96,000 Hits in One Month!

You know, I didn’t actually realize how many people view this site. I bet you people don’t know either, so I’m going to put some facts on here for your viewing pleasure! Actually, I’m just going to put the interesting facts. I guess since I am more popular than I thought, I will start adding more current stuff on this site, such as updated pictures of me, more stories about what has happened to me, as well as just adding better content. All these stats are for the month of May 2002.

Hits: 96,317
MB Transfered: 874.2
Unique Visitors: 1,286
Max hits in an hour: 388
Hour of day with most visits: 1700-1800
Different Countries: 8 (USA, UK, AUS, CAN, FRA, ARG, FIN, S. KOR)
Number One Visitor: Lives in the Cate Dorms at OU
Most Common Browser: MSIE 5.01
Most Common OS: Windows 98

So anyhow, while most of that isn’t surprising, I did find the fact that people from other countries view my page and that 1,286 different IP’s viewed my website. Now, while some of those might be the same people (moving home from college, changing IP’s on dialup) that’s still quite a bit, as I don’t think I know that many people. So who are you guys that view my website!? I wanna know. *smile*

Mt. Evans – West Ridge – Solo Ascent

Date: May 28, 2002
Elevation: 14,264′
Rank: 14th
Route: West Ridge, Grade II, Class 2, 9.0 miles, 3100ft vert.
GPS: N 39° 35.316′ W 105° 38.566′
Team: Matt Esser (Toid)

Pre-climb: After my successful completion of two fourteeners in one day 10 days prior, I figured hiking the same amount of miles up one peak would be easier. Boy was I wrong.

Climb: I threw my stuff together after waking up two hours later than I wanted to. I was out the door at 6am, when I wanted to be out the door at 4am, but how often is that going to happen? So anyhow, I start climbing around 7:30am and discover that due to the late May snowstorm we received not three days ago, all the snow had all melted off, causing flooding and a kayak would have been useful going through the willows. Especially when you are trying to climb Evans from Guanella pass. I started off at a really good pace and felt great, even though the willows were making me a little upset. The weather was nice, and I was in shorts for the first time ever on a 14er.

The entire time hiking, I’m looking at the gully on the north side of the Sawtooth, trying to decide whether or not I want to take it. It’s steep, but it’s a shortcut. At the last possible moment I decide to branch off and take it. I was walking along the ridge and got really close to some mountain goats. The gully had snow in it, but somebody had been there recently and there were nice steps for me to walk in the entire way up. I reached Evans West Ridge after about 2h 15min.

The weather was still good, although the wind had picked up and so I wanted to get across the last mile or so of ridgeline as quickly as possible. This is not a place where you want to be during a storm (keep reading). So I’m hiking, and I remember Roach talking about false summits, but what do I do? Of course, I climb every one of them hoping that the one I’m on is the one. Then, I start to see the road, and realize that I’m still a ways from the actual one. Doh. This traverse I would say is the most difficult part of Evans. Seeing all the false summits really demoralizes you. Plus it wears you out going over boulders.

Upon reaching the summit, I scour around for a summit marker and log. I find a boulder with an ‘X’ on it, and it appears to be the highest but no summit log. Then it took me 0.2 seconds to realize that they probably don’t have one because of all the tourons that drive to the top and how they would gladly sign it. I took a 30 min break here while eating lunch and taking pictures of all the things at the summit. I couldn’t believe they had all this up here at 14,100ft. For those of you that have never been there, they used to have a restaurant up there. Yeah, I couldn’t believe it either. You can see the remains of it, as they had a propane leak and it exploded a while back.

