OK, I'll un-hijack it.

From the campground at St. Mary's / Glacier National Park, summer 2008.


Near Cooke City, WY, summer 2008. I think it's called Pilot Peak.

Very nice VG! Pilot Peak looks like a fun climb.

In Chicago Basin in the San Juan Range. If you've been there you may have seen this family of goats.

Gorgeous.

COOL! It is called Pilot Peak.....and it's very interesting because from other angles it is not nearly as impressive (similar to Lone Eagle Peak in Colorado). Did you ride over Beartooth Pass? Love that place!

Nice! I have been there several times, and always enjoy the goats. Did you climb Windom, Sunlight, and Eolus?

No, gotta do that next time. I did Cody to Cooke City via Rt 296, Chief Joseph Hwy / Sunlight Basin road / Dead Indian Pass. (Can't tell what to call it from the map.) It was really spectacular.

Yes, then hiked out over Columbine Pass then down Valicito River. We had taken the train in, so had to hitch back to town, got a ride in the back of a pickup in the rain, but it beat walking

Whoa, that's a haul. I've done that trail too. Backpacked in from Vallecito trailhead, then up Johnson Canyon to just before Columbine Pass. Next morning climbed Windom Peak. It was BRUTAL coming back over the pass in the same day (and that trail? on the Chicago Basin side of the pass is pretty nasty!).....I came back the next year to do Eolus and Sunlight with the train ride. Love the mountain talk.

That's a very nice route too.....and you have the names right. I'm really impressed you know them because many/most don't bother to recall. That is truly one of the most beautiful parts of the country.....kinda gets lost in the shuffle with Yellowstone and Tetons so close. Beartooth Pass might be the prettiest place (in a rugged sort of way) I've seen.....you should definitely put it on your short list. Keep posting the pics!

Okay, you two have whetted my appetite to post some shots from your respective areas.....so one for valygrl from the Wyoming side of Beartooth Pass looking southeast toward the eastern edge of the Absaroka Range:





.....and one for Shifty from the summit of Windom Peak looking northwest toward from left to right, Sunlight Peak, the incredible Sunlight Spire (a few more feet and it would be the most difficult 14er!), Arrow Peak, and the AWESOME Vestal Peak in the Grenadiers :

Nice photo of Sunlight and beyond, Windom and Sunlight make for an awfully nice day in the mountains, then a nap at Twin Lakes before the storms build and you have to race down to camp. The first 3 times I went in there we could camp at Twin Lakes, that is not allowed these days. It was sure entertaining to sit in camp at the lakes in the evening and watch the Mountain Goats climb up the head wall between Sunlight and Eolus, jumping from one toehold to the next like it was nothing, then they would be over the top for the night. My photo above was 2007, it made my 6th time there, and the evening storms were pretty harsh, but it was dryer for 2 nights on the Vallecito River, it was a pretty casual trip overall. Next I want to wander about on the Cimarron River drainage below Uncompahgre Peak, your photo from that area fuels that desire. I'll be in Crested Butte in July, so I'm planning time there then.

Meadow skipping to Broken Top Peak in the Oregon Cascades

Here a few snapshots from riding up Mt. Evans.

Wow, you won the weather lottery! I still haven't done Mt. Evans - this year, I hope!

Yes, the weather....and (what looks like) no traffic(???).

Here's another shot from Beartooth Pass.....including the actual Beartooth in the far distance:

For Mt. Evans, you start early and good weather is likely, as well as no traffic. I usually see the cars and the clouds on my way back down.

How long does it take you to get up there (assuming you start at Echo Lake)? How long to get down? And what time is "early" typically?

I just checked on my 3 rides from last year. My quickest time from Echo Lake was about 2.5 hours and my slowest was 3.5 hours (riding with my wife, taking pictures, etc.). Even 2.5 hours is not cranking, just a nice pace.

General rule is to be off the summit by noon. I like to shoot for 11, but that is tough when starting in Idaho Springs or Evergreen. From Echo Lake, 8 or 8:30 should leave you enough time.

It takes about an hour to come down, but I descend slowly, especially on that road and I usually stop for photos.

Damn! Too many nice photos -- I can't single out just a few.

Hope to have some of my own to contribute in the not too distant future.

Fall colors, LaManga Pass.....near New Mexico/Colorado border:

How about a few with some wildlife in them...

Another slide that I scanned, also from the 1970's. Pomeroy Lake basin above St Elmo and actually near the Alpine Tunnel.

Great shots......love the goats! Here's another Great Sand Dunes shot......one of my favorites because it looks so surreal:

Sangre de Cristos in southern Colorado: