Date:   February 9, 2013

Mission: Summit Humboldt Peak (elevation 14,064 ft.) in winter.

Who:  Solo

Length: Estimated  11 miles from where I parked the Jeep on the 4x4 trail

Elevation gain: 4700 ft.

Forecast:  Snow likely, high of 14, wind chills between -10 and -20.  60% chance of snow, 2-4 inches  of snow expected.  Winds between 25 - 40 mph with gusts as high as 50mph.

History

Prior to this climb, I referred to Humboldt Peak as my nemisis mountain.  It definitely lived up to this title.  This would be my 3rd attempt of Humboldt Peak, all in the winter.  My previous two attempts were in December of 2011 starting way down at the winter road closure.

Date: January 19, 2013

Mission:  Summit Mt. Bierstadt (elevation 14,060') in winter.

Who:  Joel Snow and myself

Length: Estimated 10 miles

Elevation gain: Estimated 3350 ft.

On September 1st of 2011, I hiked Mt. Bierstadt with my daughter.  It was her very first 14er, and my 7th at the time. 

Fast forward 16 months and it's now Jan 19, 2013 and I am coming off my 34th 14er and possibly my most adventureous climb yet on Mt. Massive.

Date:   January 16, 2013

Mission:  Summit Mt. Massive (elevation 14,421 ft.) in winter.

Who:  Josh Swift and myself

Length:  Estimated  10 - 11 miles

Elevation gain: Estimated 5400 ft.

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing." - Hellen Keller

This was a day filled with adventure from start to finish.  My climbing partner and I both overcame huge mental challenges and pushed ourselves further than we knew we could.

Date:   December 1st & 2nd, 2012

Mission:  To finish what I started a year ago and summit Mt. Oxford (elevation 14,153 ft.).  Another summit of Mt. Belford (elevation 14,197 ft.) was needed to get to Oxford.

Who:  My friend and climbing buddy Joel Snow, and myself.

Length:  11 miles

Elevation gain: 5800 ft.

Date:   October 7th, 2012

Mission:  Finally summit Tabeguache Peak (elevation 14,155 ft.)

Who:  With several others from 14ers.com and the Colorado Scramblers group, but I might as well have been alone.

Length:  12 miles

Elevation gain: 5900 ft.

Several years ago I climbed Mt. Shavano (elevation 14,229 ft.) and upon making the summit, I had to bail on traversing to Tabeguache Peak because of looming thunderstorms.  Today, I had my eyes set on only Tabeguache Peak.  Climbing Mt.

Date: September 22nd, 2012

Mission: Climb Crestone Needle

Who: Solo

Length: 11.5 miles

Elevation gain: 4400 ft.

Climbing Crestone Needle is not fun.  It's not even challenging.  If you are looking for a fun mountain, this is not it.  I hated this climb from the moment I started at the trailhead and it just gets worse as you go. 

Ok, hopefully many people just read the title and the first few sentences of my blog and decided to never climb Crestone Needle.

Date:   September 8th & 9th, 2012

Mission:  Climb Challenger Point (elevation 14,081 ft.) and Kit Carson Peak (elevation 14,165 ft)

Who:  Solo

Length:  15.5 miles

Elevation gain: 6500 ft.

The climb up Kit Carson is a tough physical challenge, at least it is for this 37 year old with bad knees.  Apparently there are people capable of climbing Challenger Point and Kit Carson in 1 day.  I am not one of those people.  Doing this climb in 2 days is challenge enough.

Date:   September 1st, 2012

Mission:  Climb Wetterhorn Peak (elevation 14,015 ft.)

Who:  Joel Snow and myself

Length:  7 miles

Elevation gain: 3300 ft.

Wetterhorn peak was no question the most fun I have had on any of the 28 fourteeners I have done thus far. 

Joel and I left Boulder at 2pm on Friday and drove for 6+ hours with a stop in Gunnison for some dinner and to put the top up on the Jeep since it had started to spit rain on us.

Date:   August 25th, 2012

Mission:  Family climb of Mt. Lincoln (elevation 14,286 ft.)

Who:  Myself, my wife Siona, my daughter Delaney, and my two huskies (Altai, and Miliya)

Length:  About 6.5 miles from the Quartzville trailhead

Elevation gain: 2800 ft.

Late last November I had hiked Democrat, Cameron and Bross, but had bailed on Mt. Lincoln due to insane wind conditions.

Date:   August 18th, 2012

Mission:  Climb Castle Peak (elevation 14,265 ft.) and then traverse over to Conundrum Peak (elevation 14,060 ft.)

Who:  Myself, Joel Snow, and Tim Harris

Length:  About 8.5 miles from our campsite at 10,750'

Elevation gain:  4300 ft. (which includes a 2nd ascent of Castle Peak after summit of Conundrum Peak).
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