The Horns (9,212), 9/5/09. 5mile, ~2550ft. 1hr 45mins round-trip. A quick jaunt off of Old Stage Road. I found the trail up the ridge between Cheyenne Mtn and The Horns, sure made life easier until I took the wrong branch at the 3-way. Bush-whacking and contouring over/under, rocks and all sorts of crap until I found the trail once again along the ridge. It followed an old pipe-line and eventually circled around the summit to the old Cheyenne Lodge. The old foundation and several old smaller structures dotted the summit area. Took just over an hour up, and 35mins down. Taking the trail all the way down was much easier.

Blodgett Peak (9,423), 9,500', 8/30/09. 2660ft, 5.2miles. A quick trip close to home that I've been wanting to check out. I jogged the old road the started up the maze of game trails in the heavy fog. Ended up going too far right and into the boulder fields. Got to the summit of Blodgett just under an hour and headed down the correct trail. At the saddle I saw that it was only 0.44miles to the soft-ranked 9,500'. I had a fear that my GPS batteries would die and I'd get lost in the soup of weather. Bushwhacking and rock-hopping to the summit, then back to the saddle and down the horrible mess of trails and scree. The thunder had me moving slightly faster. Not a good trail that I'll likely hike again! Roundtrip just under 2hrs and shoes full of rocks.

Signal Butte (9,459), 8/23/09. 1mile, ~500ft. Miles' second ranked peak! An hour from home and a fun little family outing. Remains of the Hayman Fire burn area and rock steps most of the way to the summit with three USGS BM's, strange?! Miles had so much fun that he fell asleep in the Kelty Kids carrier on the way down.

9,843, 6/21/09. Mueller State Park, 0.8miles. Miles' first mountain and it couldn't of happened on a better day.... Father's Day! Does it count that he couldn't hike up there himself?! Since this is the only ranked peak in the quad.... Miles, Jean, and myself also finished off another quad! ha hahaaa. Had a hard time finding the TH after snaking all through the campground and several loops, nice easy walk up a dirt trail while Jean carried Miles and a couple pictures on the windy summit. Best Fathers Day EVER!

Tuckaway Mtn (10,820), Runs-Down-Fast Mtn (11,048) 11/26/08. Gold Camp/High Drive 4-way TH, 5.25hrs, 12.5miles, 4,400ft. A couple last peaks with Denali before Miles Jeffrey joined the world! Up Seven Bridges and through Jones Park once again, further west then bush-whacking up Tuckaway. I wondered around the summit trying to find a register, never did find one but covered all possibilities! Back down then south on good trails till I had to face the scree that I've seen sooooo many times. One last Gu then 2 steps up, 3 steps down for what seemed like forever. Just a few minutes on the summit then back down and further south to get back on familiar trails and Seven Bridges trail back to the car. T-t-t-t-thats all folks... for the Manitou Quad!

Marys Mtn (9,860), Sheep Mtn W (9,820), Cameron Cone (10,707) 11/22/08. Barr Trail, 5.5hrs, 14miles, 5,200ft. Looking to get out for a good hike, yet somewhere close to home so I could ensure I was home with a beer in hand at 1:30pm to see Penn State put a hurtin’ on Michigan State and secure a visit to the Rose Bowl this year. I recently got some beta from Mr. El Paso County, Kevin Baker, and these peaks fit the bill and Denali seemed okay with the plan. We were hiking up Barr Trail by 6:30am in 23 degree temps that were rising quickly. I was surprised at the number of people on Barr Trail already and most looked like they were on their way down from a trip up The Incline. After No Name Creek you take a left on the Pipe Line trail and follow it as it eventually contours above the Cog Railway then over a bridge holding up the pipeline. Oh wait, that would be trespassing….. I meant, UNDER the bridge holding up the pipline. Hop across the cog tracks into an area called Hell Gate or Ruxton Park, this would be pretty sweet in the Fall with all the aspens. There’s some roads and building that seem to be for the utilities. I choose to hike Marys first, since it seemed farther away. I followed the north ridge all the way to the summit and enjoyed the warm sun and an awesome view of Pikes Peak. Arriving exactly 2hrs after starting I wasn’t surprised to see a Garrett Register from 1988. He seemed to spend a lot of time in El Paso County in 1988! Cameron Cone was looking temptingly close also. Hhhhmmm, enough time for that as well? Off to Sheep Mtn W for now. Bushwhacking NE down into Dark Canyon, then directly up the SW side of Sheep Mtn. No surprises and nothing too difficult besides the occasional heart beating behind the eyes from trying to go too fast. Pretty easy terrain otherwise. On top of Sheep Mtn it was only 9:15ish, and I figured if we boogied, we could make it over to Cameron Cone then jogging most of the way down Barr Trail would still get me home in time. Why not?! A quick consultation with Denali brought no objections. SE down Sheep picking around some rock formations, and up up up Cameron Cone’s NW ridge. Some loose and slippery granite piles and some faint trails. A Geo-cache and quite a few names in the register up here, looks like a trail comes up from Crystal Park area as well. I look at Cameron Cone every damn day, so it’s about time I stood on top of it! Denali and I didn’t spend much time up here and headed back down the NW ridge, then bushwhacked back to Dark Canyon where we found quite a few mud holes. Once on the Pipeline road and Barr Trail, I jogged most of the flats and downhills along with hundred of other folks out enjoying the day on Barr Trail. No pictures since I forgot my camera. D’oh! Best part of the day was that this put me just over 100 peaks for the year. A first, and a new PR for me. WooHoo!

