I’m currently writing some notes about my 2017 Tour of the Highest Hundred, where I bikepacked to the trailheads of all 105 Colorado Centennials, and then summited them by foot. This is a work in progress and the notes are currently spread in the post archives of this site: GPX Files/Caltopo Map Found here. Talk Continue reading…
Enjoy!
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…
Stats (approx.): 32 miles 10,000’+ elevation Total time: 1 day, 2hr, 30min Three Centennials Summited: “Phoenix Peak” San Luis Stewart Peak I questioned framing this leg of my Tour of the Highest Hundred as a, “Fastpack from Hell”, as the numbers really don’t compare to the Crestones, Sierra Blanca – let alone the mighty Weminuche. Continue reading…
Stats (approx.): 81.4 Miles 34,847’+ elevation Total time: 5 days, 1hr, 44min Nine Centennials Summited: Pigeon Peak Turret Peak Jupiter Mountain Windom Peak Sunlight Peak North Eolus Mount Eolus Jagged Mountain Vestal Peak The Weminuche. This was the make-or-break section of my tour. A large project within an enormous project. Lots of terrain to cover, Continue reading…
Happy to announce a new talk covering my Highest Hundred trip in 2017 at Bent Gate in Golden, CO on the 28th of March. Come by and check it out! The event is free:
The 2018 FKTOFTY Awards have been announced. I’ve very thankful that the Tour of the Highest Hundred was selected in the lineup! Although, it didn’t “win”, I really had no reason to think I would! I’m actually a little confused how different FKT attempts can even be compared to each other, but if all we Continue reading…
The electronics gear kit list! Bringing any sort of gear – especially electronic gear, is a fine balance between the convenience of having the resource, and the burdens of carrying it all with you. Doubly so with electronic gear, as it all requires some sort of power source to charge it all up. Choose wisely. Continue reading…
Stats: 33.1 Miles 15,085’+ elevation Total time: 2 days 25min Six Centennials summited: Ellingwood Point Little Bear Peak Blanca Peak “Huerfano Peak” Mt. Lindsey California Peak To make the Tour of the Highest Hundred work, my general strategy was to keep the number of separate trailheads I needed to visit by bike as low as Continue reading…
Header image: Argentine Pass just a few days before finishing. I was, it seemed, a bit tired. It’s been 22 days since I finished the Tour of the Highest Hundred. I’m asked often what recovery looks like for something like this, and when I think I’ll be 100% again. Let’s step back, and clear up Continue reading…
Miracles of Miracles, I managed to complete my Big Project for the year: The Tour of the Highest Hundred! There’s many projects that I’ll be branching off from this summer’s trip, but below are some articles/interviews covering the Tour – I’ll update if/when others are published: Climbing Magazine Justin Simoni Summits Colorado’s 100 Highest Peaks Continue reading…
Centennials Summited (18): Mt. Buckskin Mt. Democrat Mt. Cameron Mt. Lincoln Mt. Bross Mt. Silverheels Quandary Peak Fletcher Peak Atlantic Peak Pacific Peak Crystal Peak Grays Peak Torreys Peak Mt. Edwards Mt. Bierstadt Mt. Evans Mount Meeker Longs Peak Total Mileage: Bike Bike: 204.5 miles, 18,606′ elevation gained By Foot: 74.1 miles, 33,825′ elevation gained
Centennials Summited (8): Cathedral Peak Castle Peak Conundrum Peak Pyramid Peak Maroon Peak North Maroon Thunder Pyramid Peak Grizzly (A) Peak Total Mileage By Foot: 52.2 miles, 23,215′ elevation gained By Bike: 174.1 miles, 18,092 elevation gained Day #49 (September 4th, 2017): Snowmass Creek TH -> Aspen -> Cathedral Peak TH Once Capitol/Snowmass/Hagerman was completed, it was time Continue reading…
Centennials Summited (11): Mount of the Holy Cross Holy Cross Ridge Mt. Oklahoma Mt. Massive Mt. Elbert French Mountain Casco Peak Lackawanna Peak Capitol Peak Snowmass Peak Hagerman Peak Total Mileage: By foot: 76.9 miles, 31,821′ elevation gained By bike: 200.1 miles, 15,165′ elevation gained
This was most likely the largest week in the entire tour, in terms of number of peaks summited. Access in the Sawatch is generally easy, resupply is plenty, and most of the peaks don’t pose too much technical problems. Centennials Summited (19): Cronin Peak Mt. Antero Mt. Shavano Tabeguache Peak Mt. Princeton Mt. Harvard Mt. Continue reading…
Centennials Summited (6): Dallas Peak Teakettle Peak Mt. Sneffels Wetterhorn Peak Uncompahgre Peak Mt. Ouray Total Mileage: By foot: 41.1 miles, 17,815′ elevation gain By bike: 249.1 miles, 27,561′ elevation gain
Centennials Summited (13): Pigeon Peak Turret Peak Jupiter Mountain Windom Peak Sunlight Peak North Eolus Eolus Peak Jagged Mountain Vestal Peak Wilson Peak Gladstone Peak Mt. Wilson El Diente Total Mileage: On foot: 98.1 miles, 42,073′ elevation gain On bike: 42.7 miles, 5,342′ elevation gain
Centennials Summited (8): Jones Peak Half Peak Handies Peak Redcloud Peak Sunshine Peak UN 13832 UN 13811 Vermilion Peak Total Mileage: By foot: 63.2 miles, 21,631′ elevation gained By bike: 72.2 miles, 7,636′ elevation gain
Centennials Summited (11): Mt. Adams Kit Carson Peak Challenger Peak Columbia Point Humboldt Peak Crestone Needle Crestone Peak Phoenix Peak San Luis Peak Stewart Peak Rio Grande Pyramid Total Mileage: By foot: 85.4 miles, 29,916′ elevation gained By bike: 276.3 miles, 12,298′ elevation gained
Centennials Summited (9): Pikes Peak Culebra Peak Red Mountain Ellingwood Point Little Bear Blanca Peak “Huefrano Peak” Mt. Lindsey California Peak Total Mileage: By foot: 62.4 miles, 23,625′ elevation gained By bike: 362 miles, 21,242′ elevation gained
My “Thank You!” list for the Tour of the Highest Hundred is competing with the list of mountains I have to summit for length, distance, and height – in other words, there’s a whole lot of people that are coming together to help me make this really amazing trip happen. I’m besides myself in appreciation Continue reading…
To my surprise, people seem curious in the gear I use that comprises my sleep system. I’ll be describing my current setup that I’ll be using for the Tour of the Highest Hundred, a two-month bikepacking and peak bagging adventure. Like everything, it’s a constantly evolving kit, that changes depending on weather, seasons, geographic location/environment, Continue reading…
My time in Salida on tour soon came to an end, after a little time at the hostel with an honest to goodness shower. Time for me to travel north! Out of Salida, there’s some pretty awful highway riding to get directly to the next town, Buena Vista, and the day I set off saw Continue reading…
I took a ride out from Salida to Poncha Springs then onto Chaffee County 210 to the rarely visited (by 14er standards) Little Cochetopa Trailhead, which gives you access to Mt. Ouray, a Centennial peak @ 13,971′. The last few miles of the well-maintained road turned into a legitimate 4WD track, and it was a Continue reading…
I’m presently in the Salida area, enjoying the incredible weather, tough training, and reconning potential routes. Salida and its people are incredibly friendly, bike shops and bike people are everywhere, and the mountains are crazy-accessible. I rode here from Colorado Springs, having taken the bus from Boulder -> Denver -> Colorado Springs to save some Continue reading…