Spring into the Mountains (with help from Red Ace)

Winter is in the rearview mirror. One week into April, spring is in the air, change is everywhere.

Meet Jake. Jake doesn't know he's a model. Jake pulls on a 5.11 start.

Benefits of having a great growing group of friends and the variety of climatic zones to play in - I've had a lot of luck with days spent outside. Also, I have to thank Red Ace Organics. They've sent us a case of an amazing supplement to demo on our long days out - a great natural way to boost energy between climbs or keep moving without crashing. They've also provided a 15% discount code for any of our readers (captainsofus)! 

In February I got a couple unexpected days of cragging in while the sun was out and beating down in the lowlands. I had the chance to practice some trad climbing and rope skills on North Table Mesa with new and old climbing partners (despite back pain from an accident over a year ago). A week later Jonathan, Molly, and I headed out on our first group multi-pitch route in Clear Creek Canyon. When our rope became stuck,  I had to ascend to free it before all three of us could repel down. It was definitely a great education experience. 

I could write several posts about climbing goals, skills and safety, and how much I love vertical exploration. After teaching with the Boy Scouts and Avid 4 Adventure, I've gained an affinity for rock pulling so I'm happy the weather close to home is warming.

Frizzle really pushing the meaning of "cross-country" skiing.

This winter at altitude I discovered Backcountry Cross-country skiing. This sport is a perfect match - low impact and helps me strengthen my core and back while improving my balance (great therapy). It's also an accessible way to avoid the crowded, groomed trails and resorts. Jonathan, Molly and I made a full day together in-bounds at Eldora practicing good technique and putting some miles on our equipment before trying things out on a national forest trail.

I'll take this moment to say that sometimes groomed, designated trails are great — route-finding in the snow when conditions aren't good can require creative solutions. We had hoped for more fresh snow, but the storm didn't drop any so we modified our route. Nothing risky, but we did have hop a stream or two. Adventurski!!!

As the spring warms the lowlands and weather hits the mountains, I am continuously looking to grow, explore, and adventure outside. Stay tuned for more.

- Dan (Soapbox)

Check out their website. Use our discount code for 15% off: captainsofus

Ouray Ice Fest

Welcome to 2017!

Since the Captains moved to Colorado over a year ago, we’ve gotten much more familiar with the amazing rock climbing in the Front Range and beyond. This weekend, however, we ventured out into new territory at the 2017 Ouray Ice Festival.

Late Thursday night, Dan, Jonathan, and I rolled into the tiny town of Ouray, CO and made the first of many stops at “Mr. Grumpy Pants,” a local brewery with a healthy serving of mountain attitude. Ouray and the surrounding canyons make up one of the world’s best ice climbing destinations and the 3-mile long Ouray Ice Park is less than a mile from town, right along the Uncompahgre River.

A 7:00am view of Ouray from outside of town to the South.

Although the town has just 800 residents, the Ouray Ice Fest attracts more than 3,000 people each year. Proceeds from the festival benefit Ice Park itself, which costs over $200,000/year to create and maintain. For the low, low cost of a $5 “gear card,” it’s really an amazing opportunity to demo some top notch gear, climb in a world-famous ice park, and see some of the world’s top ice climbers compete.

While many of the Ice Fest’s visitors stay in hotels and shower after each day of climbing, the Captains -- lacking resources for that kind of vacation -- enjoyed the Ice Fest in classic dirtbag style. By day, we used the brewery as a home base to warm ourselves by the fire (and take in the local delights, naturally), and by night, the team ventured outside of town, where Dan stayed cozy in his Subaru Forrester while Jonathan and Molly took refuge in their tent.

With winter camping gear, climbing accoutrement, food for the weekend, and 3 sets of cross-country skis, the trusty Forrester carted around our beautiful “pile of toys,” as one observer put it. And boy, did we put those toys to good use.

Day 1 of the Fest was warm and sunny (around 32°F), as we started swing tools and figuring out how to walk up walls of ice. If you’ve never climbed ice or seen someone do it, it’s basically the most ridiculous hobby ever. You strap sharp pointy things to your feet (crampons), hold sharp pointy things in your hands (ice tools), then walk your way up vertical ice flows on tiny sharp points of contact. As you might expect, we are all in love with it.

Here are Dan and Jonathan getting after it on day 1:

Although we quickly found that the rumored crowds were a reality, we were lucky to find our people at the base of the wall: two of our neighboring climbers were recent PCT hiker trash! Sharing ropes with the crowds meant more climbing for all.

Molly belays amidst a sea of festival-goers.

