Adventure
Dancer in the wild
High up on the southern side of Bear Peak at the southwestern edge of Boulder, the rock feature known as The Maiden hooks from the ground toward the western horizon. The rock monolith, dusted in lime lichen, catches the setting sun, holding on to the light after ...
In the East Rampart Roadless Area, solitude rules
Across the road from the dirt bikes and ATVs in Rainbow Falls, Colo., is a different world. It’s a world hiker Tom Mowle discovered two years ago, looking for trails close to his Gleneagle, Colo., home. “As you can see, we’re the only people here. You can hike ...
Gone to the dogs
Mountainsmith went to the dogs years ago. Many a stylish pooch has been spotting wearing the classic K-9 dog pack designed by the Golden-based gear manufacturer. This year, bipeds and quadrupeds alike were introduced to Mountainsmith’s new line of tents, sleeping ...
How I Nearly Killed My Father on Tenaya Canyon
The sign read, “Tenaya Canyon is extremely dangerous. Many have lost...
First light from the summit
You feel the fluid building up, and you feel a kind of rattling in your lungs,” says Glenn Randall of a night spent in a snowbound tent in the Sawatch range, high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) slowly drowning him. He’d had the condition before, at 16,000 feet in ...
An odyssey remembered
"My friends, welcome to Lesbos — now you are going to Moria.”
The blue bus with iron grates on its windows sits perched on a...
It’s a bear
You`ve hiked Mount Sanitas and Chautauqua Park, but have you given Bear Peak in South Boulder your best shot? A lengthy, strenuous climb, Bear Peak is not for the endurance-deficient beginners of Mount Sanitas Valley or Chautauqua trails. At 8,461 feet, the mountain ...
HALLOWED GROUND
THE MOUNTAIN IS ICONIC. An unmistakable jagged peak, solitary, and thrust above the valley floor that it dominates by eons of geological evolution, a visual exclamation point of a place that could only exist in Colorado...
Grounded: Unknown ailment hospitalizes Cory Richards during Everest expedition
What happened to Cory Richards on Mount Everest on April 28 when the climber became ill, and how that will affect the rest of the National Geographic Society’s 2012 expedition to Everest is not yet clear...
‘Wild West capitalism’ versus wilderness
Accusations fly around Telluride like the wind whipping the faded prayer flags, music posters and tourists’ fur coats. “Tom Chapman is a douchebag,” announces a bumper sticker spotted along the streets of jubilantly colored houses. Most locals spit out a bitter laugh...
Traveling with more than good intentions
On a visit back to his native country, on a trek in the Annapurna region of Nepal, Portland State University professor Bishupal Limbu remembers being uncomfortable because of his shoes. They were nice, they were meant for the occasion and the Australians he was ...
