I Shake the Mountains When I Dance

Is it a bird? A plane? Is it…Superman? No! It’s another member of the Roving Backcountry Crew sounding the dawn chorus with a startlingly accurate bird-call, at 5 a.m. We’re on Missouri Mountain, camped at treeline and every day begins the same way. A struggle worthy...

Work Doesn’t Start and Stop at the Trailhead

On Thursday, Jason and I took a break from our four-day hitch on Mount Bierdstadt to scout this summer’s Adopt-a-Peak projects on Grays and Torreys. Driving early in the morning up the long and steep gravel road that leads to the Gray and Torreys trailhead, we...

Getting the Most out of Your Fourteeners Experience

Over the last week I had the pleasure of spending five days working on Mount Bierstadt. Throughout the week I got to talk to a myriad hikers of different ages, abilities and places. They all had one thing in common though: They were “going to the top.” When folks pass...

Thick Bonds of a Trail Crew

While working on a trail crew in Rocky Mountain National Park a few years ago, I remember thinking that, with three seasons of trail work under my belt, I was starting to hold my ground in the rock-setting world. Another co-worker was quick to correct me. “Three...

Reel-izing

  As I lie in a top bunk in the yurt and lose myself through the stars, I can think of nothing. My mind has finally, thankfully, stopped beating. I wake to the sand pounding the walls and it sounds miserable out as I’m so very cozy in my bag. I push myself to get up;...