EISPIRATEN

One of my greatest adventures in bad judgment was descending that ridge with my dog. The poor thing gave up and sat under a bush.

About 2 months ago, the rim trail seemed to be in surprisingly good shape - maybe it is seasonal because in past visits during fall, it seemed mushy, soft shouldered, slippery and sandy.

I had my first encounter with this in a bad way after the Station Fire - Now the chaparral has largely recovered and things are just about back to normal 10 years later. As the burn areas recover, the plant will gradually recede and the blooms will be less obvious. It has a very distinctive fragranc...

Maybe the fact that many Colorado 14ers are not of great technical difficulty makes them a more accessible gateway to the mountains for a wider segment of the population - Years ago, I ran into the same family on three separate outings, each time, they were taking their seven-year-old up some of the...

Very nice - There are some short "Your hike today" or "Today's hike" articles in the LA times from around 1937-39 by Will Thrall that describe trips to Mt Pacifico, but no mention of the tower - perhaps it was already gone? Could it have been used for surveying purposes on all th...

That said, 14ers aren't that cool anymore if you are an Official Colorado Badass(tm). I'm told the 14ers are all too popular now, so the real action is the 13ers, of which there are several hundred, more than enough to keep you busy. I think I'll borrow Dima's pole of inaccessibility idea and add t...

Thanks for posting. It looks super nice up there. As a New Mexican, it always irked me that NM has a grand total of 0 14ers, while Colorado has a lot (20? 30?). While the Southernmost 14er in CO (Culebra) is just a few measely miles North of the arbitrary, straight-line border between the two state...

Regarding the name of George's Gap, in the American Guide Series for California from 1939 there's one little shred of detail: https://archive.org/stream/californiagu ... orge's+gap There must be a bit more to that story... As for those installations, seen some weird stuff like sacrificed animals out...

After a hike like that, now it's an official route! (Thanks to Bill for continually working on the road and Dark Canyon.) I visited Station Ridge last week for the first time in months and was pleased that it was in pretty good shape. It could use a little attention in a few spots, but so far seems ...

Hey Dima, great trip. Thanks for posting that. I love the crisp clear light in your photos. "The Ghost of Modelos' Past" must be a relatively recent addition. I made several trips along this ridge about 6-7 years ago and never encountered him. I descended from chapel ridge to the Gabrielen...

Going out in style! Congratulations on a successful hike and thanks for posting the report. Nice to know that there's a path that will go without major difficulties - if it had been a brush garden, that would have been a major ordeal. Regarding the old trail network in the area - the main trail seem...

Wow, congratulations to both of you. That's quite an accomplishment and a treat to cross so much remote country in one day. Well done! Looks like it was well rewarded by the stellar view - Think it's feasible as an out and back route? One way to shave off two or three miles is to leave the Twin Peak...

It's hard to compete with stolen free land, water and sometimes compulsory labor.

I've encountered active or attended sites three times higher up in those drainages, always in mid to late August. I wonder if there are more sites than before or if there are just more folks like us exploring those areas and bumping into them.

If you zoom in, you can see a couple of the buildings at Valley Forge on the '56 image.

Hi Dima, no doubt the guys who grow back in these remote areas put in a lot of work. I was blown away by this cistern structure built out of logs and tarps that was almost as large as one of the concrete circular ones you find beside fire roads. I suspect water was being diverted into it from a runn...

Nice work, Dima. I tried that same approach about 15 years ago and backed off way before you did. Not easy travel at all in that area, you accomplished a lot! Here are a couple of blurry views of that area seen from Pine Mt. from about 2 years ago. https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/farm1.static...

Hey Patrick, Welcome! I tried the Brennen ridge about two years ago. It was fairly easy to gain the ridge, but the ridge itself was densely overgrown and not viable without protective gear, trimming tools and a lot of time. In the east fork canyon itself, I found a section of the old trail which use...

I was there two or three years ago - I ascended Allison Gulch, checked out the mine then hiked to Allison saddle and descended the Heaton Flat trail. Just finding the point where the trail leaves the canyon bottom and climbs up out of the gulch was the hardest part. As long as you could find the cor...

A pack of about 30 bikers buzzed me this morning in the residential area at the base of the mountain, right near the first bend at the top of the incline, well before the light at Starlight. Several individuals passed me on the right while I was in the righthand lane! This really surprised me since ...

I could see it starting to spot in upper reaches of Eaton Canyon this morning when I dropped my son off at school. Hopefully they'll get a handle on this with all the communications infrastructure at stake right above it.

Does the ticket cite regulation 261.16m ? §261.16 Developed recreation sites. The following are prohibited: (m) Operating or parking a motor vehicle or trailer except in places developed or designated for this purpose. Driveways within developed recreation sites like Horse Flats might be regulated ...

Camped out overnight at Chilao this weekend. First weekend of hunting season meant that pretty much all campgrounds were full but found an overflow spot, paid the fee and had a pleasant night. The next morning, went to do a little hike in the vicinity of Horse Flats campground and Mt. Hillyar and wa...

Nice one! Glad you made it up there! I love the calm and remote feeling around the hollow and the peak itself is a really cool and peaceful spot. By the way, peak 5,058 looks stunning from other angles. Probably should have a proper name, but it's relatively well hidden from view most of the time. h...

The final fire ops map indicates it didn't burn. Looks like part of the road was cleared for fire line, but not the whole length. Good update. Have fun! About a year and a half ago I rode down the first few hundred yards of the road from Van Tassel Ridge junction then stashed the bike and hiked abo...

Congrats on the successful adventure, gents. I really like the kinds of goals y'all set for yourselves. Speaking of registers that go way back. About 20 years ago (yikes) I remember coming across a couple of register books from '69 and '67 on certain fairly well known local peaks. I haven't heard an...

Nice photos, Uncle Rico. I particularly like the last shot here of the prominent craggy face of Condor Jr's southwest ridge, you've captured it pretty well. Over the years, I think one of the highlights of that particular trail has always been looking across the canyon and contemplating that impress...

That marker does seem to be generic. The description mentions a botched ridgetop helipad landing followed by a fall into the canyon. I've been to the area around the marker and followed an old road cut up to the south ridgeline. The grade in that particular vicinity doesn't seem likely to produce an...

I just rode my bike on the Vetter Mt. / Chilao / Mt. Mooney loop last weekend and was somewhat encouraged to see the burn-zone poodle-dog gradually giving way to a fair amount of pine saplings in lots of places. But then I thought of how not that long ago, that whole area was mature shady pine grove...

I once ran from near the base of Mt Sill all the way to the Big Pines trailhead without stopping because of a bug cloud swarming around my face. Mosquitos in my hair, in my ears, in my eyes and mouth - Even though I was exhausted after traversing 'scimitar pass' near Palisade crest I ran skipping ac...