Later that evening, we packed in a quick nordic tour on the pass above town, then stole the chance to night climb outside of the park on a natural waterfall right next to our camp site.

What a day!

Jonathan topping out on the last climb of Day 1.

And just in case you were starting to think, “this hobby isn’t quite silly enough,” well, don’t you worry; it only gets sillier.

Rather than simply climbing up walls of ice, on day 2 we ventured into the world of mixed climbing (“mixed” referring to a mixture of rock and ice). Since climbers are wearing gloves and carrying picks, the “rock climbing” involved is not what you might imagine. Rather, climbers use the picks on their tools to pull themselves up using tiny ledges and small cracks in the rock.

Here’s Molly just starting out on her first ever mixed route:

After an abbreviated day of climbing, we headed back to the car to cook up some hot chocolate and whiskey on the side of the road. Dan captured the dirtbag glory of this moment, featuring an avalanche shovel/wind-screen and a metal file to stir our tasty beverage:

We had to warm up quickly because the Mixed Competition was just getting good!

Back in the Park, elite climbers were speeding their way up the mixed route known as “Mighty Aphrodite” to a steel tower with plastic climbing holds. The climber who achieves the highest point on this route in the fastest time is declared the winner -- and this competition is known for its challenging routes. In 2015, not a single climber made it to the top.

This year’s route:

We were lucky enough to watch several amazing climbers, including a 15-year-old (?!) from the U.S. Youth Mixed Climbing Team (who knew that even existed?). And I had a fangirling meltdown when I got to see Ines Papert, a world champion mixed and ice climber and registered super-human. Ines not only took first place in her division for this competition, but she also won her division handily for the speed climbing competition the following morning.

Here’s Ines rocking a figure 4 on her way to the win:

With a long drive ahead on Day 3, we woke up early and claimed our route, 130ft of beautiful blue ice. Our toes were freezing, but the burritos were warm and this last climb was a group favorite.

All in all, the weekend was a fantastic adventure and an amazing introduction to ice. This certainly won’t be the last time you’ll see us swinging tools.

Cheers,

Jonathan, Molly, and Dan

Our Next Adventure: The Colorado Trail

Remember that one time when Dan and Jonathan thru-hiked the PCT?

Well today, I'm happy to announce that the Captains of Us are back in action! This August, Jonathan and Molly will undertake another long-distance adventure: attempting to fastpack the 485-mile long Colorado Trail (CT) in just 14 days. 

Jonathan and Molly living it up on the PCT in Washington

To give you all some perspective on why this might be a little bit crazy, let me explain a bit more about the CT. One of the countries "short long trails," the CT runs from Denver to Durango through eight major mountain ranges, seven national forests, and six wilderness areas. The majority of the trail is over 10,000ft in elevation and the high point sits at 13,334ft on Coney Summit in the San Juans. Most thru-hikers take between 4-6 weeks to complete the trail, according to The Colorado Trail Foundation, averaging about 15 miles per day. In order to complete our hike in 14 days, Jonathan and I will need to hike an average of 34.6 miles per day; that's more than a 50k per day, on average. 

Here is a map of the trail to give you an idea of where we'll be, and an elevation profile to show you the dips and climbs that equal a grand total of approximately 75,000ft of elevation gain:

For a number of reasons, including travel logistics and differences in the terrain, Jonathan and I have decided to go against the usual flow of backpackers and hike from Durango to Denver, instead of the reverse. This means that we will encounter higher and more challenging terrain first, while our bodies are fresh, and move into the lower and (slightly) more easy-going terrain during the second week. While most hikers need time to get used to carrying a pack and hiking for days on end, we're going to have to be ready to put the miles in on day one.

As I mentioned above, we're going to be "fastpacking" the trail, rather than doing a traditional thru-hike. The line between these two forms of travel is a bit fuzzy, but you can think of fastpacking as a combination of backpacking and trail running, or, in our case, the lovechild of thru-hiking and ultra-running. Fastpackers, in general, travel lighter, faster, and farther than most backpackers. For this trip, we'll be carrying ultra-light packs with lots of front-access for food and water, to avoid long stops. Our pack base weights will probably fall around 8lbs each, and we'll be sharing gear to help keep our loads to a minimum. Don't worry mom, I promise we'll be carrying a tent. 

Our Fastpack 30L vests from Ultimate Direction will help us carry our gear in a small and compact space to ensure that it feels secure as we run along the trail.

Usually, when I explain this concept to people, I get one of two responses: either, "Is that even possible?!" or "Why on earth would you ever want to do that?!" 

