

In a broader sense, sometimes we are able to carry over the positive power of being in the “zone” into the larger scope of our life (maybe… being in the “region”?) I was fortunate enough roll through the best days of autumn in such a place, where the beauty of the natural world coalesced with wonderful people and a good dose of border collie thrown in for good measure. Words can’t describe the gratitude and inspiration I get from great company and gorgeous settings.The last few weeks have been a much anticipated counterbalance to the literal storms of spring and people in my life who were more likely to enervate than to elevate. I can’t express how grateful I am to the friends who have shared time with me the last few weeks and how nicely so many gradious plans came together. Welcome to the zone.

David, Dany, Dani and me at the Meadow Creek Trailhead in Frisco en route to Eccles Pass. Tillie is laying in the front and apparently, Fremont took the photo.

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The crew headed up towards Eccles Pass.

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Fremont takes in the stunning views from the south side of Eccles Pass with Red Buffalo Pass and Red Peak in the background.

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Dani on Eccles Pass with the brother and sister duo of Fremont and Tillie.

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Stunning views over Eccles Pass in the Gore Range.

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Fremont shows off his swimming skills in one of the crystal clear alpine lakes along Gore Creek.

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David and Dany on the hike out along Gore Creek to Vail.

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The adventure on the Gore Creek trail went from Frisco to Vail, a modest 13 mile route that covered two mountain passes (Eccles and Red Buffalo). A visit to Gore Lake and bypassing the graves of a couple Swedish brothers were all part of the adventure. A few days later, Dani and her border collie Tillie (Fremont’s sister) joined Sheila, Mystic, Fremont and me on an outing to Meadow Mountain near Rocky Mountain National Park.

Sheila, Dani and the dogs power up the Meadow Mountain trail on a welcome overcast day.

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Clouds and snow signal the end of summer but the start of cold weather fun!

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Mystic, Dani, Sheila and Tillie en route to Meadow Mountain.

After these adventures, I had two guests in town: my (human) pal Gina from the Marist days of yore and Keva (canine) one of Fremont’s other sisters who lives in Boulder.  A few more pics from our outings to the Sage Trail in North Boulder and Brainard Lake just outside of Ward.

Fremont's sister Keva on the Sage Trail in Boulder.

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Keva and Fremont play in the lake at the Sage Trail.

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Fremont and Keva at the Sage Trail.

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Gina "reflects" on the still beauty of Brainard Lake.

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Brainard Lake at 10,300 ft in the Indian Peaks, some of Colorado's best mountains!

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Kyle on the "class 2" en route to the summit of Mount Lindsey, our first summit of the day.

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Jenny on the rocky boulders before the final summit ridge on Mount Lindsey with Iron Nipple in the background.

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Kyle with 14ers Blanca and Ellingwood Point in the background.

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Jenny and Kyle grab a bite on the summit of Mount Lindsey.

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The crew begins the descent down Mount Lindsey on a perfect autumn weather day.

The notion that Mount Lindsey is a class 2 hike is a bit misleading. Whereas 10 years ago (the last time I was there) embedded rocks in an otherwise loose gully provided solid steps, the bulk of the “class 2″ route has been eroded away. The end result is that there are several class 3 moves — indeed preferable class 3 or 4 sections — that line the way up and require hands and feet scrambling. Or to use one of my standards — class 2 routes are dog friendly, class 3 routes are not — and this is NOT a dog friendly mountain. But still fun and the day was just starting. We needed to continue our route over to the scramble-riffic Iron Nipple (yes, its official name) and Huerfano Peak.

Kyles scales the mini-ridge to the summit of the eponymous Iron Nipple.

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Getting cheeky on the summit of Iron Nipple. Thankfully, we are three mature hikers and made no randy jokes about the name at any time during the day. Except every 5 minutes.

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Jenny and Kyle chillin' on the Iron Nipple.

From Iron Nipple, it was a relatively short push over to Huerfano Peak, at 13,828 ft. one of Colorado’s hundred highest mountains (officially summit UN 13,828).

Looking back at Mount Lindsey from Huerfano Peak.

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We took our longest break on the summit of Huerfano Peak, soaking in the gorgeous views of the Blanca Group, the Great Sand Dunes, the Crestone Group and the rolling flat farms that surround the Sangre de Cristo range.

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Mount Lindsey looms in the background as Jenny descends from Huerfano Peak.

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We arrived back in treeline just in time for animal happy hour.