I started back to my Blazer and then just like that, out of nowhere the sky grew dark, the wind picked up, and I heard thunder. They have all these signs warning people about lightning strikes and what to do if it starts happening. I didn’t think much of it and continued along, until…*ZAP!* Not 100 yards in front of me on the ridge there was a ground to air strike, and my hair stood up and instantly tingled. I halted my paces. I looked around and then I noticed the wind was really strong. I had a mile of ridgeline to cross and how was I going to do that with the wind and weather like it was? I retreated to the exploded building, which had no top, but had walls, and decided to see if I could wait out the storm. After about 30 minutes I decided to give it another go, but then, just like in the movies, *Zap!* lightning struck again, this time over by the observatory. This was not good. Here I am, above 14,000ft, I had a ridge to traverse, a storm is coming, and I haven’t seen anybody the ENTIRE hike up here. Which, I might add, is unusual for Evans, but then again, it was the day AFTER Memorial Day.

So, I start rationalizing what I can do. I have no tent, my cell phone is at home. (don’t ask) I can’t go back the way I came, my only other three choices were to spend the night on top of Mt. Evans in an open bivy and try climbing out in the morning, hike down the valleys which contained huge elevation losses very quickly and wasn’t really an option, or hike down the Mt. Evans road. The third option sounded best, as I might actually encounter somebody that way, unlike hiking back across electricity ridge or death valley.

About two miles down I find somebody at Summit Lake who takes me down the other 12 miles to Echo Lake. At Echo Lake, I hitch another ride from some other guy, who takes me as far as Idaho Springs, which was another 14 miles. What I didn’t realize when I started down the Mt. Evans road, was that it went the complete opposite way as where I wanted to go, so I had to go around the entire base of the mountain to get back to my car. I tried hitchiking in Idaho Springs, but it wasn’t happening, so I had to make a few collect calls before Ilene came to my rescue…however, she drove her brand new Mustang. Little did she realize she was going to be going up Guanella Pass.

I felt terrible for what she had to do for me. That road is no good and she had to drive all the way from Highlands Ranch to come help me out. I am greatly in debt to her.

Mt. Evans will always be remembered. I did it the right way, by coming from Guanella Pass and not cheating by taking the Summit Lake route. However, due to weather restrictions, I couldn’t make it safely back across the ridge to get back down the gully and through the willows back to my car. This might be the last solo fourteener I ever do.

Drive: 1.5h
Ascent: 4.25h
Summit: 1 h
Descent: 4 h
Drive: 1.5h
Total: 9.25h

Grays Pk – North Slopes – Solo Ascent

Date: May 18, 2002
Elevation: 14,270′
Rank: 9th
Route: North Slopes, Grade II, Class 2, 9.0 miles, 3600ft vert.
GPS: N 39° 40.433′ W 105° 49.016′
Team: Matt Esser (Toid)

Pre-climb: I hadn’t gone climbing in a while, and I was just waiting for the right weekend to come along where I didn’t have anything to do. This was it. I checked the weather forcast and it looked promising. The idea to go climb Grays and Torreys came into my head at 4am, and by 5am, I was out the door.

Climb: Getting to Grays and Torreys is really easy, just exit off of I-70 and then go up this really bumpy road for what seems like forever. I must admit though, the bumpy road gave my body a pre-climb wake up and an after climb massage. The road was in summer condition. There was no snow on it at all. When I arrived at the trailhead at 6:30am, there were already 8 or so cars there. This is the first fourteener that I have seen cars. Then again, this was the first one I’ve done on a weekend, and it’s getting closer to summer.

The first part of the trail is really easy and well travelled. I signed the register and continued hiking. I arrived at the turnoff for Dead Dog Couloir in an hour. I was moving at a pretty good pace, 2.4 miles and 1,400ft in an hour. I stopped to have a snack as I watched the people work their way up the Couloir, it looked really fun, I just wish I had crampons. I saw some mountain goats on the way up, they looked really friendly. Another hour passed and I found myself at the saddle of Grays and Torreys, I had been following this guy who was making excellent kick steps in the snow. I was planning on doing Grays first, but since he was doing all the hard work and headed towards Torreys, I figured I would too. This was probably the most tiring part of the whole trip. Traversing across this snow, trying not to slide down or fall over without crampons was a challenge. I stopped many times to have water, and I developed a headache and was starting to see things. It didn’t take me long to realize that I was getting a mild case of Altitude Sickness. I was climbing too fast without enough food and water in my system. By the time I reached the saddle I had drank two nalgenes full of water. (a nalgene holds 1L of liquid) I think I was overworking myself. I had way too heavy of a pack on. I won’t bring all my winter clothes next time. I forgot that it is starting to be summer and I just need raingear.

