Monday, September 21, 2015

Bagging Peaks and Ticking a Goal


I'm very goal oriented. My goals might be modest, but I really like having projects and a ToDo list that can direct my activities throughout the year. Each January I make up a list of goals in a whole bunch of different categories. I usually don't do that well against them, as I'm overly ambitious in my planning and overly lazy in my execution. But I do it nevertheless.

One of my goals for this year was to climb 52 unique summits. These didn't (and weren't) have to be peaks I had never climbed before, I just wanted to average a new summit each week for a year. Of course, I started off way ahead of pace by bagging all the local summits: Green, Bear, South Boulder Peak, Flagstaff, and Sanitas. As you can see, my definition of summit was somewhat liberal. Any named highpoint was considered valid.

Yesterday, I completed this goal with the first summit (Half Mountain) of our Glacier Gorge Traverse. I then did nine more new summits for the year. Longs didn't count at this point since it was my tenth ascent of that peak this year. Here is a list of my totals to date. First, and most important, my partners:

Unique PartnersNumber of Ascents with them
Mark Oveson14
Homie8
Octavian1
Sheri12
Charlie Nuttelman18
Derek24
Arthur4
Chris Weidner2
Jason Antin3
Will (new minion)1
Marcus (new minion)1
Corey Kline4
Mallory Oveson3
Danny1
Jon Ortega2

I've done 128 summits this year, but many are repeats due to the Longs Peak Project and my other goal of climbing the five local peaks in each month of the year. Here is the complete peak list to date:

DatePeakNotesNumber of Ascents
1/1/2015FlagstaffFirst person to top out Flagstaff in 2015. Nicely packed trail until I went off-trail for the summit. Then snow nearly up to my knees17
1/2/2015Mount Lady WashingtonCold, but no wind. With Mark Oveson. 5h20m for the roundtrip.2
1/3/2015South Boulder PeakCombined with Bear Peak. Packed snow all the way. Went easy the entire time11
1/3/2015Bear PeakSee above8
1/4/2015SanitasDid a cool loop to the west. Cold: 12 degrees9
1/6/2015Green MountainWith Homie. Up normal route and down via First Flatiron route. Microspikes the whole way up and down.16
1/10/2015Estes ConeWith Mark and Octavian1
1/29/2015Longs PeakWith Charlie Nuttelman10
1/29/2015Mt. MeekerWith Charlie Nuttelman2
2/15/2015Coal Creek PeakSolo, all off-trail. Avoided snow mostly1
2/15/2015Crescent MountainSolo, all off-trail. Avoided snow mostly, except near the very summit where I did a bit of postholing. Took it slow1
3/22/2015Independence MonumentWith Derek, Arthur, and Homie1
3/23/2015Ancient ArtWith Derek, Arthur1
3/24/2015Assembly HallWith Derek, Arthur, and Homie1
3/25/2015Window Blind PeakWith Derek, Arthur, and Homie1
3/29/2015Twin Sisterssolo1
4/19/2015Rainbow Mountainvia Rainbow Wall w/Chris Weidner.1
4/20/2015Juniper PeakLinked two rock climbs to the summit with Chris Weidner.1
5/2/2015Wigwam PeakIn the Lost Creek Wilderness with Homie, Mark, and Charlie1
5/2/2015Buffalo PeakIn the Lost Creek Wilderness with Homie, Mark, and Charlie1
5/2/2015The CastleIn the Lost Creek Wilderness with Homie and Charlie. A dicey 5.6, bouldery, scramble in my hobnail shoes1
6/7/2015Wheeler Peak, NevadaIn Great Basin National Park with Derek. Cold, windy, and no visibility on the summit.1
6/9/2015Half DomeSnake Dike with Derek1
6/10/2015Lembert DomeHiking and scrambling with Derek1
6/12/2015Cloud's RestMy Favorite Things with Derek1
6/13/2015Boundary PeakHighest peak in Nevada - with Derek1
6/25/2015James PeakEarly morning ascent with Mark1
6/29/2015Eldorado MountainSolo. Found a good trail up the lower part and then a decent route at the very top. The steep section in between is difficult and tedious1
7/3/2015West Spanish PeakWith Sheri and Derek. Fun, casual hike. Top part is steep and loose, but not too bad.1
7/4/2015Wheeler Peak, New MexicoWith Sheri and Derek. Super fun, beautiful hike.1
7/4/2015East Spanish PeakWith Sheri and Derek, after Wheeler Peak - huge day. Raced the darkness on this one, not starting up until 2:40 p.m.1
7/10/2015Handies PeakWith Sheri and Derek1
7/12/2015Sneffels PeakWith Derek1
7/15/2015St. Vrain MountainWith Corey, Jon Ortega1
7/15/2015Meadow MountainWith Corey, Jon Ortega1
7/22/2015Mt. AudubonWith Corey and Mark1
7/29/2015Gannett PeakWith Derek - awesome!1
7/29/2015Miriam PeakWith Derek1
7/29/2015Dinwoody PeakWith Derek1
8/1/2015Grand TetonWith Derek - Major crowds, a couple doofuses1
8/3/2015Granite PeakWith Derek1
8/3/2015TempestWith Derek1
8/5/2015Pawnee PeakWith Mark1
8/8/2015ApacheWith Mark, Derek, and Mallory1
8/8/2015Dicker's PeckWith Mark, Derek, and Mallory1
8/8/2015NavajoWith Mark, Derek, and Mallory1
8/22/2015Green Mountain (RMNP)With Sheri1
8/22/2015Nisa MountainWith Sheri1
8/22/2015Mount PattersonWith Sheri1
8/23/2015Mount IdaWith Sheri1
9/6/2015Mount AnteroWith Sheri, Derek, and Danny1
9/20/2015Half MountainWith Charlie Nuttelman1
9/20/2015Storm PeakWith Charlie Nuttelman1
9/20/2015Pagoda PeakWith Charlie Nuttelman1
9/20/2015Chiefs HeadWith Charlie Nuttelman1
9/20/2015McHenry's PeakWith Charlie Nuttelman1
9/20/2015Powell PeakWith Charlie Nuttelman1
9/20/2015Taylor PeakWith Charlie Nuttelman1
9/20/2015Otis PeakWith Charlie Nuttelman1
9/20/2015Hallet PeakWith Charlie Nuttelman1
9/20/2015Flat Top PeakWith Charlie Nuttelman1