Monarch Mishap

One of my favorite websites for finding discounted lift tickets is liftopia.com. They give you some of the best deals for buying last minute cheap tickets. The other day I saw tickets for Monarch Ski Area for $25, so Aaron and I decided to go and get a few runs in one afternoon. 

When we arrived the parking lot was very empty and we noticed that not a single chairlift was running. As we got closer we realized that there was no snow on the mountain. 

Monarch is one of the few places that does not make snow. Thats why it is such great skiing! However, with the lack of natural snow this season they were not open. 

I better do a little better planning next time. 

This run is named Gun Barrel. When I think back on this run it was much longer and steeper and always the biggest challenge on the mountain. It seems smaller than I remember.  

My earliest childhood memories are of Monarch and we continually went there through my senior year of high school. However, I never remember going to Monarch Pass. At the age of 24 I made!

This is Old Monarch Pass. A little dirt road that follows Monarch Ski Area boundary and then drops down the back side of the mountain.

Where is the snow

It is now Dec and we haven't seen snow since October. The resorts are open, but with limited runs. So I decided to take a hike. Just off of the Peaks Trail and Peak 7 the Nordic Center has several trails running up and down the mountain.

There are two huts along the path, both accessible year round. Hallelujah Hut  

Kathy's Cabin 

A little further up the trail from Kathy's cabin the path opens up and you get spectacular views of Baldy mountain. 

 This is looking back at Peak 8, to the left and Peak 7, to the right.

Boulder Lake

When you head north on Highway 9 out of Silverthorne about 7.5 miles on the left hand side of the road is Rock Creek Road. If you are not looking for it you will pass it. It's just after a curve in the road and is barely visible. However, if you find yourself on it get ready for an adventure! A 4WD car is recommended and the road can get a little rough. There are several direction you can take once on the road and all lead to fantastic hikes.
Boulder Lake is on the Gore Range Trail and can be accessed from the Rock Creek Trailhead. It is just under 3 miles to the lake. The trail is a lot of ups and downs and gets your heart rate up both directions.
This will definitely be on my list to go back to in the spring.

Mohawk Lakes

Just past my house is a dirt road that leads to a rock road. At the end of the rock road is a trail that leads to Lower and Upper Mohawk Lakes. It is a short 2 mile hike to the upper lake, but it will get your heart rate going. Along the way there is old mining equipment and a beautiful waterfall. My first attempt at getting to the upper lake was unsuccessful. I started out in April and was blocked by giant snow drifts just after reaching the lower lake.

 There was a village of old run down cabins. This is one of them.

 

Here the lower lake is frozen.

This was my sad attempt to hike through the snow drift only to realize I still wasn't going to make it to the upper lake. So I slid down on my jacket

I also encountered signs of Bigfoot!

Here is a before and after of the waterfall:

And the second attempt I made it to the upper lake!!

And an excellent look back at the lower lake

My first geocache

Geocaching is the sport of finding hidden objects using gps coordinates. There is a wonderful app for your phone called cgeo that I used. I went for a hike around my house and found Maggie's Cache on peak 9 in Breckenridge, co.

Crystal Lakes

Just on the back side of Peak 10 when you look to the south there is a valley with a lake in it. The lake is Crystal Lake and can be accessed by hiking or off-roading. The trail starts off pretty rocky and a bit of a climb. Once you get into the valley it opens up and is dirt until you get to the lake. The lake is beautiful and surrounded by mountains. The south mountain when you look at it has a few mine shafts. It is quite a hike through a scree field. The drive down was a prefect opportunity to see all the beautiful aspens changing.

Triathlon

I competed in a triathlon last week. Here are some pictures!

I won my age group!

Eccles Pass

Hiking the Gore Range
We started in Frisco and started on the Meadow Creek Trail and met up with the Gore Range Trail. At the intersection of the two trails the moon was just visible in between two peeks.

Looking just to the right of my head you see a saddle. That is Eccles Pass and our final destination.

 Here is a zoomed in picture of Eccles Pass.

This is the back side of Buffalo Mountain. You see the front every time you are in Silverthorne or Dillon. 

Another view from the top of Eccles Pass. The craggy Gore Range. If you head to the west you will be in Vail. 

 Here with my roommate.

Hiking down we had a good view of lake Dillon.

Skydiving Canon City, CO