HikesInGeologicTime wrote: ↑Fri Dec 01, 2023 12:48 pm
Type I fun
Hiking: I finished the fourteeners September 2nd, so I had all the rest of September and then most of October to (re)visit some nice, boring, scenic trails up nice, boring, scenic peaks like Mt. Audubon and Huron. Those were great! I remembered that I actually like hiking, so more Class 1-2 exploration/revisitation is high priority:
1. Lots of trails in RMNP I haven’t seen yet plus several I want to see again on the west side of the Park in particular
2. Also spending more time in National Parks that aren’t RMNP
3. Trying out segments of the CT/CDT closest to home (probably as section hikes…I sleep better in my car than on the ground)
All still TBD, although I did get to do some skiing in Hidden Valley just after that March snowstorm.
Skiing: My real priority in having fun! After two years having to do everything in my old resort boots because the swelling in my ankle lingered for a long time after I fell off Pyramid, I finally have a somewhat normal-sized foot and ankle again, and that plus those old resort boots literally falling apart meant I had to switch to a full-on backcountry setup over the summer…and I love it! Already excited to get out more with it.
4. Resort days…got to 100 last year, but that was easy because it started snowing early at Steamboat and kept snowing somewhere or another on one of my passes. I’m not sticking to a specific number of days because it is already apparent that this year is not last (
), but I do intend to take advantage of uphill access where I can (and where it’s free), and I want to continue taking advantage of days at some of the fancier resorts on my passes (Aspen, Jackson, Big Sky, Taos).
Finally used all my available Aspen days for the first time, though I didn't do any skiing out of state...ah well. Better for the checking account, I suppose. Took plenty advantage of the uphill access, though!
5. More backcountry days in general…Berthoud Pass is great, and there are so many other passes that would be good training and fun skiing (or at least, funner than hiking back down).
Got at least one in every month of the year so far!
6. More fourteeners! I’d be open to thirteeners, too, I guess, but there are sooooo many of them. Controversial opinion ‘round these parts, I know, but fourteeners are way more interesting to me.
Two new fourteeners - Bierstadt and Sherman - and one new thirteener in Peak 8. Guess I do have some fondness for thirteeners that are accessible from ski resorts once said resorts are closed.
7. Keep up my at-least-one-day-of-skiing-per-month goal…going strong since October 2021, and now I know about summer options outside of St. Mary’s!
Still going strong, though July will be a little more difficult this year than it was last year in terms of finding good snow.
Type 2 fun
I was so ready to be done with lists after I finished the fourteeners, but let’s be real here: if you’ve got the sort of mental health issues - er, determination - to power through the fourteeners even after your ratio of anxiety to excitement about them is 1 gazillion:0, the only way to cut lists out entirely is probably via a several-month inpatient treatment program, and ain’t nobody got the time or money for that. So instead, here are a couple at least semi-reasonable sounding checklists I can work on at my own pace:
8. Front Range Bicentennials, named, ranked, and otherwise. Still need Bald, Bard, Rosalie, Sawtooth, “SE Longs,” and “West Blue Sky” (or so I assume is its new name). Most are Class 1-2, so maybe I’ll actually enjoy those??
Bard was fun from Parnassus!
9. State high points. Kings actually sounds fun to me, and others I could theoretically ski down, so maybe some legit fun to had there as well???
Paying forward
I’ve thought it would be cool to give back in some way for some time, but I haven’t signed up for anything formal because I wanted to keep my schedule as clear as possible for when the perfect weather window came up on some hideous fourteener I still needed. Now that that phase of my life is over, time to be less selfish with my time in the mountains:
10. Volunteer as a peak steward with CFI. I think I’d be worse than useless at trail work with all those injuries in various stages of recovery (or lack thereof), but I can tell people everything they need to know about Bierstadt, Grays/Torreys, and Quandary!
Gotten one shift in on Bierstadt so far, looking forward to more.
11. Help my friends get closer to their checklist goals. This might mean playing Yente for them - hooking them up with other friends who are also looking to (re)do various peaks I would very much like to never go anywhere near again - but there are quite a few I wouldn’t mind checking out for the first or repeat time(s).
Managed to pair off two friends for Capitol and KC/Challenger...I'll join for the backpacking part of both but am looking forward to living vicariously through their reports of the scrambly parts.
12. If anyone I haven’t already discussed skiing with (or even I have) wants to get some laps in on the slopes before skimo season starts, PM me!
Did not manage to ski with anyone new this past season, but next one starts in October. 
Off-mountain
I put a lot of the rest of my life on hold the past couple years so I could get serious about finishing. I’m now out of excuses for my creative drought.
13. Start filming again. I have an idea for a feature-length film, though some of it will have to wait for warmer weather. I also have a couple short ideas I could shoot in enough time to maybe submit to festivals in 2024.
Haven't ruled this one out completely, but see #14...
14. Start writing/audio-recording some of my fourteener stories to see if there’s a wider audience for them, i.e., maybe some payoff to all the suffering i did in pursuit of that list…?
Feeling pretty good about this one so far! I'd estimate I'm 50,000-60,000 words into this project so far, which is novel-length, so it's been kinda consuming all my creative energy for a while and will probably continue to do so for another while to come, but at least writing about fourteeners has been more enjoyable than actually climbing several of them!
Hmmm. Maybe I’ll be making it a 2025 and Beyond goal to never get specific about my goals again.
Or to make an added 2024 goal to have the most exhaustive post of the thread, because I think I may have succeeded.
), but I do intend to take advantage of uphill access where I can (and where it’s free), and I want to continue taking advantage of days at some of the fancier resorts on my passes (Aspen, Jackson, Big Sky, Taos).
