Longs Peak- The Loft Couloir

Longs Peak denies me again. This time it wasn't weather or exhaustion that turned me around, but a boot blowout that kept me from the top. I tried the Loft couloir route since it is less popular than the easier Keyhole route. 



The blowout that turned me back. These boots are over ten years old and saw many miles of trail. Is it time to buy new boots?

On our way to camp with Longs Peak behind us. It's good to camp on the mountain since the hike is very long and strenuous.

 This is Mount Meeker and Longs Peak with the snowy Loft couloir in the middle.

 This was our route up the Loft couloir. We made it to the second snow field before my boots said, "No!"

A loose and sketchy couloir with a high risk for rock fall. We saw some rocks the size of our heads fall off the cliffs and tumble down the talus. A fist sized rock tumbling at those speeds will kill you if it hits you in the head. I wear a helmet on climbs like the Loft couloir.

 A fat, fuzzy marmot that was sleeping on the rocks. They are cute, but they will steal your socks and your food from your camp.

 Moving up the Loft couloir about 30 minutes before the blowout.

 Looking down the Loft couloir and at our trail to the couloir.

 This is the beautiful rock face of the Diamond with it's many technical climbing routes.

Walk Around Denver

The 16th Street Mall with free electric buses

City Park with the public library and art museum in the distance

The old wing of the Denver Art Museum

Sculpture in City Park

Flower gardens with the Denver Public Library in the background

The Colorado State Capitol building from City Park

This is the new wing of the Denver Art Museum

Random sculpture on the street

One of Denver's public bicycle depots

Painted pianos and painted cows wander the 16th Street Mall

The construction sites in Denver are beautiful

Walking west from the 16th Street Mall toward the Platte River

Confluence Park is where Cherry Creek dumps into the Platte River

Kayakers getting ready to run some rapids

Elitch Gardens Amusement Park is just around the corner from Confluence Park

Confluence Park with Elitch Gardens in the background

My First Weekend In Colorado

I camped with some friends in Lyons, Colorado. There is a popular bluegrass music festival in these canyons next weekend. This year is the 38th Annual RockyGrass ( http://www.bluegrass.com/rockygrass/ ) music festival. I have some friends in Boulder who come to RockyGrass every year. They camp the weekend before the festival to reserve good camping. The fields in these pictures will soon be filled with tents as 8000 people descend on Lyons (a small town with about 1500 residents).

This field will be filled with tents in a few days.

This is my friends' campsite on the river. It also has good shade. That is the advantage of getting to Lyons the week before the music festival.

Some cliffs near the campground. The climber in me always asks, "How would I climb that cliff?"

People tubing and playing in the St. Vrain river.

The road to my friend's house in the mountains.

My friend's house in the woods.

The wild flowers are still in bloom.

Something left over from the homestead.

Driving To Colorado

I spent about a week in Chicago before driving to Colorado. The drive time to Denver will be close to my flying time from Taiwan...about 16 hours. Nebraska always surprises me. It takes so long to drive across that state. But don't get too excited when to get to the Colorado border. You still have three hours of driving across the flat and barren high plains of eastern Colorado.


The mighty Mississippi River near the Quad cities.

Interstate 80 bridge across the Mississippi River. Interstate 80 connects Teaneck, New Jersey with San Francisco, California and it is the second longest highway in the U.S. 

Nebraska should change it's state motto to: "The State That Never Ends."

More Nebraska

Eastern Colorado is drier and more barren than Nebraska. After 6 hours of driving across Nebraska
 you still have three hours of this before getting to Denver.