Mountaintop adventures
Jan 24, 2025
We arrived at Ecuador‘s Cotacachi-Cayapas National Park for a quick hike around the gorgeous Cuicocha Lake. We unloaded our bus, fresh from trundling up the hillside above Otavalo in the Andean Highlands north of Quito. The park was almost entirely empty on this drizzly Friday in late-January—quiet, moody, and ours to explore.
Continue reading “Cuicocha Lake Loop”
Jan 23, 2025
In January 2025 I joined a guided trip to summit some of the Ecuador’s tallest volcanoes. Typically, getting to a 19,000′ summit involves a lot of time huddled in tents, rehydrating freeze dried dinners, and staring at endless snow and ice. But climbing in Ecuador would not involve any of this “fun.” The benign climate of the equator meant we could acclimate in cities and relaxing haciendas at progressively higher altitudes. And we wouldn’t be dealing with any snow or ice until the “summit days” themselves.
Continue reading “Ruku Pichincha”
October 20, 2024
It was late October, and we were nearing the end of “dry” hiking season in the Colorado Rockies. The aspens were bare. The bushes had turned orange and brown. And a recent snowfall dusted talus fields on the highest summits.
Continue reading “Mystic Island Lake”
October 13, 2024
I spend a lot of time in Eagle County, Colorado. So it was only a matter of time before I tried the much-hyped Booth Falls trail. The timing was more or less an accident. I’d overheard that this weekend in October was the last for the “hiker express” bus between Vail Village and the Booth Lake/Booth Falls trailhead.
Continue reading “Booth Lake and Booth Falls”
September 17, 2024
I arrived at the car park in Dovedale around 8am. The sun already lit up select aspects of nearby hillsides. But the car park was still largely empty. I’d only just arrived in England’s bucolic “Peak District” that morning. I was excited to enjoy my first hike in the country.
Continue reading “Thorpe Cloud and the Dovedale Stepping Stones”
August 18, 2024
On my bucket list of “Colorado things” the line item “Check out Fort Collins” seemed to languish near the bottom of the list. And I knew that wasn’t really fair because I’d only ever heard wonderful things about “FoCo”. I’m neither a college student, nor particularly into beer. But it still seemed worth checking out. Plus it was an excuse to stop at the new Colorado Buc-ee’s.
Continue reading “Horsetooth Rock Trail”
August 16, 2024
I left my apartment in Denver around 12:30 am, passing bars and sidewalks still populated with the Thursday night crew. I headed northeast, skirting past Boulder before heading into the foothills towards Rocky Mountain National Park. That’s when the rain started. “Uh oh” I thought … “already this is not going to plan.”
Continue reading “Longs Peak via the Keyhole Route”
July 20, 2024
There are a lot of fantastic hikes in Eagle County, Colorado. I mention this because, frankly, this hike is probably a ways down the list. Don’t get me wrong … Upper Turquoise Lake is a beautiful destination for someone in the mood for a moderately-sloped sixteen mile out-and-back. But that in itself makes it quite a niche experience.
Continue reading “Turquoise Lakes (Holy Cross Wilderness)”
July 13, 2024
I arrived at the Upper Spruce Creek trailhead, a short winding ways above the community of Blue River. Today’s targets were two moderately popular summits of the Ten Mile Range: Father Dyer Peak and Crystal Peak.
Continue reading “Father Dyer Peak and Crystal Peak”
July 6, 2024
I drove along the smooth dirt roads of Sylvan Lake SP, a thousand-acre jewel of a park wedged into the mountains between the Vail and Aspen area. I followed Road 415 along East Brush Creek towards the tiny town of Fulford. Just outside the small townsite, I parked at the Nolan Lake trailhead.
Continue reading “New York Mountain”