Starting and finishing a summit of Mount Massive adds 26 miles to the 14 1/2 miles East Slopes route of Mount Massive, a perfect challenge for THE LONG RANGER – and in Winter to boot! No traffic once on the trail made the going a tough, slow: slog!
One COLD ride up Guanella Pass to summit Bierstadt, traversing the Sawtooth and topping out on Blue Sky! I have a Patreon and release videos like these early to members. If you would like to support the content I create, consider becoming a member yourself!
In April of 2023 I set up to walk the Continental Divide ridge from Loveland Pass to the next paved road 40 miles away at Hoosier Pass. I thought it would be an easy walk in the mountains. Turned out to be anything but!
A righteous time in the Sangre de Cristos. It’s no secret that this is one of my favorite ranges, but I’ve never visited in Winter – time to ameliorate that! Not the easiest location to get to car-free, but there is a bus that arrives at Alamosa at 7pm. I figured I could ride the Continue reading…
With Winter coming, I wanted to take a fast trip up something big before Christmas. Once there’s snow on the ground and the days get short, dependable and safe access just to get to the trailhead without a car can be a little dicey. I thought of Pikes Peak, just outside of Colorado Springs: there’s Continue reading…
I’ve added a page to help flesh out what the Sawatch Continental Divide Ridge Traverse is all about. For now, this is an open project – one that I may myself revisit in the future.
At long last! I’ve compiled my footage from this audacious attempt to cross the Sawatch Range on foot and unsupported via the Continental Divide.
The dream of completing the Sangre de Cristo Range Traverse just didn’t seem like something I could put down even after my first successful tour in 2019 going South to North. I made it then my mission to do the traverse from the opposite direction, starting in Salida and ending at Lake Como Road. This Continue reading…
Join Justin Simoni as: THE LONG RANGER as he attempts to tackle the Sangre de Cristo Range Traverse North to South. Thinks don’t always go to plan…
A good time on Longs Peak, as always. After the NW Gully, I wanted a chiller summit, so I picked Iron Gates, which stays relatively snow-free most of the year for whatever reason – as opposed to the Loft, which looked pretty fat with snow (I also want to keep the Loft for a future Continue reading…
Life has become busy, so I haven’t compiled my weekly workout journal in a few weeks – happens. Follow me on Strava for the highlights. Sunday, I did go up to Longs Peak in an attempt to get an April tick. Somewhat obligatory, as I have a March tick – and I like to see Continue reading…
I delayed my traverse trip, as weather looked a little iffy, so instead I decided to stay a little closer to home, and test out some new gear and systems on an sub 48 bikepacking overnighter – and in the process, tick a summit of Longs Peak in Winter, before winter was over. I decided Continue reading…
Presented here is episode 1 through 6 of the Slowlans series for your viewing convenience and enjoyment. When I started editing all this, I had no idea it would be such a large project, coming to almost an hour of runtime that took two+ months to finish. Enjoy.
It’s high time to start dreamin’ of high adventures! Winter is coming to a close and before it does, I plan to eek out a grand adventure out there: a ridge traverse! Loveland Pass and Hooiser Pass are ~42 miles away from each other if you follow the Continental Divide ridgeline that separates them. In Continue reading…
Episode 6 finishes the line up summiting La Plata, Elbert and finally Massive, then descending into the Leadville Fish Hatchery.
If you’re interested in running Nolan’s 14, one of the best way to preview the line is to fastpack it! You’ll get a taste of what it’s like to link up big parts of the route, without having to backtrack, and the load makes for good training. Episode 5 starts up the Missouri Gulch Trailhead Continue reading…
A new version of my Slowlans guide is out! New to this version is a website under my new guise, Long May You Range, revised routes, new maps, PDF downloads, and revised segment narratives to name but a few major changes. What’s Slowlans? Slowlans is a guide to for backpacking the Nolan’s 14 line where Continue reading…
If you’re interested in running Nolan’s 14, one of the best way to preview the line is to fastpack it! You’ll get a taste of what it’s like to link up big parts of the route, without having to backtrack, and the load makes for good training. Episode 3 starts off on the summit of Continue reading…
Justin and Drew Bob embark on their ultralight backpack/fastpack of the Sawatch 14ers on the Nolan’s 14 route. Episode 1
As soon as the bus pulls into Salida, I’m out the front door, heading down to the old school motel – the one at the outskirts of town with the larger than life flamingo statues, classic cars decorating the front, and rock-bottom room prices. I check in, throw my pack on the bed, then I’m Continue reading…
This week’s Boulder Weekly includes the story of my solo January Longs Peak Duathlon up Keplingers Couloir – a project I’ve tried and failed at for years. Have a read.
This is Part II of my two-day bikepacking trip to Longs Peak (here’s Part 1), with the main goal figuring out a righteous off-pavement route to Longs Peak. In this video, I take to the trails to summit Longs Peak – as well as Mount Meeker. I link the two via Gorrell’s Traverse: a most Continue reading…
This ride was a long time coming, and one of my top five favorite trips of 2021. I’ve been trying to link together a righteous MTB route as close as I could to Rocky Mountain National Park, and this route is, I feel, the best one can do. I’ll be updating my Longs Peak Route Continue reading…