The answer to the first question is actually pretty easy: who knows?! We'll get back to you when we're done hiking. There are actually a few runners who have completed the trail in just 9 or 10 days, although most were supported. The current unsupported record is just under 11 days, set by Shawn Forry in 2012. Makes 14 days sound downright leisurely, right?

While this is certainly going to be a challenge for us, Jonathan and I have been planning this trip for a while, and we will be doing a lot of training to get our bodies ready. Check out this blog post I wrote about setting challenging, but realistic adventure goals. And seriously, where's the fun in going on an "adventure" that you already know is possible? 

As for the second question, of why we want to do this, well I guess that's a little more personal. Jonathan and I like to push our physical limits, and we love to spend time in the mountains, sleeping out under the stars. This trail in particular will be a phenomenal opportunity to bask in the beauty of the Rocky Mountains and our new home state of Colorado. We can't afford to take four or five months off this year for a longer thru-hike, so we have decided to make the absolute most of our two-week vacation. Gotta pack it in when you can, right?

Catching the sunrise on Independence Pass. Sometimes, you have to wake up when the world is sleeping to see the things no one else sees.

Stay tuned for updates about our gear, food, resupply schedule, and training regimen!

Cheers and happy summer, 

Molly

This is why we're here

Today I turn 28 years old. For my birthday, my amazing girlfriend Molly planned a backcountry skiing hut trip for us. Boy, oh boy! Three days and two nights way up there in the Colorado Rockies, and it was only my second backcountry ski outing. What an adventure it turned out to be.

We skinned up eight miles to Betty Bear Hut on the first day, another five miles on day two to Skinner Hut, and all the way back to the car on day three. These supposedly "rustic" cabins were fantastic. They honestly had nicer kitchens than my own apartment, making our ultra-heavy food supply all the more worth it. After being accustomed to carrying the lightest gear possible for my PCT thru-hike, it was a bit a change to carry a can of coconut milk with me, but we relished the taste of red curry veggies, pasta, bacon, pancakes, eggs, potato hash and mac 'n' cheese before and after long days of skinning and skiing.

In choosing to move to Colorado, I was not only electing to share my life with Molly in "the real world," but also to take advantage of the mountains that now lie right outside my front door. The Rockies are so immense, so expansive that you could spend a lifetime exploring them. While I've done a bit of summer adventuring at high elevation, this is really my first season getting into high-alpine snow adventure. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to learn new mountain sports and the girl who has shown me the way. This is why I'm here, and I'm loving it!

Betty Bear Hut

Molly napping in Betty Bear Hut next to the fire. So cozy!

View from the front deck of Betty Bear Hut. Right out the front door; what a view!

Betty Bear Hut even had a freaking breakfast nook with an immaculate view of the mountains. It really doesn't get much better than this.

Onward and upward! Molly skinning on our way up to Skinner Hut on day two.

The view on our way to Skinner Hut. Not too shabby, if you ask me.

SHE'S GOT TWO FACES.

Modified #BrinsonBanksing, ice cave style! Someone built this cute little cave right outside the front door of Skinner Hut.

Heading back to the car on the morning of day three got off to a rough start. At just under 12,000 feet, the climb back over Hagerman Pass was brutal. High winds and hard snow made for sideways hail straight to our faces. Visibility was practically zero, and I felt like I was skinning into the abyss.

45 minutes later and safely on the other side of the pass, it was like a whole new world. Sunshine and calm winds made it quite delightful. (note the giant ice chunk still stuck to Molly's face from going over the pass.)

Molly heading back down from Hagerman Pass on our way out. Just look at all that glorious powder.

Skiing down through the woods; nearing the end of our trip.

photo/molly krumholz

Cheers,

Jonathan

Nolan's 14

POSTER'S NOTE:

If you have been following Dan and Jonathan's blog since its inception, you may remember a certain red-haired tagalong who started popping up about halfway along the PCT when she and Jonathan hiked a  double marathon together (the *real* one).  900 miles later, there she was again, photobombing their monument pictures.  When the boys realized that they hadn't booked a ride back to STL, it was Ms. Frizzle and my Magic School Bus on loan, who came to the rescue.  (Or at least, that's sort of how it happened...).

After leaving these fine fellows in St. Louis, I drove back to Vermont to live off the fruit of my parents' table for a few months while splitboarding the East's finest backcountry.  You might say that a life of free rent and powder refills sounds pretty good.  And it was.  But I just couldn't leave these guys alone.  

