January 2010 : 14er Finisher
It's official! According to the Colorado Mountain Club I am the 1340th person to climb all 54 peaks over 14000 ft (4267 m). Although the actual number of 14er finishers is undoubtedly higher, since the existence of “the list” isn’t all that well publicised.
The above is from the Winter 2010 Trail & Timberline magazine.
11th September 2009 : Pyramid Peak (14018 ft)
This was my 54th and final fourteener! To celebrate we carried a bottle of Glenfiddich and some quality Colorado microbrews (Breckenridge Avalanche and Boulder Beer Pass Time) into the wilderness. Twelve year old Scotch tastes amazingly smooth at 14000 ft :
We camped at Crater Lake which shaved 500 ft and a mile or so off the climb. The standard route up to the amphitheatre, across the boulderfield and onwards to the 13000 ft saddle was not that difficult, but because of the steepness it was rather time-consuming. The last 1000 ft to the top of Pyramid was all Class 3-4 scrambling on loose and steep rock, which made reaching the summit all the more rewarding.
Back in Aspen, a nice place for breakfast and lunch is Poppycock’s. For top-notch food Jimmy’s is great, and also fairly inexpensive providing you dine in the bar rather than the restaurant.
12th August 2009 : Mt Eolus (14083 ft)
My third attempt on Mt Eolus turned out well. The weather was perfect and this time I had my hiking legs on, so I managed to reach the top by 8:15 in the morning. I had to wait until 9 o’clock before someone joined me and took this summit shot!
On this trip I took the standard route - the Durango & Silverton train to Needleton followed by a hike in to Chicago Basin. With a camp at about 10800 ft, the next day I only had to cover 3300 ft plus a few miles up to Mt Eolus.
Summit day began at 4 am and I was walking before 5. The full moon was so bright I didn’t need my headlamp at first, although I did use it after the moon set and before the sun rose. Even in the dark I was moving swiftly, and it wasn’t long before I reached the crux of the climb - the “catwalk” and the northeast ridge :
The “catwalk” seemed wide enough to accommodate a small elephant, and it was much easier than I expected. The NE ridge up to the summit was really solid so the scrambling was a lot of fun. If the exposure became too much (on the sunny side) I just went over to the dark side (west of the ridge) where the hand & foot holds were easier to find.
Mt Eolus takes my tally of fourteeners up to 53. Only one more left - Pyramid Peak near Aspen!
26th June 2009 : Columbine Pass (12700 ft)
This 40 mile, 3 day expedition in the Weminuche Wilderness was supposed to involve the summit of Mt Eolus (14083 ft) but unfortunately the altitude and terrain proved to be too much. The small streams and rivers were all raging torrents, certainly too deep and fast for a safe crossing. Johnson Creek almost ended our trip, until we decided to build a bridge! Two North Carolina hikers appeared from nowhere and the five of us pushed some rotten aspens across the creek.
The plan had been to follow the Vallecito Trail north for 9 miles then branch off to Johnson Creek, up and over Columbine Pass, to a campsite in Chicago Basin. Due to the rough terrain, high waters and lack of bridges we only made it to a campsite at 10000 ft on the WRONG side of the pass. So the next day had all the makings of an epic - 20 miles and 7000 ft of ascent!
After climbing 2700 ft to Columbine Pass, descending 1700 ft to Chicago Basin, then ascending 1500 ft to Twin Lakes at 12500 ft I decided to call it a day. My hiking legs had deserted me and I was hindering Josh and Jay. I headed back to camp while they continued onwards, eventually reaching Mt Eolus (their 53rd fourteener) about 3 hours later.
It was a shame not to reach the top, especially since it would also have been my 53rd 14er. Oh well, next time I’ll know not to put a 12700 ft pass between base camp and the summit!
For the full trip report see Josh Friesema’s website Hiking in the Rockies
30th May 2009 : Mt Snowdon (3560 ft)
Mt Snowdon, at 1085m the highest peak in England & Wales, is usually a very wet & cloudy climb. We were lucky with weather that was more Colorado than Wales. One week later the summit was enveloped in cloud, with heavy rain and 80 mph winds.
The photo below was taken from the base of the Watkin path, at 50 metres above sea level.
April 2009 : Team Spirit and Bailout Ben
An adventure in iPhone apps and Objective-C. Quite interesting from a technology point of view, however, if I had a day job I wouldn’t quit it!
Team Spirit basically displays very large characters in different colours. So if you attended a concert with 6 other iPhone-owning friends you could stand in a row and show “YOU ROCK” or “YOU SUCK”, for example. Unfortunately, this has yet to catch on with the Facebook crowd...
Bailout Ben is a very simple game featuring a certain Helicopter Benny who flies around dropping bundles of dollars from the sky. Benny also has to evade the giant piggy banks who are upset at the lack of cash flowing their way!
January 2009 : Tokyo
No time for hiking on this occasion but I wandered around Nippori and discovered a load of Indian restaurants and bars. The one below, with the hanging cymbal and Eric Clapton album sleeve stuck to the door looked rather interesting. As did the “80s Groove Bar” down the road.
Nippori is on the JR Yamanote Line from Shinjuku. From the Nippori station you can walk down to Ueno Park, the home of all of the important national museums like the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum and the National Science Museum (see the photo of the huge whale). Also home to Elvis dance troupes on a Sunday afternoon!
Back in Shinjuku, for amazing views of the city try any of the restaurants on the 49th and 50th floors of the Nomura building. This skyscraper is west of Shinjuku station, near the Tokyo Hilton.