A 2 Peak Day.

Yesterday was probably one of the best days of my time here in Breckenridge. My friend Mads came down (well, more like up) from Boulder with two of her friends for the weekend. I had planned to be their hiking/off-roading guide, but because of my leg I wasn't sure if I'd be able to. Not only did we end up hiking, we ended up hiking TWO; Peak 10 on Breckenridge Ski Resort at 13,615ft and Bald Mountain at 13,684ft.

Because two of them were from low altitude and not yet acclimated, we decided to take the first sections of the mountains in my 4x4 XTerra until we were above the timberline, which is a slightly ironic concept because the top is always the hardest hiking where there's no oxygen, HA! We started at about 10 am and decided to do Baldy first. I didn't know until yesterday that the off-road trail for Baldy is literally a block from my house. Had I known this when I first moved here, I can't tell you how many times I would have hiked and driven it by now! It took us about a 40 minutes to drive up and we spent well over two hours hiking.

Old mining buildings on the way up.

Stopped for a photo op once we got above the timberline. From left to right: Maddie, Me, Rachel, Ale.

Me and my baby! (The XTerra)

Mads standing with Mt.Guyot in the background.

Watch my XTerra get smaller and smaller!

Breckenridge

Maddie getting a better view from some rocks!

We didn't get all the way to the top because the path got pretty sketchy and we got pretty tired, so we decided to hike back down and do Peak 10, too! We drove down to town, got some gas, took a bathroom break, and headed up Breckenridge Ski Resort! The dirt road starts at Beaver Run resort and switchbacks up Peak 9 until you leave the ski resort territory above the timberline. To say the least, it is a pretty bumpy ride after timberline, and eventually opens up to a big plateau (4th of July Bowl) before very tight, steep switchbacks up Peak 10. This was a substantially longer drive than Baldy because we had to switchback up the entire resort from 9,000ft, and then drive about 7-15mph past the timberline.

Driving up Breckenridge, fall is so beautiful!

Above the timberline looking down on Breckenridge.

We could have drove my XTerra up to about 500 ft before the peak, but that would have completely lost the point of hiking. So we ditched the car and hiked the switchbacks up. We even had a snowball fight on the way!

About 600 ft from the peak, looking over the south side of Peak 10 down on to lower Crystal Lake (One of the few 4x4 trails in Breckenridge I have yet to conquer). 

Looking over the south side at Upper Crystal Lake.

A picture of the 4th of July Bowl and Breckenridge, from about 12,900 ft.

We thought we were getting close... but when I took this picture my 6'4" friend Mikey and friends who started the hike a few hours before us were standing on the peak. Can you see them? Yeah, definitely not. How deceiving! HAHA!

Peak 9 (left) and Peak 8 look so small from up here!

Looking down from 13,300 ft.

CONQUERED!

Baldy Mountain directly out in the distance. It's crazy to think we were just on the top of that mountain a few hours ago!

We spent some time up on top throwing rocks over the edge and just sitting silently, listening to nothing but the wind. Though the saying goes a picture can say one thousand words, the feeling of actually being on top of a mountain can't be described with any. It's a very self-fulfilling experience- The sweat and energy you give to get to the top, paid off with views beyond your wildest dreams and a serenity you can't find anywhere in the world. If you're a parent reading my blog who has a son or daughter attending CMC, and you're from apart of the world with no mountains, I strongly encourage you to get out here at some point and experience it with your family. And with all sincerity, don't hesitate to contact me if you want me as your guide. This is what I'm passionate about, and I love sharing it with anyone I can, especially those who don't get to experience it on a daily basis.

SNOW!

First off I thought I'd share some legitimate photos of fall that my roommate Rachel took last week with her camera. 99% of my pictures are taken with my iPhone, so you can never get the real colors out.

(Don't forget you can always click any of the pictures on my page for a bigger view.)

Yesterday evening a really cool storm rolled in. I love the storms in the mountains because they move so quickly. I could tell this one had a lot of accumulation because the clouds were really low and really high and kind of misty... which is rare for Colorado being so dry.

The word around Breckenridge was that we were supposed to get our first dusting of snow above the timberline tonight, and sure enough I woke up to a dusting! It's very exciting, the first sign of winter! The snow and cold weather is definitely late this season, but I'm hoping it's because of La Nina and she's cooking up a little more before it dumps all season. Hopefully Loveland and A-Basin won't have to keep canceling the start of snowmaking. As I type this it has started to sleet out... it's not hair, it's not snow, and it's not rain... it's kind of like a soft hail. Hopefully that means it's snowing up on the peaks!!!

UPDATE: It IS snowing!!!!

The other day I was riding my bike and took a nasty spill. It is by far the worst road rash I've ever had in my life. I'm three days into it and it's the most painful it's been yet. It's hard to decide if I should keep wrapping it because the air stings so bad, but at the same time I want it to scab up! My knee is pretty bruised and swollen too, and unfortunately I took off a layer of my tattoo with the bandages this morning. OUCH! I've been doing a good job with keeping it clean etc, but if anyone has any pain remedies PLEASE let me know!!!

Side One

Side Two

Fires and Fall

This post is definitely late, and I apologize for that. The beginning of the year is always kind of uneventful. Everyone is busy getting moved into their new places, figuring out their new classes, or getting back into the school mode. I'm finally settled into my new place and I really love all my roommates. I'm also starting to meet a lot of new people this year that migrated here from other campuses or are just new to the area or CMC. I miss some friends from last year, but I definitely have room for more!

I'm sure most of you have heard about the devastating wildfire in Boulder that destroyed a total of 169 homes. A few days ago a new one started in the city of Loveland, which is north of Boulder. As of yesterday it was 35 percent contained. I thought it was kind of odd we haven't seen any smoke here in Summit County, but sure enough the wind picked up today and blew it in right around 11am. It reminds me of last year when the California wildfire smoke blew in around this time and stayed for a good 4-5 days. I'm hoping it moves through fast this year, though.

I took a bike ride this morning and snapped some photos before the smoke rolled in. It's so crazy how fast the leaves turn yellow here, I swear everything was green last week.

The 4 lane road coming into Breckenridge is finally open and almost done. The new bike path next to it is pretty awesome, as well.

Snowmaking starts in a week at a few different resorts... I can't wait to get back on my skis!

A New Year!

Ahhhh the first week of school done! This semester I'm taking Accounting, Microeconomics, Small Business Management, Business Communication and Report Writing, and Avalanche Safety. Two of my classes actually haven't started yet, but I would have to say my favorite so far is Accounting, which is funny because not only do I have no friends in that class, I have to drive all the way to Dillon for it. But my teacher is fabulous- full of energy and smiles and very personable, and I really enjoy the topics we have talked about so far. I'm loving all of my classes this semester though. I'm finally able to start taking a lot of business classes, which I'm really excited about. I have really found my niche in business, and hope I make a great business owner someday. As much as I love skiing I really do like being in school, especially when I'm able to study things I'm interested in. This might be a crazy first semester, but I'm stoked for all the things I'm going to learn.

I also moved into my new place this week with my friends Rachel and Lexi. Our friend Sig from Norway will be moving in in a few months, and I guess my friend Lexi is letting two of her guy friends sleep on our couch for a while. Not to stoked about that, but it's nice to go from living with one person who was never home to a bunch who are around. We have some classes together or at the same time too, which will hopefully save on gas. I'm also not super excited about living so far up Boreas Rd this year. I'm use to being able to just walk to the store or down Main St. But I can't complain... Check out our view!!!