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2020 has been quite the year so far. I haven't been able to get out as much as I would have liked due to pursuing other goals outside of hiking, but as I am wrapping those other endeavors up, I have begun shifting my focus to finishing the 14ers this year. At this point, weather will dictate whether or not I am able to reach that goal. Either way, I am beginning to see the light at the end of my 14er journey tunnel. I was never one to place a time expectation on finishing, but I am getting so close that I have decided to dedicate all of my free time to wrapping up my remaining peaks as efficiently and safely as possible.
The San Juans
Making it out to the San Juans has always been difficult for me due to my work schedule. Unless I have 3 days at my disposal, I usually have to write off the San Juans and opt for something closer to home. Labor Day weekend provided me with the time I needed to make a push for Wilson Peak. I used PTO two weeks ago and successfully made the summits of El Diente, Mt. Wilson and Handies. My intention was to also do Wilson Peak that same weekend but that did not come into fruition so that leads us to here...
The Party
I started my 14er journey back in 2016 and after I was around 10 peaks in, I linked up with my buddy Kit and he and I continued hiking everything our schedules would allow us to in the months that followed. So it only seemed fitting for me to reach out and see if he would like to join me for my 50th unique 14er summit. Saturday afternoon (9/5) I met him at his place and we set off towards the Rock of Ages trailhead, after stopping for some dinner at Tacos del Gnar in Ridgway. Our buddy Ross was already out there because he was planning to do Gladstone Peak the same day so we setup our camp next to him. The 4:20 am alarm came early and after throwing our gear in his truck, we made our way up to the trailhead and reached our goal of boots on the ground at 5:00 am.
The Hike
The weather forecast looked promising as they were calling for a high of 55 with winds estimated around 15 mph. We stopped for our first break around 12,200' and I setup to take my first video of the day. Throughout my 14er journey, I have discovered a new passion in video editing. With the weather being as nice as it was, I took this day to shoot a lot of video for practice. We had excellent weather all day and spent an hour on the summit.
At the Gladstone saddle looking back at the Rock of Ages SaddleOn the summit with Lizard Head Peak in the backgroundDallas and SneffelsFurther outComing back down we hung out some more at the Rock of Ages saddleLooking back up at Wilson PeakLove the red on that mountain
This was a great trip for #50 and if weather holds up for my remaining peaks, I hope to finish this year!
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Glad we could make the camping situation work out and do the approach together! Video came out awesome!
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