Stomp
Weather still isn't ideal for long bike rides. Temps in the low teens are having me searching out other outdoor activities. This weekend was another 4 hour hike...but I was solo since all my adventure buddies are out of town for xmas. There has been a ton of snow falling in the mountains. Better to be safe than sorry, so I scoped out the CO avalanche website to see what my options were for alpine fun.
I opted to stay a bit closer to town and get no higher than 10,200 ft. Surprisingly there wasn't that much snow out in the Pingree area west of Fort Collins. Today's effort had me going up West White Pine Mountain. It is all fireroad...but it is steep and aggressive. Something like 2,300 ft of elevation gain in a hair over 2 miles. Last time I did this climb was in the Spring....on the bike.
About 1/2 way up and already feeling it in my calf muscles. "Ooooo, the burn!"
This is the last photo before the cold temps (10F) got the best of my camera battery. I would guess I am about 1/2 way up the climb. No, it is not 58F degrees out. That is the temp that was being read on the Core as I pulled back my jacket sleeve to check the elevation. It really didn't get any warmer the rest of the hike....maybe about 13F if I was lucky.Now it is time for xmas. Back to Iowa for a quick xmas.....then back to CO. There looks to be more snow in the Midwest than there is out here. Might just have to drag the snowshoes along for the trip. Once back in CO, the New Year will be celebrated on snowshoes with 2 back-to-back days of big efforts. Thinking Cameron Pass area or Rocky Mountain National Park. Of course, avalanche danger will be the deciding factor.
FYI, I have a brand new Yeti cx frame, fork, and headset I will never get built up, so it is for sale. Size L...good for someone right near 6ft tall. Email me at kerkovej at gmail dot com for more info. Photos here.
Jeff Kerkove said at 2:17 PM
