Psh, sleds.

Dad and Bro take the speedy way home, glissading off the Castle-Conundrum ridge.  Glissading is awesome after all that trudging...except for the numb butt, the epic wedgie, the pants and socks full of water (what, gaiters?) and the little ice balls that you find in your pockets and any crevice or opening on your pack.  But still very, very worth it...who wouldn't want to eliminate a mile's worth of walking in about 45 seconds?  Plus, we would have had to re-summit on Castle and that's just silly.

Double Rainbow!

After a brief rainstorm on La Plata peak.

Scaling

Mountains are great for putting humans in perspective.

Tourists on top of Mt. Evans.  I won't say "hikers" or "climbers" since 95% of them probably drove up to the parking lot about 100 feet down the other side of that peak. Props, however, to the one very badass cyclist hammering it home up there and the two trail runners we saw, in addition to those that we met climbing.

Climbers ascending the couloir route on Conundrum.

A man descends to the saddle on the ridge between Castle & Conundrum.  That white line in the snow is a pretty fabulous glissade track; probably the steepest I've been on.  Although it didn't have jumps carved into it like some of the ones on Rainier...

Time keeps on slippin'

What a difference a few hours makes in the mountains.  Maroon Bells around 6am:

Aaaaaand Maroon Bells around 10 or 11:

In truth, this weather was coming in even as I was taking the other photo.  Within about 20 minutes of that first shot, clouds had started to roll up over the peak.  It was a very questionable piece of weather and it is entirely possible that we would have met nothing more than a cold wind and low visibility, but we decided not to chance it.  Not least because descending the face just above this section would have been pretty dicey even if all it did was rain- slippery grass + mud + loose rocks + 45 degree or more slope = chance to fall a very long way.

Ascension

Dad and Bro gain the ridge on the Maroon Bells.

Hey you! Stop harassing that goat!

Mountain goat on the summit ridge at Quandary Peak.  On this hike we met a ranger-type who told us about a law that allowed people (rangers? cops? dog-vigilantes?  anyone??) to shoot pet dogs caught "harassing" wildlife.  Funnily enough, this goat was very nearly hassled by a tiny Boston Terrier, who made a valiant attempt at harassment but was unable to catch up enough to have a proper go at it.  Fortunately for dog owners and wildlife alike (but not, of course, for would-be dog shooters), most of these peaks were not particularly dog-friendly.  We only saw a few of them on the easier climbs.

Back!

And I have new mountain pictures to prove it.

The Maroon Bells, most beautiful set of mountains in Colorado (Don't believe me?  Just ask any calendar).  Shot was taken around 5am from around a mile and a half down the trail, at Crater Lake.  Unfortunately we were too far underneath them by the time they started to get alpenglowed for them to retain their distinctive shape, otherwise this would be in glorious color (just like all those calendars).