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Sunday, September 1, 2024

Mount Sherman

We took a short trip to Fairplay over the Labor Day weekend. We found a small Airbnb in Fairplay to make as our base for one main hike: Mount Sherman. This is one of Colorado's easier 14'ers, boasting a max elevation of 14,043. So just barely a 14'er but it still counts.

We woke up at 4:30 to hit the road by 5. We started our hike after a 40-minute drive to the trailhead. There were about a dozen other cars at the parking lot when we got there, but there was plenty of parking alongside the road.

We summited around 8:30 and ate burritos kept warm in a thermos. It was quite windy at the summit but not as bad as we expected. It did start getting windier on the descent. But even with the wind, the weather was perfect for a 14'er.

When we returned to the Airbnb around 11, Katie noticed a piece of the trail stuck in her car: a nice old rusted 4" long nail in her rear passenger tire hissing air. So before doing anything, I drove over to Ace Hardware in town and bought a tire repair kit, and got the tire patched up, at least temporarily. There's no doubt that this nail was from some of the old mining structures along the hike.

We left to go to Breckenridge around 1, planning on getting to Breckenridge Distillery right when they opened at 2. After parking and taking the free shuttle to the distillery, we got in line to get a seat and had a few drinks and appetizers as our lunch before taking the shuttle back to the main part of town and walking around the downtown area to do a little shopping. Overall it was a nice time in Breckenridge, but we were exhausted from the hike. That was a little much to do in one day.

On the drive out to Fairplay, we saw a moose on the side of the road near Kenosha Pass. Katie saw a second moose on the way back from Breckenridge. We didn't think that moose were that far South in Colorado so that was a nice treat. That brings our moose count for the year to 5.

Summit above 14,000 ftWatching the SunriseAlpenglow RefelctionAlpenglow on ShermanSunrise to the EastAbandoned TracksSummit ViewLine of PeopleSteep Rocky AscentMount SherisanRusty NailDisoraginzed WoodSherman From the MineClear SkiesOur AirbnbCabin in the Woods

Monday, September 2, 2024

Kenosha Pass

On our way home from our short weekend excursion in Fairplay, we stopped at Kenosha Pass where there is a trailhead for the Colorado Trail. We stopped here to do some planning for fall colors in about a month from now. Kenosha Pass is filled with aspen trees which will make for some good colors once the leaves start to turn.

Ready for FallSunlight Peaking on the PathLORADO TRAlready OrangeUpright HarebellLast Bit of Paintbrush

Thursday, September 5, 2024

Moon Set Over Longs

In preparation for the supermoon next month, the moon was setting over Longs and Meeker tonight. I drove a few miles to the North to catch the moonset. Unfortunately, I ran out of time finding a better spot to photograph it and ended up with the Johnson's Corner gas station in my foreground.

This time, I was able to get the location just right knowing what angle the moon sets behind the mountains. Hopefully with this being my second practice round and getting the composition of the thing I'm trying to shoot correct, I'll be ready for the October supermoon!

Moon Set

Sunday, September 15, 2024

Fall Colors Hunt in Guanella Pass

It's a little early to start hunting for fall colors, but despite that, we found some great colors in the Aspens in the Guanella Pass area. We hiked the Abyss Lake trail about 3/4 of the way to the lake before turning around due to exhaustion. We never planned to make it all the way to the lake, and we made it over 2 miles further than we planned, but the views of the aspens where we turned around were worth it.

There are still many green aspens in this area on the mountainsides, but we hiked through several perfectly peak aspen groves. In about another week the mountainsides will be popping with color. I'm not sure where we'll end up next weekend looking for color but this is a good area.

This is the longest distance that Katie has done since before her accident. It was a little further than what she was ready for but we did it nonetheless.

High SunComing Out of the GroundGeneva MountainOrange-RedOrange GroveColorful LeavesTrail Full of AspensEye of the TreeColorful ButterflyReflection in the LakeHiking Though the AspensScott Gomer CreekIn the TreesGolden TrailSingle LeafMountain of AspensEnding with a Mushroom

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Another Moon Set

I've been gearing up to take photos of a moon set over Longs Peak in October that will be a supermoon. This morning, I woke up at 6:50 and rolled out of bed to take a few photos of the moon setting before getting ready for work. Ideally, I would have been about 5 miles South to catch the moon setting closer to Longs Peak, but I didn't feel like putting in that much effort for this one.

The moon's peak for the month was also yesterday, but this was still 99.7% full.

North of Longs and MeekerBear Lake Mountain Peaks

Sunday, September 22, 2024

Acorn Creek Trail

To see some fall colors, we headed up I-70 to Sliverthorn for our hike. Katie worked on Saturday, which was the nicer day, but with a storm overnight, the trees were snow-covered on our way up, which excited us. As soon as we went through the Eisenhower Tunnel at Loveland Pass, that snow was gone and it was normal conditions. It was too bad we didn't plan to do something before Loveland Pass, and it's too bad we didn't stop in the morning to take a few photos. But it was early and we thought that the conditions would be the same on the other side of the pass.

We got to the trailhead around 10 am and started our hike which was supposed to be a 5-and-a-half mile hike with a small amount of elevation gain. But we missed the turnoff and headed straight up the mountainside making the hike much more challenging. We didn't make it to the end of the trai, but instead, we ate lunch after we hit 2 and a half miles into the hike before turning around. The views likely would have been a little better if we summited, but it was an extra mile (one way) and an extra 1,000 feet in elevation gain which would have been killer.

This area was nearly peak colors, but there was still a lot of green on the mountainsides. I think another week will be perfect here, but who knows what area we'll end up in next week!

Bright OrangeMornign DewFoggyPtarmigan Peak WildernessThrough the MeadowLooking BackThe TrailUte PeakLunch ViewGolden AspensLifting Clouds

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Busy Trail @ Kenosha Pass

The last weekend in September has historically been the best time to hunt fall colors. Since this is the optimal time for fall colors, we decided to go to one of the most popular areas: Kenosha Pass. We woke up at 5:30 and I got a groggy Katie out of bed to get to the trailhead around 8:30. There were already hundreds of cars parked in the parking lot by the time we arrived. That's no exaggeration, the parking lot was packed and cars were parked all along the road. We ended up parking a quarter-mile from the trailhead before starting our hike on the Colorado Trail.

The Colorado Trail runs the entire length of the state, so we didn't make it to the "end" of this trail since that's not practical. Instead, we were shooting to hike 3.5 miles into the trail to get good views according to trail reviews. That distance, plus how far we parked from the trail resulted in a hike a little over 7.5 miles long. That's a long hike for us in the shape we're in, but luckily it only had about 1,000 feet of elevation gain making the hike not too difficult.

We knew this trail would be busy, so we tried not to let it affect the hike. But between that and unseasonably warm weather, this wasn't our favorite. This time of year should be chilly requiring at least jackets in the morning. But we started this hike in shorts and teeshirts and ended the hike with temperatures in the 70's which was hot in the sections with no shade. If it were a little bit cooler and a little less busy this would have been a great hike.

We stopped at this trailhead at the beginning of the month to scout it out. There aren't great aspen groves close to the hike, so we didn't get a good idea of what the hike would be during that short hike. But it was enough to make us come back to this area. The aspens were past peak in most areas, but we still got great views and great colors.

Golden AspensOrange LeavesThe Mountains in the DistanceClear SkiesReaching to the SkyWarm Sun FlareOvelookOrange Tipped Patch

September 2024

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