9,620B, "Notch Mtn" (9,660), Ormes Pk (9,727) 11/1/08. Rampart Range Rd, 1.5hrs, 4.5miles, 1400ft. Three quick and easy peaks from the incredibly wash-boarded Rampart Range Rd.

10,245B, Montes View Rockpile (10,020) 10/11/08. Barr Trail, 4hrs, 14.5miles, 4500ft. A nice stroll up Barr trail to the "0.5miles to Barr Camp" sign. One peak a bushwhack to the right, the other peak a scramble to the left. 

Mt Garfield (10,940), Mt Arthur (10,807); Tenney Crags (10,099). 9/19/08. Gold Camp/High Drive 4-way TH. 10.5miles, 4400ft. 4.5hrs. Denali and I took 7 Bridges trail to Jones Park, the north to the Loud Cabin. Continued north up the drainage on a surprisingly descent trail, then west to Garfield. 1979 register. Over to Arthur and it rocky outcropped summit covered with ladybugs. Bushwhacking over tons of deadfall to Tenney Crags. From there south to a trail and back to Bear Creek. West to Jones Park and retraced my steps.

Ten Mile Range Traverse (Peaks 1 thru 8). 8/9/08. Me and Dwight “Dragon Slayer” Sunwall
Thursday afternoon email exchange:
Jeff: Yo D-dog, whatcha up to Friday or Saturday? I’m kickin’ around options.
Dwight: Argh, I’m a bit behind. Gotta work Saturday. Well, I could change that to Sunday, what options ya got in mind?
Jeff: I’ve had the Ten Mile Range Traverse on my radar. We’ll need an early start.
Dwight: Sounds like a plan. Talk to ya Friday evening.
And a rough plan was hatched. The last couple of w/ends have been spent at bbq’s and shopping at Babies ‘R Us for me, so I had some making up to do. Denali and I hiked 5 closeby peaks on Friday (Cheyenne Mtn, Sugarloaf Mtn E, 10,100D, Devils Slide, 10,600A), ate a big dinner, fell asleep during the Olympic Opening Ceremonies, then woke up at 12:30am. Ugh. Coffee fueled the drive toward Breckenridge and I met Dwight at the Breckenridge Brewery at 3:15am after a brief confusion as to what brewery… too many to choose from!
We dropped off Dwight’s 4Runner at Spruce Creek TH just a few miles down the road, then drove up to Gold Hill TH just north of Breckenridge. We started with headlamps up the Colorado Trail at 4:20am. The area was pretty wet so we were happy to have a good trail to follow. We got on the wrong trail for a bit but slowly gained elevation towards Ten Mile Peak (aka. Peak 2). The peaks were fogged in and the sun occasionally peeked out. It took longer then I assumed to get close to the ridge, but I guess I didn’t realize it would be 8miles and 4K feet to the first summit!
We picked up the east ridge of Ten Mile Peak (12,933ft) just like described in Cooper’s Scrambles book. The rock was damp and lichen covered so we carefully picked our way up. Dwight opted for the tougher ridge crest and I WMPH’ed my way slightly below. So after 4.5hrs we were finally on our first summit. This had the makings to be a loooooong day!
We couldn’t see squat in either direction due to fog and clouds. Though we could see in the register the Lou Dawson and Jim Whitaker had recently visited this peak! In order to do a clean sweep of the peaks, we first had to head north to Peak 1. In hindsight, we should’ve looked at the map more closely and headed up the east ridge of Peak 1 instead of having to backtrack back over Peak 2. Oh well, since when do we make things easier on ourselves?! The 1/2mile to Peak 1 (12,805ft) was some fun scrambling and picking along the ridge. It only took 30mins. Once on the summit of Peak 1, I suggested we just head north to pick up Royal Mtn then head to the brewery, but Dwight was keen on giving the ridge south a try. I wasn’t feeling real confident for some reason, so told Dwight that I may cry along the way, but would give ‘er a try.
