MT. BIERSTADT

Guanella Pass - Georgetown

Round-trip Distance:  6 miles

Elevation Gain: 2,391

Highest Elevation: 14,060

 

 

Angela's first 14'er!!!  And it couldn't have been a nicer day!

 

 

Blue skies, cool temps, and no wind!  Doesn't get much better than that!!

 

 

Top-out shot!!  Beautiful up there!!! 

 

 

I'm still trying to figure out the Sawtooth Ridge that I've heard so much about.....!??! 

 

 

And I'm still loving the aspen this year!!!!

Angela, thanks for making your way out to Colorado!  Soooo good to see you!! 

Hope your next visit includes your man, and brussel sprouts!! 

XOXO

 

 

always be swooping!!

 

CHICAGO LAKES

Mt. Evans Wilderness

Round-trip Distance:  9.75 miles

Elevation Gain: 2,224

Highest Elevation: 11,733

 

This was one of those where all I could say was, "I can't believe I live in Colorado!"

On my way out I ran into a couple of guys with Boulder pads, who suggested there was tons of boulders out there! 

I ran across this one that looked like fun!

 

This was my end point, the upper lake. Great views of Mt. Spalding and Mt. Evans. 

Beautiful fall colors and just an amazing place to spend an afternoon!

This is a shot of the lower lake and looking back into the valley I just came up. 

The trail is well marked and lots of info on-line so I'll keep it short. 

But I will say this one is totally worth doing!!



always be swooping

CHIEF MOUNTAIN

Squaw Pass Road

Round Trip Distance: 2.9 miles

Summit Elevation: 11,709 ft

 

I've posted this hike before, but I can't get enough of the aspen this year, and wanted to share!

 

And the views from the top were just amazing!!!!

Hope everyone is enjoying fall!!!

always be swooping



WITCH & BITCH

Autumn Fire Workshop

Silver Plume, CO

 

 

This was an AWESOME day!!!!

And I can't wait for the next one!!!

 

We learned to make fire cider, smudge sticks. 

We learned about smoke meats and crystals! 

We had an amazing lunch with amazing people! 

 

A day totally worthy of a jump shot!!! 

Leezl and Katana showing off their cheerleading moves!!!

Thank you Dram Apothecary for hosting! 

And thank you Leezl for having a birthday so we could all get together to celebrate!! 

I still owe you a cake!!!

 

 

always be swooping

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEEKEND

Andrew Long

Friends:  Ambi & Brendan from DC

 

 

The weekend started out with a Smith Island Cake from Andrew's mom!! 

Thank you for sending!!!!  It was DELCIOUS!!!!

 

Then Ambi and Brendan arrived from DC! 

We had a great time in Boulder watching the street performers and a great meal at Oak!

 

Of course there were some jump shots involved!  I'm still impressed how high Ambi can jump!!  We had a great hike up Chief Mountain, till the sky turned black and it looked like it was going to pour!! 

 

Perhaps, the highlight of the weekend was the Oddball Comedy Festival at Red Rocks which had an AMAZING line up -- Aziz, Whitney Cummings, Marc Maron, Louis C.K. etc!. 

Lots of laughs that's for sure!!! 

 

Ambi & Brendan, thank you for making the trip out west for Andrew's birthday!  It was so great to see you!!!  And Andrew, happy birthday to one of the most amazing people I know! 

May all of your birthday wishes come true!!

 

 

always be swooping!

MAXWELL FALLS

Evergreen, CO

Roundtrip Distance: ~1 mile

Ladies day out!!!  And I couldn't have asked for a better pair of ladies to get out with!  It was a beautiful day out at Maxwell Falls...and it is starting to look like fall!!  Mia & Luca, love you guys and thank you for being such a big part of my life!!!

XOXO

always be swooping!

CLEAR CREEK PACK RAFTING - WITH MOM!

Time ~30 min

Lots of fun, laughing, wooting and hollering!

Mom came for a quick visit before she took off to Wyoming and we made the most of it!  I have been talking about pack rafting for years, and how I thought she would love it!!!  So when given the choice between a hike or pack rafting, without hesitation, her choice was pack rafting!!

The river was a bit lower than the last time, but it still was tons of fun!!!  Mom paddled like a pro, and gave me pointers along the way!!  Lots of laughs and good times!!!

 

always be swooping

CRESTED BUTTE

Central Colorado

one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

 

The last time I was in Crested Butte was probably close to 20 years ago.  It was the trip that I made the decision to move to Alaska........Which pretty much changed my life for ever.......thanks mom for being there!! 

