Because the snows of winter slowly melted and the start of summer season 2023 approached, I made a decision to set a brand new objective bodily objective to push myself out of my consolation zone this yr. And so, I got down to climb at the very least one peak each week for the whole thing of astronomical summer season—roughly 14 weeks, in case you embody the partial weeks on both finish simply to be on the secure facet.
The problem inherent within the objective wasn’t essentially climbing a complete of 14 peaks—it was making an attempt to climb a peak each week with out fail. It is simple to batch a bunch of climbs right into a single expedition, however making an attempt to carve out time to get out into the mountains and stand on prime of one thing tall each single week for 14 weeks straight proved to be robust. Even, so, I labored diligently to plan my schedule prematurely to prioritize this objective, however on some events I nonetheless needed to attempt to determine methods to shoehorn in a brand new peak round all the different obligations of day by day life.
If #onepeakaweek had been my solely objective for the summer season, it could have been a lot simpler… however I nonetheless had prolonged mountain bike work journeys to finish and backpacking loops that did not contain peak climbing, plus—after all—making an attempt to get the remainder of work and chores and day by day life taken care of.
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However, regardless of the scheduling challenges, I persevered and managed to face on prime of 19 complete summits (16 distinctive peaks) ranging in peak from 7,550 ft to 14,150 ft—together with one each single week. Listed here are all of the peaks I climbed this summer season, organized from shortest to tallest, with some temporary ideas from my expertise on every of them.
S-Mountain – 7,550 ft
S “Mountain” is definitely extra of a “hill” and was merely a bonus jaunt to a stupendous overlook of my previous hometown of Salida. Whereas it wasn’t my major peak of the week, it is a named mountain, and the view from the highest is fairly rattling unbelievable. So, on the record it goes!
Pautskey Level – 7,689 ft
My mountain bike journey up Pautskey Level was positively one of many weeks the place I needed to discover a solution to cram a peak right into a packed mountain biking schedule. I had loads of driving and tenting plans on the weekend that did not contain a peak climb, so I rode to one of many excessive factors accessible straight from my home in Durango. Regardless of being pretty low, it is a bit of a slog to stand up there, and the view from the summit is downright lovely.
Smelter Mountain – 7,725 ft
Smelter Mountain is one other in-town Durango path, however I hiked this mountain early within the season when the excessive nation was nonetheless buried in deep snow following a formidable winter. The choice of mountain climbing quick however steep mountains down low, even when the snow lingers on the excessive peaks effectively into the summer season, is without doubt one of the issues that makes Durango (and lots of cities in Colorado) so particular.
Animas Metropolis Mountain – 8,171 ft
Yet one more from-the-house mountain bike journey, irrespective of how typically I do it, Animas Metropolis Mountain by no means appears to get any simpler. The climb to the highest is grueling, and sadly, and I sadly selected a poor path again down that did not actually reward me for the work that I put in. Effectively, that is all part of making an attempt to journey each path on the town—it’s a must to journey the shitty ones in addition to the implausible ones.
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Strand Hill – 10,358 ft
Whereas Crested Butte is ringed by beautiful mountain peaks, driving to the highest of Strand Hill was yet one more peak squeezed into an enormous week of mountain biking. Nevertheless it proved to be an unexpectedly enjoyable journey—I hadn’t ridden this far up the Strand Hill street earlier than (most riders flip off on the singletrack path junction), and the higher reaches of the aspen grove proved to be stunningly lovely! I additionally needed to wander round within the woods for a bit to seek out the precise prime of the mountain since, apparently, nearly no person units off to bike or hike to the highest of Strand Hill.
Citadel Rock – 10,441 ft x2
Citadel Rock was the primary peak of my problem because it—like Smelter, my second peak—was largely freed from snow in late June. Regardless of rising to only 10,441 ft, I nonetheless needed to hike over a number of snow drifts to achieve the highest. Citadel Rock was additionally one in every of solely two mountains that I accomplished a number of instances through the summer season.
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Pajarito Mountain – 10,441 ft
I took a break from some lengthy days of downhill mountain biking to go exploring and discover the height of Pajarito Mountain. The highest is not straight accessible from a carry, so I needed to pedal up a mixture of ski runs, gravel roads, and faint singletrack trails to seek out the summit. From a clearing on prime, I loved a formidable view off the bottom of Northern New Mexico!
North Cone – 12,060 ft
I did rather more downhill mountain biking in 2023 than I regular, which actually very often straight conflicted with my #onepeakaweek problem. Throughout an extended week of DH driving at the perfect bike park in Colorado—Trestle—I put collectively an journey day, getting down to journey to the highest of the closest peak to the bike park. Regardless of a carry bump, it turned out to be a real journey, with 1000’s of ft of climbing up steep singletrack and rutted doubletrack, together with loads of hike-a-bike. Nonetheless, the view from the summit was rewarding, and the bodily problem of the ascent was a welcome break from the fixed downhill shredding.
