Colorado:
Colorado expedition #2 May 2008- Photo Gallery now up.
Here's a video I shot in the boulder field just below the Keyhole. I did have
a very exciting time coming down. In fact I didn't end up making it back
to the campground until about 30 hours after leaving my camp and starting
the hike/climb. But I'm going to take my time to properly compose that story.
It's worth it.
Video above was shot near treeline on a snowbridge crossing of Alpine Creek.
The video above was shot during my first acclimatization hike May 17, 2008. May 29, 2008: Back home in Austin, TX
Colorado expedition #1 January 2008- Photo Gallery now up. Click Here.
I made it!
A huge thanks to Rhett Tillery, Billy Rock, Jacob Leeuwenburgh, Candace Freeland Hogan, REI for making such a dependable tent which was not designed at all for what I've put that poor thing through and Terry the elk hunter. There's no way I could have made the Colorado trip without the support of these folks. I set a personal record going higher in altitude than I've ever been before. Thankfully I did not suffer at all any ill effects from being up that high. When I reached RMNP it was snowing and I quickly set up my camp for the night. The next morning I woke up to the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. There was quite a bit more snow on the trail than was normal which greatly increased the effort required to hike up the mountain. After melting enough snow for coffee, breakfast and drinking water I hit the trail a bit before noon. After hiking for a couple of hours I had only climbed a mile or so into the back country. I peeled off most of my layers as I went but still was sweating which is extremely dangerous at the temps I was exposed to. The drops were freezing at the ends of my hair and had I stopped hiking at that point I'd of been in a hypothermic situation. Coming back down, the hiking was much easier as I walked in the footprints I'd made going up. I walked very slowly which allowed me to cool off. As had happened on the A.T. my body heat dried my base layer and by the time I had gotten back down to the trailhead I had dried out and was safe. That night I crawled into my sleeping bag aqbout 9:00 pm and fell fast asleep. I was woken back up around midnight by what sounded like a freight train bearing down on me. Just guessing I'd estimate the wind gusts at somewhere between 50 and 75 mph. The rainfly I was using as a tent was not designed to handle anything as extreme as what I was in at that point so the next few hours were mostly spent trying to keep from being blown off the ridge I was camping on. Each time a gust would hit the velcro holding things together would rip apart and I was kept busy trying to get the tent stable again before the next gust hit. I was using a hiking pole as a center support and the wind was lifting the tent which caused the pole to fall over and I knew that if I didn't get it stable again before the next gust hit my shelter would be gone with most of my equipment. The velcro was ice encrusted which made it somewhat of a challenge getting it to hook back. I could hear the roar of the approaching gusts for about 15 to 30 seconds before it hit the tent. It was very exciting hearing it coming as I tried to repair things with my numb fingers before the next gust hit. Somewhere around 3:00am I put the fewest survival items into my bivy bag and then crawled in expecting the tent to be gone soon. Surprisingly I fell asleep as soon as I got into the bivy bag. When I woke up I was surprised at first to be zipped up in the bivy then I remembered why I had crawled into the bag. It was totally silent as I unzipped the bag and poked out my head to have a peek to see if I was still under the fly. I was happy to see I was still tented. Had the tent blown away I would have been in a difficult position what with the windchill being 40 to 60 degrees below zero. The sun rose shortly and my shelter quickly began to warm and the blue skys were beautiful. I noticed most of the snow was gone, leaving bare rock in the area. But in only minutes the sky went black and huge snow flakes began to fall. In less than 30 minutes a foot or so had fallen and I decided to cancel my plans to move my camp higher up the mountain. Figuring I was on the brink of being really stuck there I packed up all my gear into my pack and onto my sled and began hiking back towards civilization. I knew I had about a 5 mile hike down the mountain before I would reach a road were there might be traffic. I could see about 10 to 15 feet ahead as I began moving downhill. The hiking was very easy and off and on the snow would slack off enough that I could make out the peaks around me. It spite of the seriousness of my situation I was enjoying the novelty of being in such a snowstorm. Using my hiking staff to probe the snow kept me from stepping off into the deep stuff and I made good time covering the 5 miles, reaching the main road in only a couple of hours. I don't know how cold it was but I had an energy bar inside my jacket and it was warm and chewy when I took the first bite. But by the time it came for bite number three it was frozen as hard as a brick. An elk hunter named Terry stopped and inquired if I was just hiking for the fun of it or was I interested in a ride? I told him I was headed to Austin and the look on his face was pretty funny. He was on his way to Boulder and he ended up taking me all the way into Longmont, dropping me right off in front of the bus station. I have to admit I felt very lucky to be back down off the mountain in perfect condition. My guardian angel is awesome! I learned much about surviving in such extreme conditions. I hope to return in August or September to finish the climb I started. But I am very pleased with what I accomplished. I've uploaded a few pictures and a short video. There's much more to tell but I think I've hit the high spots now so I'll end this narrative.