It only took 30mins back to Peak 2 and we re-read Cooper’s description of what we couldn’t see in front of us. We carefully picked our way along the somewhat slick rock and dropped into the first notch. Down around to the right, back up to the second notch. Dwight did a great job of route-finding and keeping my fears at bay. We traversed around to the left then regained the ridge. Though we couldn’t see it, we figured we were close to the overhanging down climb that Cooper mentions, so we dropped down to the left and around again. Aaahhhhh, now that we were about 50ft away, we could see “The Dragon” rearing its ugly head through the fog. Kinda eerie looking!
We tried to identify its parts and Dwight climbed up to the ridge right underneath and I was happy to hear him report that it looked like a scree gully going down and around the right-hand side. I opted for the gully, Dwight opted to mount the dragon to check out the “very exposed ridge”. As I got around to the backside of The Dragon it started to rain. Fantastic! Oh well, they were calling for a 50% chance of non-rain, atleast there was no thunder. I shouted to Dwight after I didn’t see him for a bit and heard him from the scree gully. He got right up to the crux down climb when the rain started. Some knocking knees suggested that he back-off. We re-grouped and let The Dragon sleep as we scrambled around three pinnacles on the right. Minutes later we were on the summit of Peak 3 (12,676ft), it had taken 1.5hrs to cover the 0.5miles of difficulties from the summit of Peak 2.
The light rain would start and stop depending on how often we would take off our rain shells. Dropping down to the saddle between Peaks 3 and 4 was fun. The steady 3rd class scramble up the ridge to Peak 4 was joyous as well! A couple short exposed sections and solid hand/foot moves kept my attention and we were on the summit of Peak 4 (12,866ft) in just an hour after leaving Peak 3, 8hrs and 15mins so far and still a looooong way to go! The terrain drastically changes on this summit though, looking north is jagged ridges and looking south is rolling grassy slopes. I breathed a sigh of relief that the difficulties were over and we continued to Peak 5 (12,855ft). It was only a third of a mile that we covered in 30mins laughing and chatting away.
Peak 6 (12,573ft) was another gimme and the weather continued to be indecisive…. sun, drizzle, fog, sun, drizzle, fog, etc. We got to enjoy the sounds of a festival going on at Copper Mtn, but couldn’t hear clearly enough to dance.
Peak 7 (12,665ft) was over a mile away, but a mile closer to the car. I lost track of time at this point and just continued to put one foot in front of the other. Ski boundary signs and ropes covered this summit. I called Jean from the summit of Peak 7 to let her know that we would be later then expected and to go ahead and eat dinner (and possibly breakfast) without me. Peak 8 (12,987ft) was also uneventful except the giant dark clouds starting to roll in. Luckily there was no thunder or lightning and we reached the summit around 3pm, 10.5hrs after leaving the trailhead.
Here we had the decision to continue on to Peaks 9 and 10, or hop on the Wheeler Trail which would take us back to the car at Spruce Creek. I was pushing for the bail-out option and Dwight was hinting towards the additional peaks. Given the fact that we both hiked Peaks 9 and 10 previously and the hail storm that started, we opted for the Wheeler Trail bail-out. Cold rain and hail felt like stinging bee’s on any exposed skin. But it’s nice to be able to try out the rain gear once in awhile! We put our heads down and plodded along the easy Wheeler Trail. After an hour or so, the rain and hail stopped and we kept dropping down towards Francies Cabin.
We spotted the 4Runner after 12.5hrs and high-tailed it to the Breckenridge Brewery for grub and beers. Man, what a day!!!! So much for tapering for the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon next w/end… D’oh!

Cheyenne Mtn (9,565); Sugarloaf Mtn (9,633); 10,100D; Devils Slide (9,900); 10,660A. 8/8/08. 5 different trailheads. 3.5hrs, 6.5miles, 4080ft. Soaked on Cheyenne Mtn, short and quick on Sugarloaf, ladybugs on 10,100D, fun scramble on Devils Slide, tired Denali on 10,660A. Picked up trash most of the way back on Old Stage Rd.

