In summer of 2022, a group of my friends decided to attempt the John Muir Trail in July of '23, and yet the pesky CA snows got in the way of my first thru-hike. Alas, it was not meant to be. So instead, two of my buddies and I decided to take 9 days of what would have been JMT time and drive around the state to see how many remaining peaks we could knock out. We planned the trip, bought the food/gear, and got ready for a true dirtbag mission.

We met up the evening of 7/12, sorted out food and gear, and got ready for days 1-4 in the Crestones. The next morning, we left the Denver area around 9-10am for the 3hr drive to South Colony Lakes, and made it to the trailhead around 1. We hiked the beautiful approach from the 2WD trailhead (we had an Outback, but decided not to risk it) and set up camp at the lower South Colony Lake. As we watched the sun go down over the basin and made dinner, I was reminded of why I love the high alpine so much. We hit the hay around 9-10 for a 4am wakeup.

The next morning, we hit the road around 4:45 and went up and over Broken Hand Pass (still holding some snow on the crux) to get to Crestone Peak. Probably my favorite peak of the whole week, was just fun rock and great views all the way up and a great time was had by all. We marveled at the traverse (to be attempted by those with greater skills or more cojones than us) and glissaded down the gully. My buddies took a dip in Cottonwood Lake as I bravely filmed from the warmth of dry land and we slogged back to camp. The pass the second time around was definitely more demoralizing. We made it back to camp by 3, took an unexpected nap, and my friend Jesse and I got ready for the Needle the following morning. Kaeden, the third member of our party, had decided to stay back from the Class 4's after a routefinding mishap on the Sawtooth weeks prior had left him shaken.

We were on trail by 4:30 the following morning and made good time up to the pass. We decided this was a good time to slam the Monster energy drinks we so wisely packed in (ultralight backpacking at its finest) and looked damn good doing it. We passed a couple groups also doing the Needle that day and exchanged words of encouragement, while having no idea what to expect. Thankfully, despite several routefinding errors up the gully leading into some hard Class 4, we summited the Needle safely, and observed multiple trail runners jog past us as if getting in their morning workout. At the summit, we checked up on Chris' FKT attempt (we lovingly referred to him as our "FKT friend") and saw him continue to crush, hoping we'd get to see his superhuman feats at some point in the week. The descent went quite easily with better routefinding and we were back at camp by 1. After a little dip in SCL we were all refreshed and ready for more. We decided on the spot to night hike Humboldt that evening, so went to bed early.

We woke up at 1am for Humboldt and were moving by 1:40, and ended up summiting way earlier than planned (and finding a couple sleeping up there). We curled in a ball to stay warm, but it was all worth it to watch the sun rise. Absolutely gorgeous morning. Jesse took a dip in upper SCL and we were back at camp by 7. After a leisurely breakfast, we hit the road by 10 and made it to the 4WD trailhead around noon. Resigned to the hot slog back to the car, we hiked about a quarter mile before being picked up by some wonderful ladies headed down. We had a great chat with them until the car dropoff, and then it was on to Mt. Sneffels. On the way to Yankee Boy Basin, we made a stop at Bishops Castle in Rye (to me scarier than any class 4 peak) and got our roadside attraction fix. After milkshakes and burgers in Salida, we were all fueled up and ready to go. We arrived at Yankee Boy Basin around 8pm, and decided to risk the mile to the lower clearance 4WD trailhead in the Subie. There were a couple rough patches (i.e. the rusted out car carcass at the bottom of the cliff below the crux) but we made it safe and sound just below dark. We cowboy camped in the parking lot and got ready for Sneffels the next morning.

We were prepared for Sneffels to be a snowy slog, but were relieved to find a completely dry talus slope. We absolutely cooked up the slope and made great time to the summit, chanting David Goggins mantras the whole way up. Met some more trail friends on the way up, and by the time we gained the summit were ready for more. Jesse decided to take a photoshoot of a gummy bear (?) atop Sneffels, and we enjoyed the views for a minute before scrambling down the ridge. The way down was definitely demoralizing, with tourists passing in ATVs all day. After the hike, it was time for REST DAY! We spent an exorbitant amount of money at the Ouray hot springs, but had a blast messing around before getting to Montrose and our dirt-cheap hotel (and dirty shower). Ate a delicious BBQ dinner and crashed hard after some laundry.

We woke up late on the 18th in our Montrose hotel, had the most delicious continental breakfast the Days Inn had to offer (pretty fancy for a couple of college students), stocked up on groceries, and hit the road again. We spent a half day in downtown Ouray, walking around and chatting up the locals (and more milkshakes)- and then it was time to go to Aspen. We made the beautiful drive in about 5 hours, only to realize there is no free camping to be had in Aspen, especially close to the Bells. A kind camp host let us snag an open site for free nearby and it was time for Pyramid.

After an EARLY start to the morning, Jesse and I were at the Pyramid trailhead by 4am and made good time to the Amphitheater. The snow made for easy crossing with spikes and poles until the talus slope, which we slogged up. We were feeling great until the green rock, where the real climbing began. Although a lot less fun than the Crestones, the green rock was relatively stable. The final summit push was the true definition of Type 2 fun, as we lost the trail again and again, eventually just scrambling straight to the summit. At the summit, we checked our FKT friend's progress and were sad to see that he'd dropped out due to HAPE symptoms. Thankful to be in one piece, we said our prayers and began the slow descent, which turned out easier than expected. By 3 we had met up with Kaeden at Aspen Highlands and explored Aspen for a few hours before realizing we couldn't afford anything in that town. We spent the night on BLM land outside Leadville and slept hard.

The next morning, we woke up with the sun and explored Leadville for a few hours, then it was on to Willow Lake for the last leg of our trip. I drove through some beautiful Colorado weather while the other two snoozed, then we began our hike in around 3. We were all pretty tired, and the clouds of mosquitos surrounding us didn't help. But slowly and surely we made it up, and were unprepared for yet more hordes of bugs surrounding us as we set up camp. The wonderful weather we enjoyed all week was forecast to come to a close, so we planned on an early wakeup to avoid afternoon thunderstorms.

As I opened my eyes the next morning, what were we met with but the sun and birds chirping- things that do not occur at a 3am wakeup. We scrambled out of bed at 5:30 and were on trail by 5:45, cursing our tired bodies. Thankfully, we made great time up Challenger Point and summited by 8 with some fun Class 4 variations. We said a prayer atop the summit for a friend of a friend who died on Kirk Couloir last year, and began the Avenue. Although I wasn't looking forward to the exposure, the hiking is actually quite easy and beautiful. We summited KC around 9:30 and met the first people we saw all day on the way down. Since we'd escaped any injuries thus far, it was time for some questionable decision making. We saw the steep (30-50º) gully and decided it was easily glissadable with spikes and poles. If you're thinking about doing what we did without an ax, the answer is NO. We scooted down about 100-200ft before Kaeden lost control and slid about 300 feet down the gully before slamming into a rock and coming to a dead stop. Jesse and I took one look at each other and threw ourselves down the mountain towards Kaeden, making it down safely and thankfully finding Kaeden alive and well. After a brief checkup, we found him fine but for some scrapes and bruises and made our way down to camp. We feasted on the remains of our backpacking meals and slept hard.

Finally, it was time to go home. Saturday morning we packed our things and made quick time coming down. After a brief stop at Cracker Barrel, we were home, having had the best week of our lives in the mountains and grateful to have experienced so much in such a short span of time. Looking forward to more adventures!