2026 Goals

[two lunches]

2026: The Year of the Comeback (and the Spreadsheet)
1. get healthy - DONE
1b. stay healthy - honestly, this is going well thanks to Training for the Uphill Athlete
2. finish my first lap of the 14ers -

[madmattd]

Summit my last 2 14ers (South Maroon, Wetterhorn)
Crestone Traverse
Meeker/Longs combo (Loft or Iron Gates)
(15) new-to-me ranked 13ers 6 so far
(4) snowflake ranked summits >13k 5 - Check
(6) nights on trail (backpacking) 2 so far
At least 1 ranked summit >13k in each major CO range (Front, Sangres, Mosquito, 10mi, Gore, Sawatch, Elk, San Juan)
At least 1 ranked summit >13k per calendar month On track through July
2-3 new-to-me state highpoints
350mi hiking 144mi so far
125k vert hiking 55k ft so far
100mi BCXC skiing Total bust thanks to no winter - a whopping 40mi
750mi on the bike 308mi so far
Figure out my leg issues so I can run more consistently Modest success so far but only running 1-2x/week

[daway8]

UPDATE: A lot of these goals got stalled out by a nasty case of plantar fasciitis but I'm finally back up to full speed and making up for lost time.

1. Have some great adventures in the mountains! Status: crushing it - with the latest Capitol Peak journey from Moon Lake being a prime example!
2. Finish Lap 2 of the 14ers. Status: stalled out by the pf but got Culebra and Capitol. Now looking at the Eolus pair from Purgatory and then finish lap2 with San Luis. So still on track to finish this year.
3. Reach Half-Frozen Finisher status. Status: SUCCESS!! I'm half frozen now, lol, thanks to Blanca, Ellingwood and Culebra summits this winter. Then the plantar fasciitis hit before I could poach Will's trench on Capitol. Sigh, but ridge direct wasn't bad in summer, so I might give it a go next winter...
4. Get more 13er snowflakes (as well as 13ers throughout the year). Status: The pf nixed my 13er flaking plans but since then I've already cranked out 4 new 13ers and have my sights set on several Sangre clusters later this year.
5. Get more efficient at camping - especially winter camping. Status: well the winter camping part of it was another casualty of the aforementioned foot problems, but I did get some good practice with the recent Capitol via Moon Lake trip and have various other camping goals mind, so this one is progressing well and I'll perhaps have a chance to squeeze in some more winter (or at least pre-winter) camping at the end of the year.
6. Try to be less of a hermit hiker. Status: started off strong but then went full hermit when the foot problems came so almost 70% of my hikes this year have been solo. Starting to turn the tide though with hikes scheduled with other folks for the next several weekends, but I'll have to keep the trend going strong in order order to drop to less than 50% solo.

[Ed_Groves]

The attainment of my goals completely fell apart for 2026. I arrived for my first trip on June 21st, but that evening I received news on my satellite communicator that a close cousin and also the grandmother of my children on their Mom's side had both passed away unexpectedly. I thought I would complete Mt Lindsey the next day and then go home but I wasn't feeling it, so I went back to Missouri with no notches on my belt. The last week of June my two grandsons and my grandson-in-law all decided to accept previous invites from me to hike 14ers this year. I added two Colorado trips with family to the agenda and these took the place of my second trip. However, on the plus side my 15 year-old grandson completed his first 14er (Mt Sherman) and my 29 year-old grandson completed his first 13er and 14er (Peak 9 and Grays Peak). My grandson-in-law and his family came out with the youngest grandson. He completed Mt Sherman with us for his second 14er.

I did manage one short four day trip for myself and completed Centennial Grizzly Peak A, Castle and Conundrum Peaks, and Mount Lindsey via the northwest ridge route using the class 4 crack at the crux. It is unlikely I will be able to make another trip this year.

In 2025 the weather, time with family while in Colorado, and a nasty bump on the head limited the number of peaks I was able to complete. Hopefully, I will stand on a few more peaks in the upcoming year as I am planning my trips for camping only. Other than the weather I hope there will be no other impediments to attempting summits. I plan to attempt all of the Sangre De Cristo 14ers that I have left, other than Culebra. I want to tag the 13ers Huerfano, California, and Mt Adams while in the Sangres as well. Additionally, I want to grab the 14er peaks I have left that are off to themselves along with the two "easiest" Elk range 14ers and maybe 13er Mount Meeker. Tentatively, my plan is for one long trip to Colorado, or possibly two trips as shown below.

First Trip:
California Peak
Mt Lindsey Completed
Huerfano Peak
Crestone Peak / East Crestone Peak (Doing Both)
Little Bear Peak
Ellingwood Pt
Blanca Peak
Challenger Pt
Kit Carson Peak
Mt Adams

Second Trip (Or Add to First Trip)
Castle Peak Completed
Conundrum Peak Completed
Mt of the Holy Cross (Halo Route if weather permits)
Longs Peak
Mt Meeker

Grizzly Peak A Completed

[Dignus]

Keep the checklist yellow

Remember my password

Complete the Taco Bell 50k in under 10 hours without puking