The year of the Bicentennial

The story starts in July of 2023 on Monitor Peak, I was camping with my BFF Craig in Chicago Basin and spent a day getting Monitor, 13 and Animas. When I reached the top of Monitor my hero John Balciar's name was in the log, I sent him a text, he asked me if I was doing Peak 15 also. I responded that Peak 15 was above my pay grade, but he got me thinking about it. I had some discussion about 15 a few weeks prior with my other hero Cory D also, so I started doing a little more research into it, and more or less talked myself into giving it a shot. Peak 15 was the reason I had previously not put much effort into the Bicentennials, I didn't think I'd be able to get it, and thus didn't worry about the top 200 list.

In September I went for peak 15 and was able to reach the top. Difficult as expected, I went via the Preston Dennis route, did a long day trip bushwhacking up New York Basin, it was a 35 mile, 20 hour effort to get up and down. The Bushwhack was every bit as miserable as anticipated. The climbing was hard, but not as hard as I expected. The slab traverse seemed sketchier looking in pictures, and the steep climbing section went quickly, I took climbing shoes for it. The sense of relief after getting down Peak 15 was enormous. I then decided to try and get through the rest of the bicentennials by the end of 2024.

I spent the fall and winter going after the more mellow bicentennials close to home, and planned to go after the tougher ones after the snow melted.

When things started melting out in June I started getting the harder, longer distance peaks. I did Pico Aislado with Cory D, hiking with him is always great, he does all the planning and driving, I just have to try and keep up with him (seriously, that guy's a machine). We did 13,028', Pico and Milwaukee via the Steve "Steve Benfield" Benfield route, which avoids all the sketchy stuff on the east side of Pico.

Len Shoemaker was a fantastic day with Cory, great views of Colorado's finest fourteener, and some fun climbing near the top.

One of the toughest days I had this summer was getting Guardian, Silex and Storm King. This was my second time on the Vallecito trail, the previous use was getting to Jagged. I did this as a long day trip, started around 10pm, reached treeline around sunrise. Weather was clear for my time hiking, but there had been heavy rain the afternoon before, causing the not very well manicured Vallecito trail to be very wet, I was completely soaked to the point I didn't need to remove shoes for the creek crossings. I hate that trail. There were also a number of downed trees to get around and over once I was a ways in. When it was time to branch off the Vallecito and bushwhack up towards Guardian, I wasn't paying attention and missed the turnoff, went a mile or 2 too far before realizing it. I tried to shortcut back, making things even worse. Somehow I eventually found my way above the trees and to Guardian. The climbing on Guardian-Silex-Storm King isn't difficult, just loose, tedious and annoying. I had planned to get Peak 6 and 7 this day also, after reaching Storm King and looking at how far away they were I decided I'd had enough "fun" for the day and skipped them. I was happy to be able to make it back to the car before dark. Very tough day, just under 21 hours, 41.25 miles and 9700' of elevation gain for this hike.

Most of my final peaks were in the San Juans, I scheduled some long weekends to be able to get through the list. One of my bigger weekends I was able to squeeze out 9 bicentennials, I started with the Trinity traverse, from Molas Pass. It was a long day, but I knew I'd have longer ahead. I didn't find the climbing to be particularly difficult, but figuring out the way from West Trinity to Trinity was hard for me (mostly because I'm world's worst route finder). The views from the Trinities were exceptional, as expected.

Next up for this weekend was Pilot Knob and US Grant, I was fortunate that many of my remaining Bicentennials were relatively close together. Pilot Knob looks pretty sketchy, but isn't as hard as it looks. I wasn't expecting the amount of loose dinner plates getting to the ridge. I had the impression US Grant was a walkup, it was a little more difficult than expected.

The next day I did a loop of Rolling Mtn., Grizzly and San Miguel, starting from the Rico Silverton TH. Getting up Rolling wasn't difficult, from there I went straight across towards Grizzly, the route drops pretty far into treeline, eventually putting me in a dense willow fight. Just after getting across the creek at the low point, it started raining. Then I heard thunder. Then it started hailing. The willows were relentless, and the grade became so steep I needed the willows to pull myself up, it was a love-hate relationship. About the time I made it past the willows the sky cleared and I was eventually able to dry out at the summit of Grizzly. At this point I didn't really have an option but to continue the loop and get San Miguel as there was no way I was going back into Satan's Willow Patch. Aside from one relatively short scree slope, the rest of this route was fairly enjoyable, the views around Hope Lake were fantastic, and the Hope Lake trail kept the end of the day bushwhack free. Will not be repeating this loop, but glad I was able to get all 3 peaks this day.

The last peak of this weekend was Lookout Peak, I went from Ophir Pass. Quick easy trip, I was up and down in a hair under 2 hours.

My next long weekend was going to be pretty big. Peak 6 and 7 on Friday, Potosi on Saturday, and White Dome and Peak 1 on Sunday.

I had a perfect weather forecast for Friday, worked out well for Peak 6 and 7, it was a hella long day. I started at Molas Pass, up to Vestal Basin, over the Trinity-Vestal saddle, down to Balsam lake then around to Peak 6. All the way to Peak 6 there wasn't anything particularly difficult, just long. The ridge from 6 to 7 looks like a basic ridge walk, until you actually get there. Some challenging moves, routefinding and healthy exposure (is exposure ever healthy?), this ridge scramble was unexpected, somehow I found a way across. Getting down from Peak 7 was some real work as well. It was a fantastic long hard day, even with the surprise ridge. I started at 4:30 am, didn't make it back to the toaster until almost 10pm. 31 miles, almost 11,000' elevation gain.