Almagre (12,367); S. Almagre (12,349); Knights (10,490); McKinley (10,460); San Luis (10,433). 7/4/08. Frosty's Park TH and Old Stage Rd. 3.5hrs, 8miles, 4700ft. Denali and I on another "boy and his dog" day. Boogied up Almagre and S. Almagre, a different view of Pikes from up here. Jogged most of the way day and hit the three other peaks from parking spots on Old Stage Rd. Used the GPS for the first time and really started to digg it!

12,671; 6/29/08; Got turned around on the Hermit Pass group AGAIN, so nabbed this peak as a consolation prize while killing time.

Mt Jasper (12,900); 6/7/08; 7.5hrs, 9.5miles. 4th of July TH. Rainier training up this sweet coulior in Indian Peaks Wilderness.

Cooper (12,782); 3/29/08. Picked up this sweet little peak on the way to 13er Ruby. Big 14erworld folks and friends and dogs.

Kineo Mtn (9,479); 3/23/08. 3hrs 15mins; 7miles. Gold Camp/High Dr TH. A cloudy day and some snow to trough through. I missed the turn for the west ridge and had to backtrack. Deep snow and pockets in the boulders up top. 

Rocky Mtn (9,250); Mt Manitou (9,460); 3/22/08. 4hrs 20mins. 7.5miles. A slow trip up the Incline then onto these two peaks that I look at just about every day, before heading to my folks house for Easter dinner. Cloudy day and snowy above the Incline. At first I went right past the peaks and poked around the Experimental Forest for awhile.

Devils Nose (11,057); Warrior Mtn (11,273); Squaw Mtn (11,500); Chief Mtn (11,709); Papoose Mtn (11,174); 3/7/08; 5hrs, 8miles. I ain’t a gangsta, I ain’t a thug, I blame my Momma for my ugly mug. My eyes are crossed, I’ve got an over-bite, But on the weekends I love to bike or hike. Friday came along with nothing to do, I looked at the dog and said, “hey, its just me and you”. We hopped in the car with maps in hand, Headin’ towards Mt Evans with an A and B plan. The wind was kickin’ the snow was blowin’, So below treeline was where we were goin’. Devil’s Nose first, its short and sweet, Just a few hundred feet but the snow was freakin’ deep. Down the road we drove to another parking spot, Warrior was next with antennas on its top. The snowshoes on my feet weren’t old and made of wood, Fool would get shot if he wore these in the mutha f##kin’ ‘hood! Squaw Mountain was the next peak in my sights, If it was the summer on this road I’d ride my stolen bike. Cool little lookout and a building made of rocks, I hit all highpoints and stood on all their tops. On the trail to Chief, came across a mean old geezer, All the hairs in her nose, that b##ch should’ve used tweezers. I was getting tired, the snow was getting deep Just two more peaks and Denali could go back to sleep. Windblown top with great views of Evans, Thanks for the trip report Mr. Baker, AKA Kevin. Back to the saddle and up to Papoose, I wish I was lucky like JV and saw a giant moose. New pants passed the test and kept my junk nice and warm, Made by Pata-gucci and built to weather storms. Five hours total and we were back at the car, Drooling for a beer from the Rockyard bar.

Monkey Face (7,719); Raspberry Butte (7,740); 2/24/08. 2hrs, 3miles. A quick bushwhacking jaunt up a couple close-to-home peaks.

Kingston Peak (12,147); 2/22/08. St Mary's TH. 4.5hrs, 4miles. Jean and I spent the day practicing glacier travel, self arrest, and crevasse rescue. We skipped James Peak due to the cold and stinging wind.

8,130; Mays Peak (8,283); 2/9/08. A couple easy Cheyenne Canon peaks after kicking our own asses on Burntop Peak the day before in the LCW.

Turtle Mtn (8,882); Sheeps Nose (8,894); 8,257; 2/2/08; 9hrs, 16miles. A fun day with some Douglas County High Point peak baggers. Some peaks I never figured I would climb! Sheeps Nose has a really fun 4th class chimney to scamper up.

Rosedale Peak (11,825); 1/1/08. Elk Creek TH? 6hrs, 10miles. Me, Jean, Hoot, JV, Dave Hale, and all the pups. Minus 9 at the TH. Lost at first but followed Elk Creek eventually along Bob and K&B's track from last w/end. Deeeep snow. Beautiful, but cold, summit and great views all around. Never heard of this peak until last week!