How Many People Climb the 14ers Anyway?

One of the most commonly asked questions I hear at CFI is: “How many people climb the 14ers?” These high peaks are much-loved by people from across the country. Hit one of the Front Range 14ers on a July or August weekend when the weather is perfect and you are...

The Perspective Inspired by Chicago Basin

“Each landscape allows or inhibits perspective, and that creates the culture.”                                                   -archaeologist, Tom Windes I am sitting outside the basecamp tent, watching the rabbits chase each other underneath the goat-wool-strewn...

Colorado College Project Brings Back the Memories

It seems every time I go on trail I get asked how I landed in my position. Did you study forestry? How many years of trail work have you done? Did you always want to do trail work? Sometimes I am caught off guard by the over estimations people make about my work...

The Deal on Volunteer Vacations

A group from the American Hiking Society volunteered on the North Maroon Peak restoration project one week this summer. Each of the five participants came from a different state, none of which was around here. When I asked what brought them to the Maroon Bells for...

Find Your Rome

Rome wasn’t built in a day. The mountain is Rome. We are simply building a wall around it to keep it standing. We are not trying to make it any easier to summit, nor to make it pretty in any way. We actually do our best to keep Rome’s natural look. I know...

How to Interact with a CFI Trail Crew

The Adopt-a-Peak crew has tackled projects on 15 different peaks this summer. In our travels, Ben Sample and I have noticed that many 14er hikers have no idea what to do when they encounter us. So, for the benefit of the hiking community (and next summer’s crews), we...