With a robust 10 hour day behind us, the long ride back to Boulder was highlighted by an amazing sunset and good conversation. We even discovered “Do Drop Inn” pizza in Pueblo, a great place to re-carbo load after a long day in the mountains. Colorado in the autumn is a special place indeed.

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360 view from the summit of Mount Parnassus. Click on image for full view, twice for max view.

After a much needed rest day on Sunday, Fremont and I set off to tackle one of our last summer projects: the Watrous Gulch 4-Pack. Despite starting from a very popular and easily accessed trailhead (Herman Gulch, exit 218 off of I-70) this collection of 13ers does not see a lot of traffic. In fact, the first peak in the pecking order, Parnassus, doesn’t even have an established trail to its summit. This despite the fact these enormous and tempting domes are prevalent from I-70 year round. Starting from Herman Gulch trailhead then turning northeast to Watrous Gulch, the day began with picture perfect blue skys and a light breeze. Our 4-pack was ready to roll: 13,574 ft Mount Parnassus, 13,641 ft. Bard Peak, 13,140 ft. Robeson Peak and 13,352 ft. Engelmann Peak.

Chances are the crowds will be heading to Herman Gulch -- to climb the Watrous Gulch 4-pack, head to Watrous Gulch!

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The "Ghost Forest of Parnassus" was a cool, creepy start to the day as Fremont and I jumped off trail and began our ascent of Mount Parnassus.

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O Holy Border Collie, bathed in light, herd our sheep so that we may wear upon our feet wool that is smart. Amen.

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Lining up the final approach to Mount Parnassus via the south ridge.

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Fremont and I pose on the summit of Mount Parnassus. This was our most successful summit shot since the winds began to blow hard and knocked my little camera around.

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The way up to Mount Parnassus was fun and uneventful. We passed a group of 6 hikers on the way up and they were the only other folks we’d see all day. The high point of our hike was Bard Peak and as we began our traverse, we stayed on the south side of the ridge because winds were starting to pick up.

Fremont gazes out at the ridge between Parnassus and Bard.

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Fremont on the summit of Bard Peak.

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As we began our traverse over to Robeson Peak, a mysterious plume of smoke began to rise from the east.

By the time we reached the summit of Bard Peak, the wind had gone ballistic. We had been lucky with the east-west ridge that was going with the “grain” of the wind. As we prepared to cross a north-south ridge, the fierce western winds sounded like jet planes as they roared up the gullies and chutes between Bard and Robeson. Constant, stinging and demoralizing, we pushed on. The sky was ozone blue, without a cloud in site.

Until we looked out to the east.

Rising from the blue canvas was a grey plume of smoke. It was just after 10 AM and it was evident whatever was stoking the flames was massive in scale. The velocity of wind made a lump in my throat as I tried to estimate where the fire was. Too far to be Winter Park, too close to be Boulder — my guess at the time was Nederland or Moffett Tunnel. I monitored the sky as we continued over to the flat and surprisingly serene summit of Robeson Peak.

Beautiful red grass and blue sky belie the fierce winds on the ridge between Bard and Robeson Peaks.

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Fremont walks in the "red tide" of small plants that decorate the alpine plateau.

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Fremont reaches the flat summit of 13,140 ft. Robeson Peak. Oddly, this flat summit was calm and offered respite from the dastardly wind.

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The windiest part of the day awaited on the traverse out to Engelmann Peak.

Our 4th summit of the day, 13,352 ft. Engelmann Peak was a vortex of swirling wind. Whereas the Bard-Robeson ridge was a constant western wind, the Robeson-Engelmann ridge winds came hard from all directions. Engelmann’s north ridges stretch down to Berthoud Pass and from the vantage of the high slopes, it was clear the fire was no where near Winter Park. From on high, we watched the endless stream of cars crawling down the pass as the gusts constantly knocked us off our collective six feet.

Fremont on the summit of Engelmann Peak with Parnassus so far away in the background.

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Retracing our steps back to Bard Peak from Engelmann in a sea of red.

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One last look out to the west and I-70.

As we retraced our steps back to finish our 13 mile, 6,400 ft of elevation gain day, the ominous clouds to the east had taken over the horizon. The wind remained as belligerent as ever. We skirted Robeson’s summit to the east and Bard’s summit to the south and crossed back over Parnassus, then headed for home.

Return to tree line 8 hours later and back to Watrous Gulch.

After a full day out in the mountains we had seen no other people, save the silhouettes of the hikers who reached the top of Parnassus when we topped out on Bard Peak. There was an odd stillness in the trees, where the wind mercifully was absorbed by the dense pine trees. The mysterious smoke hung high and we finished an epic day with a sense of apprehension of what we were returning to.

