Commute to Jody’s Birthday Party! (The long way)

Lunch Hike

Afternoon Ride

Morning Ride

Somehow managed to wake my very tired body at 4:10 am and start climbing again. Mountain lions probably made up 80% of my pre-dawn thoughts as I hiked through the woods and up into the tundra. Thankfully I had no encounters but hiking solo in the dark after a friend was chased/stalked by one yesterday was a bit more frightening than usual. 
Didn’t see a single soul as I ascended to the ridge line. The cold air was shooting up from the valley and freezing my hands. Eventually I caught up to the direct sunlight and hid behind a rock in a wind eddy warming up my hands and catching my breath. 
Summited red cloud around 7:30 am thinking I was the first ascent of the day but during my saddle walk over to sunshine peak I met two hikers heading back after submitting both. Both hikers were too scared of the route down the Northwest face of sunshine peak. 
After climbing 500 more feet back up to 14,000 ft from the low saddle I decided that i did not have enough time to go back up red cloud the way I came (nor did I want to) so I began the daunting NW face descent. Essentially a huge scree/boulder field route with occasional navigational cairns. The crux of this route was a loose scree/cliff descent where I did a mix of shoe sliding and hugging whatever solid rock I could find to descent. Not sure what class it would be but was definitely more daunting then Wetterhorn’s class 3 ascent, yesterday. 
After the cliff I walked atop a martianesque boulder field where I stubbed my foot arch into numerous sharp rocks. 
Eventually Ana crisp trail emerged which I followed back to the standard route and on down the mountain. Though scary, the shortcut not only saved me another climb but also brought me back to basecamp over an hour before the hikers who had been way ahead of me. 
Very tired after six 14ers but also very impressed and happy with myself. Some more cookies in the jar bringing me up to ~35 of 57 CO 14ers. Most of which are class 3 or 4 now 😬

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Palmer Bowles @hot-potato

14er Extravaganza Complete! Red cloud and Sunshine Peak Double-Bag (6 14ers, 2 days 22 hrs & 38 minutes)

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Commute to Jody’s Birthday Party! (The long way)

Lunch Hike

Afternoon Ride

Morning Ride

Afternoon Ride

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