Somewhere along that 900 miles, I fell in love with Jonathan and to my delight, he agreed to go on another crazy adventure in which we moved from our respective homes here to Boulder, CO to play in some really big mountains.  Daniel even moved out to Golden, CO, just down the road, putting the third wheel back on our PCTricycle (Or is that me?). 

I've shared a lot of great stories with the Captains of Us, and I may pop up once in a while to tell a story or two when these clowns are taking themselves too seriously.  I think its realistic to say I outrank them.

-- Major Frizzle, reporting.

THE REAL STORY:

The natives call these mountains the "14ers": the 54 peaks in Colorado above 14,000ft in elevation. There are websites, even an app, dedicated to the pursuit of summiting the whole set.  Since arriving in Colorado in April, Dan, Jonathan and I have collectively summited 10 of them, but this past week, Jonathan and I got a little ambitious and decided to do a few more.  Ok, a lot more.  

Taking 4 days off, we decided to attempt a route through the Sawatch Range developed for a challenge known as "Nolan's 14".  This challenge, that some insane athletes complete in under 60 hours, goes up and over fourteen 14ers by the most expedient possible route, which can vary slightly depending on who you ask.  On average, to complete the challenge, you have to cover between 90 and 110 miles and do 44,500ft of climbing, or, about 3.5 times the amount needed to summit Everest from Base Camp. Much of this is off-trail route-finding and, as we soon discovered, much of that is scambling over sketchy, loose scree at 13,000ft.  Check out the details of the route here.

No problem.  We have 4 days and we're in good shape, right?  Right?  

On Day 1, we wake up to a frosty car window and put the alarm on snooze for a few more moments in the relative warmth.  It is cold already at 9,500ft, but we start up the trail and we both feel strong as the sun comes up.  Mt. Massive is the second highest peak in Colorado,  the largest contiguous area above 14,000' in the U.S. and our first challenge of the day.  Instead of taking the Class 1 trail up this rockpile, the route takes us up the shorter North Ridge, a steep Class 2 scramble.  Huffing and puffing up the last few hundred feet we see someone heading down toward us.  

"Wow, he's moving fast!" Jonathan exclaimed.  The guy was wearing a running vest and was jogging off-road down the slippery rocks.  When we came up to one another, he asked where we were headed and we explained our plan to hike the Nolan's 14 route.  The guy grinned. He said, "I'm just finishing up!"

What?!

"Actually," he continued, "I think I'm about to set the speed record!" His GPS was at 51 hours.  We asked him his name. Sure enough, when we got home there it was "Andrew Hamilton breaks speed record on Nolan's 14".  Check out Andrew's website here for some inspiration.  

Back to us, we had just barely made it to peak #1.  It felt great. And look at that view behind us!

Made it to the top of Mt. Massive

Mt. Elbert looms in the distance as we hiked through a lovely valley.

On to the next! Peak #2 is Mt. Elbert, the highest peak in the Rockies, at 14,433'.  Usually known for being one of the easiest 14ers, it turns out that Elbert has a dark side. (Its the west one).  Instead of cruising up Class 1 trail on the East Ridge, which would add lots of mileage, we ran down the back side of Massive, hiked up a 4WD road to the West Ridge and proceeded to climb 3,000 vertical feet over 1 mile of extremely loose, football sized rock-missiles.  Do people really do this during a speed attempt? 

Jonathan in front of Mt Elbert. Our route went up the ridge on the left.

Nearing the top and closing in on 8,000ft of climbing for the day, we were working for that summit.  (read: I felt like I wanted to die).  It even started snowing on us: Happy Autumn! Suddenly, we heard someone cheering us on.  I heard Jonathan say: "They're so close! There's someone on the summit and they're so close!"  Motivated, we pushed onwards to the summit.  

This is how I felt on the summit of Mt. Elbert

At the top of the Rockies, we enjoyed a new view as our cheering squad erected his "BEER HERE" flag and cracked a tall boy. His friend was wearing a "DRINK WATER" sweatshirt and did not take photos with the flag, although it sounded like he had probably carried it for most of the hike.  Mr. Keystone Ice told us it was his first 14er. (Yea... we know).

Man and Beer met on the summit of Mt. Elbert

Jonathan and I were pretty wrecked after that climb and as we ate our summit snacks, we both realized that we were burning through food way faster than we had anticipated.  We wouldn't have enough for even two more full days of snacks, and looking at the maps, we also realized that the best, and maybe only, opportunity to hitchhike back to the car for a resupply would come on Hwy 82, right on the other side of Elbert.  So, we changed our plans.  

