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…
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.
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…
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 4 fastpacks back to Chaffee County 390 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…
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 2 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
LighterPack For your convenience, I’ve put all the gear I used in a LighterPack: Below I’ll go over in more detail on the majority of the gear I used. Anything not covered below is listed in the LighterPack, and/or described in the video above: Clothing Being September and with a cold front moving in at Continue reading…
Gear Mentioned My gear goes through some tough challenges with me, and I often find myself modifying it to better fit my needs to survive my adventures. My Ultimate Direction Fastpack 40 is no different. Here are some changes I’ve made to my pack: Patched and Reinforced Back Pocket Scrambling is not friendly to the Continue reading…
On my recent failed Sangres Traverse trip, I made some pretty deep cuts into the gear I brought along, in the name of shaving weight. When you’re route has 60,000′ of elevation gain in only 120 miles, any weight you can drop from your pack is welcome. One my first successful Sangres Traverse, I brought Continue reading…
For the majority of my outdoor trips and adventures, I’m mountain running: moving as quickly as I can in mountainous terrain all with the minimal amount of gear. I also go on multi-day trips and then my mountain running transforms into what’s called, fastpacking. The goal is simply efficient all day movement over long distances, Continue reading…
The Milner to Berthoud Pass Continental Divide Ridge Traverse Fastpack was one of my biggest and proudest projects of 2020. Like the L.A. Freeway route, I think we’re going to see a lot of interest from people wanting to take it on in 2021 and beyond. I’ve put together some evergreen content on the route Continue reading…
Fastpacking differs from ultralight backpacking to me (although the line is indeed blurry) in one major way: the brisk movement through terrain is most likely the only objective. There’s rarely a large camping/cooking/hanging out portion of a fastpack. Instead it’s all about that forward motion: fastpacking is a multi-day, unsupported run. It’s best to be Continue reading…
Nutrition is a difficult subject for me to broach, as I don’t feel as if I’m an expert on the subject to give advice to others. But, I can share the strategies that I personally take when doing my projects, and invite you to use it as a model for your own experiments. What I Continue reading…
Pinned. In front of me, like plated back spikes of a malevolent dragon, was a sheer tower of rock twelve feet high, overhanging on all sides, 300-foot drops to the west and east, and no obvious way to climb up, over, then down to the next spire. How many more of these I would have Continue reading…
I’m putting together the page(s) documenting my Sangres Fastpack (narrative full of feels pending still). The gear list is up! This took many hours longer than I would have thought, but I hope it helps you with your own wild and precious trips.
Sangre de Cristo; Sangre Fría; Solo y Sin Apoyo Fastpack Has Been Completed! Safely + Successfully. Here are the details of the entire trip!
Part One: Part Two: Part Three:
Sometimes it’s seems that it’s hard to follow up something like the Tour of the Highest Hundred with the next project. It took years to get myself physically and mentally ready to take something like that on – save nothing for the financial burden of taking so much time off work and the burden of Continue reading…
Stats (approx.): 36.5 miles 12,815’ Starting Date: 9/2/17 Total time: 2 days, 11min Three Centennials Summited: Capitol Peak Snowmass Mountain Hagerman Peak After cruising through the Sawatch, I had to once again cross west over the Continental Divide – this time with an unruly bear canister in tow, to dash off the Elk Range. A Continue reading…