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Jenny and Fremont on the approach to Handies Peak on a picture perfect late summer Colorado day.

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Fremont checks in en route to the summit of Handies Peak.

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Fremont on the final ridge to the summit of Handies Peak.

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Fremont gets his third 14er on Handies Peak summit!!

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Jenny's Handies Peak summit shot shows the beautiful topography of the San Juan Range.

Our ascent to the peak was peaceful and surprisingly uncrowded for the holiday weekend. As it turns out, Handies did have quite a few visitors but the bulk of them came up from the American Basin side, which is a shorter hike. We lingered at the top for a while, admiring the stunning San Juan scenery. Whitecross Mountain was a short jaunt from 14,014 ft. Handies Peak and the ridge connecting the two looked dog friendly, so we were off!

Jenny and Fremont descend from the summit of Handies Peak en route to Whitecross Mountain.

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A border collie's eye view of the rocky red ridge up to Whitecross Mountain.

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Cloudwalker.

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Jenny on the ridge of Whitecross Mountain with Handies Peak looming in the background.

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Wild formations just before the summit of Whitecross.

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Fremont advances the self-timer early, making for a fun summit photo on Whitecross Mountain.

Whitecross Mountain’s 13,491 ft. summit was a great traverse but it’s off-trail nature revealed something I hadn’t expected: a lot of the rock on the ridge was embedded with hard, sharp cuts of rose quartz. The few places I used my hands revealed the sharp rock’s presence — I could imagine had the ridge been longer, it would have started to chew up Fremont’s pads on his paws. Since our planned hike for tomorrow was 9 miles of almost all off-trail peaks on this same rose quartz, I made the call to save the planned adventure for either a non-dog hike or for a point in the future when Fremont’s pads have grown tough enough to handle it.

Splish-splash victory swim!!!

With that, Jenny headed off to Telluride and Fremont and I decided to return to Boulder that night — which was Saturday Sept. 4th. The 6 hour drive was quick and traffic free. As Fremont dozed off, I listened to a wonderful series of college lectures on the middle ages (I’m a big nerd, if you have forgotten). We drove into Boulder just before 9PM, determined to take Sunday as a rest day and head out again on Monday, Sept. 6th…

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This year I was able to sucker convince my buddy Kyle to join in the ride, which stood to be his first century ever (talk about getting thrown into the fire!) But he’s a runner, I’m a mountain biker so logically we should be just fine on the roadies, right?

As luck would have it, we had just about the perfect day for the ride — cool in the morning, sunny in the mid-day, overcast in the early afternoon but no storms or rain. After a 4 AM wake up call in Boulder it was off to Keystone to line up and get ready to ride.

Riders getting ready to head out of Keystone for the 3rd Annual Blue River Century

As the sun began to illuminate the Gore and Tenmile Range Peaks, the packs of riders began to space out. The initial climb up Ute pass was gorgeous and culminated with the fine breakfast feast awaiting at aid station 1.

Beautiful views and a single cottonball cloud in the sky over the Gore Range at aid station 1 on Ute Pass.

Rolling along, I realized that I may like road biking more than I admit — I found myself wishing I could upgrade my wheelset and pedals, a sure sign of abandoning my anti-roadie ways. I just wanted to go faster and lighter. Uh oh, I don’t need another expensive outdoors hobby!!

The third aid station up Fremont Pass at Clinton Reservoir.

Kyle and I were both setting a strong but not over assertive pace, and the miles went by one by one. As opposed to last year’s ride where I was mostly solo, having a pal to chat with really made the day go by faster. After 92 miles and about 7 hours of riding, we were back at Keystone ready for the 8 mile mega-grind to the top of Loveland Pass.

Aid station 4 back at Keystone! Only 2,000 vertical feet and 16 miles left!

Oddly the hardest push was the 6 miles from Keystone to Arapahoe Basin, which left a little over 2 miles to the summit of 11,990 ft. Loveland Pass.  And no storms or snow this year, yay! The last two miles are steep and switchbacked but seemed to cruise a bit faster. With a final push, we were at mile 101 at the summit with only a speedy descent back to Keystone ahead of us.

We've done it!! Yahoo! And this year, no snow or ice!

The victory cruise into Keystone was a blast and when the day was done, I was neither too sore nor too tired; however, the 3 hour drive to Boulder made my eyes burn with the heat of a thousand suns. I did have the advantage of a great welcoming committee in Fremont and Mystic, who I was watching for the night.

My biggest fans.

Can’t wait for next year’s ride!

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