Level 12,700 ft
One of many largest adventures that my spouse and I shared this yr was backpacking the 4 Move Loop, which crosses 4 steep mountain passes, all simply above 12,500 ft. To suit an precise “peak” into the journey, I hiked up and off West Maroon Move to hit a excessive level. From there, I used to be capable of catch glimpses of Gothic close to Crested Butte—a real deal with!
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Engineer Mountain – 12,968 ft
Now issues begin to get actually fascinating, with some of the technical summits of the summer season. Regardless of not even hitting 13,000 ft, Engineer Mountain is without doubt one of the most aesthetic peaks within the San Juans, and the scramble up the summit ridge is excessive consequence! Engineer proved to be my second favourite mountain of the yr.
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Spencer Peak – 13,087 ft x3
Spencer Peak was my first excessive alpine summit of the yr, and regardless of eager to hike all the best way to Sultan on the primary hike in early July, I ended up stopping quick at Spencer. However for my closing climb of the summer season, I went again for redemption, trekking all the best way to Sultan and tagging Spencer on each the best way there and the best way again.
Hassell Peak – 13,208 ft
Hassell Peak marked the best level that I rode my mountain bike throughout Summer time 2023. The epic Continental Divide Path section from Jones Move to Herman Gulch won’t be lengthy, but it surely is without doubt one of the highest-elevation mountain bike-legal singletrack traverses in North America. Okay, that is fairly a number of qualifiers, however however this was a completely stellar mountain bike journey with stupendous views and surprisingly rideable singletrack.
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Sultan Mountain – 13,368 ft
As talked about above, I used to be so happy to achieve some redemption by making all of it the best way to Sultan on my closing peak climb of the #onepeakaweek problem! As my closing climb of the season, snow was already starting to return to the excessive mountains. It was wild to assume that in early July I needed to cross huge snowfields to achieve the highest of Spencer, and in mid-September the north faces of the mountains have been already holding a dusting of snow and slick ice from the primary snowfalls of the yr. The excessive nation season is brief, but it surely’s so definitely worth the effort to benefit from it! As an added bonus, I used to be the one particular person on the mountain for the whole 5 and a half hours that I used to be climbing
Level 13,600 ft
Level 13,600 ft was really a mistake. This may be the primary time I’ve made a fallacious flip (at the very least this huge of a fallacious flip) whereas climbing a mountain. I believed I knew which peak I used to be aiming for after I hit the saddle under Mount Sneffels, so I did not verify my map. As I used to be partway up what appeared like the plain pitch, I rotated and noticed all of the folks climbing what was simply a a lot taller mountain peak. So, I simply determined to complete what I began and scramble to the highest of a slim summit block for a photograph, then boogie again down and head to my major goal.
Golden Horn – 13,780 ft
Golden Horn was unequivocally my favourite peak of the yr! This jagged spire requires an extended, sustained scramble to achieve the saddle. From there, we scaled an uncovered ridge to achieve a tiny summit block with completely unbelievable views! You’ll want to catch my full journey report article for all of the superlatives and accolades that I can stage at this mountain.
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Mount Sneffels – 14,150 ft
Mount Sneffels is named the “Queen of the San Juans,” and it actually is a spectacular mountain! From the summit, you take pleasure in a singular vantage, with views of the San Juan mountains to the south and east and views of the excessive desert and Colorado Plateau to the north and west. From the summit, the mountain slopes drop precipitously to the desert far, far under.
Whereas Sneffels was a implausible climb, this was far and away probably the most crowded mountain I climbed all yr—just because it is a 14er. The suffocating crowds is without doubt one of the major explanation why Sneffels was the one 14er I climbed this yr. As an alternative, I had an absolute ball spending a lot time on quite a few 13ers and even a number of 12ers the place I used to be typically the one particular person on the mountain. To every their very own, however this yr’s experiment in climbing obscure peaks proved to be so pleasant that I plan to proceed climbing 13ers and different lesser-traveled mountains into 2024 and past.
It’s impressive that you managed to climb 19 summits in just one summer. Planning ahead while juggling other responsibilities sounds challenging but rewarding.
Climbing a peak every week is a great goal. I appreciate how you shared your experiences and insights from each climb.
I enjoyed reading about your journey through various peaks. It’s interesting how different conditions can affect each hike.
Your commitment to the #onepeakaweek challenge is commendable. It’s nice to see someone balancing their passion with everyday life.
Thanks for sharing your climbing experiences! The variety of peaks you tackled makes for an inspiring read, and I love the detailed descriptions.