The town has grown, but it was just as beautiful as I remembered it!!

This trip I had the privilege to spend the weekend with the McQuade's.  A huge thank you for letting me, yet again, tag along, including grandmom McQuade!  Thanks for introducing me to new restaurants, hikes, and cocktails!  Can't wait to do it again!!!!! And maybe next time I'll even rent a bike!

 

always be swooping



GRAYS PEAK

Front Range

Round-Trip Distance: 8.5 miles

Total Elevation Gain: 3,600 ft

Highest Elevation: 14,278 ft

 

 

"Trotting" up Grays has been on my list.....I just needed some motivation!  And while in Ten Sleep I met just the person, Diana Crabtree, to give me the motivation to do it.....and the story gets better, while going up, I ran into Diana coming down! Of course I was huffing and puffing so much I couldn't actually thank her, but I think it was understood!!!  As I've said before, another beautiful day in Colorado!!!  Soooo grateful to be here!! Thank you Diana!

 

always be swooping

TEN SLEEP

Ten Sleep, Wyoming

Rock Climbing - Sport

Over 800 routes! 

 

 

I had never heard of Ten Sleep till Chuck and Kristen mentioned it to me!  Tons of routes, on beautiful rock in a beautiful place......sounded like a place I needed to check out!!!

 

 

Little Liam came along and had GREAT time!!!

 

Kendal teaching Liam how to beatbox was one of the many highlights of this trip!!

 

Andrew made it out for a night, which was tons of fun!!!!

 

I guess I should include a climbing pic!!!!  I though this was a cool shot of Chuck!!! 

I wish I had a better shot of the rock to show off the limestone in more detail.....The walls were super featured with lots of pockets, crimps, and even some cracks!!  Most of the climbing was pretty technical and tons of fun!  I followed (as usual), but there were a tons of bad ass girls getting it done....And that was truly motivating!!!!

 

 

And of course, just because we had not had enough fun, we got a flat tire on the way home!!!!  We got it fixed, but it took awhile!!  Thank you for the great trip!! And a special thank you to the boys for putting up the ropes!! Looking forward to doing it again very soon!!!!!

always be swooping

ISABELLA GLACIER

Indian Peaks Wilderness

Round-Trip Distance:  9 miles (But we didn't make quite to the glacier!)

Total Elevation Gain: 1,512  ft

Highest Elevation: 11,533 ft

 

 

 

It sure was a beautiful hike on the way up!!  Lots of spectacular views of lakes, peaks, and, creeks!

When we reached "the end" we really were not sure if we were there or not...The trail fizzled at the end....and it was pouring rain, so it made the decision to turn around pretty easy!!  When I got home and downloaded the GPS it showed we were close, but not quite!  We will have to go back for it at some point!!

 

Always tons of fun getting out with Sarah!

Cool shot of Sarah coming down the trail!

 



Running into moose on the way back made up for not making it to the glacier!!!  Thanks for making the trip Sarah!!  Till next time!!!!

 

always be swooping

4 PASS LOOP

Aspen, CO

Round-Trip Distance:  26 miles

Total Elevation Gain: 10,224 ft

Four 12,000 ft Passes - Three days

 

Ok, maybe Kira and I were not hiking hard enough based on the above shot!!  But, I promise you we were!!  I wish I could share this adventure in 4 pics, but that would be just about impossible, because it was just so beautiful! I'll do my best to keep it at a minimum! 

 

This loop hike starts just outside of Aspen.  There was some confusion on how you actually get to the trailhead.....If you get there early or arrive late you can drive to the trailhead, otherwise you will need to take the shuttle.  It wasn't that big of a deal, but did take a little longer to get started.

 

The hike is pretty well traveled, so we did see people every day, however it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be!  The trail is well marked.  We had a map, but really only pulled it out a couple of times.

I guess I should be saying which passes these photos represent....but I'll keep you guessing in hopes you can see for yourself! We were not sure how fast we would be moving, but with such a nice trail we moved pretty quickly.  We did west maroon pass & fridged air pass the first day.  The second day we did trail rider pass & buckskin pass, which made our last day pretty short, which was nice.  Trail rider pass, I thought was the hardest!!

 



 

Such a beautiful place to spend some time!!  Thanks Kira for taking the time!  And a special thank you to Raylan the dog for keeping us safe at night!!!

 



always be swooping