It got dark as we finished our descent to the highway and we cowboy camped near the road, talking about our changing expectations.  Before we left, we'd been impressed by the athletes who completed Nolan's 14 in just 60 hours.  After just two peaks and just under a quarter of the elevation gain required to complete the route, we were astounded.  After about 13 hours, covering 22 miles and over 8,000' of elevation, it wasn't that we were behind schedule.  We were just ready to sleep.  Soundly. Not do another 40+ hours of hiking. 

Instead, we had a great night's sleep, and woke up to a beautiful morning.  Did I mention that it's autumn in the high country?  The aspens glowed that morning, amber against the sunrise as we walked down the highway, waiting for a hitch.  

Jonathan captured this majestic shot of the aspens in the morning light.

Not a whole lot of traffic, but what a lovely morning for a walk!

Highway 82 is a direct route to Aspen, so after a stream of dapperly dressed folks in Priuses drove past without flinching, a pickup truck was a welcome sight.  An older gentleman pulled the truck to the side of the road and motioned for us to hop in the back.  Hooray for pickup hitches!

The view from the back of the truck.

After two easy hitches, we made it back to the car, drove into Leadville and concocted a new plan over delicious coffee at City on a Hill Coffee & Espresso. New plan: Hit La Plata Peak (#3) that afternoon, then drive south to hit the two southernmost peaks the following day. 

La Plata was a steep hike, but the trail was relatively easy-going and the weather was gorgeous.  We were sore from the previous day's hike, but we made it up to see another mind-blowing view.   

Summit of La Plata Peak

Crazy-looking ridge seen looking north from La Plata Peak

It was an uneventful evening, but we had fresh food waiting at the car, so we were in great spirits as we drove south to the Angel of Shavano Trailhead, close to the southern terminus of Nolan's 14.  

I wasn't feeling great the next morning, but the sun was up and off we went.  The trail up Mt. Shavano follows the Colorado Trail for a few miles of stunning aspen glades and well-manicured path, then juts upwards through a forest of krummholz trees to a high saddle.  Mt Shavano and Tabeguache Peak (say: "Tabawatch") are close together, connected by a gorgeous rocky ridgeline, and after snack breaks on both (of course), we felt like we had done enough for one weekend. 

Things got a little silly on the Summit of Shavano

Jonathan doesn't want to go back to work after the Summit of Tabeguache.

Molly enjoys watching over Tabeguache Peak as the Gargoyle of Shavano.

Finally on our last descent, we decided to take Friday to rest and recuperate our bodies before returning to work on Saturday.  For good measure, we ran down Shavano, jogging the last few miles under a golden roof in the late afternoon sun.  

The ambiance of an aspen grove in late afternoon as the leaves turn golden is an almost unparalleled experience. So unbelievably serene.

That evening, a little sore and pretty tired, we drove up to Breckenridge to meet up with Washpot, who Jonathan had met on the PCT, and his girlfriend, Charlotte.  Back at their place, we scarfed down a whole pizza and talked about tiny homes with a stunning view of Mt. Quandary (a 14er in the Tenmile-Mosquito Range).  Washpot enlightened us with an answer to a questions we've been pondering since arriving in Colorado: Does high altitude give everyone gas? The answer? Not everyone (Charlotte was quick to explain), but almost.  Coloradans have a name for this syndrome: HAFE, or, High Altitude Flatulent Expulsions.  Well, now we know. 

On our three day mini-adventure, and within 60 hours, we had hiked about 50 miles, climbed approximately 18,000ft (about 1.5 Everests) and bagged 5 peaks.  Plus, we had two good nights' sleep! Even without going for speed, the rocky terrain and consistent high elevation were hard on our bodies and we would have been very hard pressed to hike for more hours than we did. We learned that, more than anything, Nolan's 14 is about brutal endurance: the willingness to push for hours, and when it gets hard, to push harder.  In terms of the challenge, we completed only 35% of the peaks (5 of 14), but over 40% of the total elevation gain as well as about half the mileage (with some different routes, of course).  We also slept for approximately 18 hours and drove for 3.5 to 4 hours.  The rest was mostly eating, with some hiking interspersed in there.  Let's just say we came back with a healthy respect for the athletes who complete the whole thing in that same time frame.  

Maybe one day, we'll come back and bag the rest of the peaks.  Perhaps someday, we'll even have a fighting chance at completing the challenge.  For now, I'm pretty pleased with the fantastic days we spent hiking in these beautiful mountains.  Altogether, not bad for a weekend.   

Cheers,

Words: Molly (AKA Ms. Frizzle)

Visuals: Jonathan