Potosi the next day was mostly easy, other than a few tough moves ascending the center gully.

White dome and Peak 1 on Sunday was iffy. Forecast called for light rain overnight, ending around 3am, with additional storms possible after noon. I wasn't optimistic about the day, set my alarm for 2:30am and hoped for the best. When I woke up, I unzipped a window and found clear skies and a bright moon, I was on the trail a little after 3. Made great time on the trail, White Dome wasn't difficult to get up, I was standing on top in a hair less than 6 hours from start. Goal was to be below treeline by noon when storms were possible, I booked it over to Peak 1, then back down. I didn't find anything difficult on this route, and the boulder hopping from the saddle was genuinely fun. About an hour before getting back to the toaster the rain finally arrived. I was thrilled to have gotten these long distance peaks on a questionable forecast day. 31 miles, 8100' of elevation gain in 11:37, fantastic day.

At this point I had very few Bicentennials left that weren't in the San Juans. Mt. Jackson was one that I could get on a short weekend. I couldn't find an easy way to get Jackson, so I thought I'd try an interesting way. I started at the Holy Cross trailhead, just after the campsites I broke off the trail and bushwhacked down to the meadow between the peaks. It was miserable, the meadow was more marsh than soil, and it rained off and on all morning. Miserable bushwhacking, but at least I didn't need to take my boots off for the creek crossings. Once above treeline the route gets better. Hail started just after leaving summit of Jackson, I went and tagged 13,443' as there was no way I was going to come back to this miserable place. Skies cleared up on the way back and I found a slightly better bushwhack on return. Will not be doing this again.

My next long weekend was going to be a tough one. I always have a special level of anxiety when a peak requires me to pack a rope. I'm far more hiker than climber, the number of times I've needed a rope on a mountain can be counted on one hand.

The first day of this weekend I did the 6 peak loop to get Silver and 13,684'. These are all walkups, but its some decent distance, I showed 26.43 miles and 8,081' of gain for the day, I made decent time, 10:31.

Coxcomb was difficult, as expected. I took a 70m rope, fortunately it's not terribly long distance to get to Coxcomb. Nothing difficult until you reach the entry to the first gully, which I had a difficult time climbing. It's only 15' or so, but awkward for a short person that isn't a great climber. After getting into the gully there are some stiff class 4 moves, I didn't have too hard a time reaching the notch. I was very nervous about the notch. my fear was that I'd rappel the notch, make summit, but not be able to reascend the notch and have to call in a chopper. My 2 SAR friends were keeping an eye on me, and while it's nice to have technology to keep in touch, I was relying on prayer as much as anything to get me up and down Coxcomb. After making summit and getting back to the notch, it was easier than I expected to get back up, mostly due to being able to pull myself up the rope towards the top (I used a belay device ascending also). The rest of the way down went fine, I used the existing rap station to drop into the gully, and I added a sling near the end of the gully so I could rap the first difficult part. From there I circled around to get Redcliff without issue. I was glad to have Coxcomb behind me.

My next weekend was short, hit my last Sangre Bicentennial, Tijeras. Tagged Music Mtn. with it as well. Relatively easy day, the ridge to Music had a bit of spice.

At this point we were nearing the end of summer and I still had a few big days to look forward to. I left for Mt. Oso at 11pm on a Saturday night, forecast wasn't great, there was some rain expected, but no thunder/lightning. I don't generally get sleepy on long overnight hikes, but for some reason between 4-5am I started yawning and feeling drowsy. I reached moon lake around sunrise and planned to take a quick catnap, then it started raining, I was no longer sleepy. The rain was never heavy, but persisted off and on most of the day. The bushwhack beyond Moon Lake wasn't bad, but I wasn't expecting to drop elevation after reaching the Oso-Soso saddle. It was a great long day, didn't see another human until mile 30 on the way back. Long day, I showed 37 miles, 7500' of gain in 16:49.

The rest of the weekend was rainy and stormy, I attempted to get Emma and Gilpin. I was stormed off around treeline. I was increasingly nervous about when we'd get our first big snow, I took a rare midweek day off the next week to try and get Clark. There was a little snow to get around up high on Clark, but nothing too sketchy.

The weather forecast for the last weekend in September was looking good to squeeze in my last Bicentennials, I did a loop of Emma, Gilpin and Cirque on Friday, T Zero on Saturday and Grizzly C on Sunday. The Emma-Gilpin part of Friday wasn't much fun, some lengthy steep scree slopes to get up and down. Cirque was pretty enjoyable.

T Zero was a really enjoyable route, I went from the Eider Creek trailhead. Very short bushwhack that wasn't tough, and the colors were near peak. It was a beautiful day.

Grizzly Peak C was a great finish, I always like to finish a list on something big. I started at the Purgatory trailhead around 3am, made my way to Chicago Basin, then up Columbine Pass and over to Hazel Lake. No bushwhacking helped me keep a good pace, the miles just went on and on easily. I had downloaded a GPX file for Grizzly, but didn't look at it beforehand, it apparently ended at the lake. I gambled and went up the left side, found a way up a steep gully, then started seeing cairns, a welcome sight. The cairns led me to a steep section straight up the middle of Grizzly, but I didn't see any additional cairns from there. I went straight up, hoping I'd find an easier way down. Made summit okay with a few tough moves, I was relieved. Great weather and nice views from Grizzly's summit, it was nice to be through the list, it was a great sense of accomplishment. Leaving summit I found a cairn that led me down a much easier way, I was happy to have found it. Good pace for Grizzly, I showed 40 miles, 8900' of gain in 14:40.

Thanks for reading.