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The Route

19 Sunday Jul 2015

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Colorado Trail

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Tags

Breckenridge, CDT, Colorado wildflowers, continental divide, Frisco, Horseshoe Basin, Keystone, massivemileage, Salomon Speedcross 3, The Continental Divide Trail, trail shoes

narrow topThe Continental Divide Trail isn’t as well marked with signs as the Colorado Trail, and much of what I hiked this weekend with Rob wasn’t marked by trail at all.  The CDT along the mountaintops above Breckenridge, Frisco, Dillon and Keystone is essentially a route.  So few hikers travel this twenty mile section of alpine tundra that there is no trail.  The entire width of the mountaintops define the path.  Where I’m standing in this photo, the route is about as wide as the length of a football field.  Clearly, it narrows across that hill behind me.  This photo captures the pathless trail and general conditions above 13,000 feet as Rob and I hiked from Argentine Pass to Georgia Pass Saturday.

snow fieldWe didn’t have much snow to worry about.  This photo shows one of the larger snow fields we encountered, but we were able to hike alongside its edge.  Good thing as I wore my running trail shoes for this effort rather than hiking boots.  I wanted to test out my trail shoes, even though I knew they would fatigue my feet much more than boots.  The Salomon Speedcross trail runners are awesome.  I don’t think they have a rock plate, but their sole is strong enough to step across sharp rocks and their tread never slipped once for me.  I did notice some hot spots, but this was after 8 hours of hiking.  We completed the twenty-plus mile jaunt in 10.5 hours.

wide topEverything was so green, even above treeline where the ground oftentimes turns to moonscape rock.  The Cushion plant moss was easily 3 inches tall in places.  The Alpine Sunflowers and Forget-me-nots were thick, and the Marmots were quite fat as well – presumably from eating the lush grasses and flowers.  This photo captures Rob in a mountaintop field of Alpine Buttercups.

top viewI can’t say enough just how stunning the views were on this hike.  We spent at least eight hours hiking above treeline.  I applied the 20 miles to my weekly running goal, giving me 70 for the week and a total of 260 miles toward my marathon training plan.  We hiked an additional six miles this morning which I’ll apply to this coming week’s 80 mile goal.  74 more miles to go over the next six days.

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Snowboarding with Ellie

15 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Ellie Rose, Snowboard

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Tags

Breckenridge, Eldora, Keystone, Nederland

 

“Keep your back straight!”  Ellie coached me today on how to snowboard.  That’s fair, I taught her how to ride a bike.  I thought I knew how to snowboard but six years have somehow passed by since I last went.  Could have something to do with breaking my ribs on that last outing in Idaho.  Falling on a snowboard comes fast and hard.  Ellie knows, check out that photo of her below.

face plantWhat really helped me today was renting some snowboard boots.  I started out in my snow boots, trying to save some money.  That was a mistake.  I felt totally uncoordinated on my first couple of runs.   It only took a few minutes to rent some boots and I improved dramatically.  My two key lessons for today were proper boots and keeping my back straight.

back edgeTo go out with Ellie, I first had to acquire a snowboard.  I bought a ten year old K2 off Craigslist on Monday for $30.  The guy wanted $40 but then we both noticed a screw missing from the bindings.  For my speed, the one screw isn’t critical.  I might buy some newer bindings though off Craigslist this week.  I don’t need new gear at my novice level of experience.  I just need to keep up with Ellie.  We started out on the magic carpet and worked our way onto the lift after a few initial runs.
Today’s weather was unbelievably warm and sunny.  Neither of us wore gloves.  We’re going to try to get up another weekend or two before spring break to work on our skills.  Then, we plan to join the Sebesta’s at the start of spring break at the Stockert’s cabin in Breck.  And we plan on boarding another couple of days at the end of break in Keystone.  I’m confident Ellie and I will be real snowboarders by the end of the season.  We lunched at the end of today at the Black Forest in Nederland.  Awesome day!

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