I reached the saddle at 13,707ft and looking up Torrys did not look fun. I turned around and looked up Grays. Not much fun there either. Torreys looked steeper, and that was where the guy in front of me was headed so that’s where I was going to go. It took me an hour to do that last 0.4 mile and last 550ft. But after 3 hours of climbing I reached the top of Torreys and the view was most excellent. The population at the summit was 10 humans and 2 dogs. I laid down for about 30 minutes and had the rest of my food. I signed the register. Up until this point I thought there was no way I would ever make it up Grays, but sitting there listening to the people on the summit joke about wanting a keg, or a bong, or a tv to watch the Colorado Avalanche game cracked me up and lifted my spirits. My headache was still present and I started to develop a raspy cough. I noticed I wasn’t the only one that had it. Then the guy that I was following decided to ski down Dead Dog Couloir, which seemed pretty insane to me, probably because he didn’t have a helmet and he also expected his dog to follow him claiming his dog had “four wheel drive”. Now I know why they call it Dead Dog. *smile* Everybody at the top was taking pictures of this incident, as it was highly entertaining.

I descended back into the saddle and reached a point to make a decision, either I take the turnoff to head back down the mountain or follow the ridge up to the summit of Grays. I felt decent, my legs were pretty much shot, and I would have a 4.0 mile walk back to the car coming up, I didn’t feel 100%, but I was only 550ft away from the summit. I thought to myself that in all reality I could reach it if I just put one foot in front of the other and kept walking. Besides, the barrage of people from Torreys summit were behind me headed up to Grays and there were people coming off of Grays headed to Torreys summit. I looked up at the clouds and saw the first dark cloud of the day looming over Grays summit. The weather didn’t look like it would hold up much longer and I needed to make a decision fast.

In one final surge I went up the ridge to the summit of Grays. The traverse from Torreys took about 45 minutes. I was now standing on the highest point along the Continental Divide in North America. 14,270ft. I had made it. The number of people on this summit quickly grew to 15 when the people that I was on Torreys with joined me, and the people climbing Grays gravytrain route were making the top. I signed the register, and sat down again. I could feel my legs shaking already, and the guy sitting next to me didn’t look good at all. People were giving him Ibuprofen and their water to try and help him out. He was the worst off person at the top. We saw the clouds and it didn’t take the group long to decide that we needed to start heading down. I only spent 15 minutes up there after it had taken me 4 hours and 15 minutes to get there.

Coming down was both easy and hard. Easy because gravity can just pull you down the mountain and it’s definitely in your favor and your heart rate doesn’t go bonkers because you are not working as hard and plus you are getting into the more oxygen rich environment. It was also easy because that was the direction of the wind, so that helped things a bit. However, it was hard in the sense that the snow had now turned to slush and it was a pain to keep from slipping. Oh, how much I wish I brought my ice axe so I could glissade. At points I was literally running down the mountain taking these HUGE steps. My steps were going 2ft into the snow, so that was my brake. I didn’t come up with this idea, I was following the lead of these two other guys that looked like they were having fun doing it. Soon though, my energy wore out, and by the time I reached halfway down to the parking lot, I was done.

My face got burned, as usual, I always forget sunscreen, I only had one nalgene left after I reached Torreys summit and I drank most of that on the climb up Grays. Luckily my headache had gone away and my only problem was having to pee the 4L of water I drank in 5 hours. A lot of people passed me on this homestretch back to the cars. My biggest problem is coming down the mountain. I can make it up the mountain just fine, in fact I passed a lot of people. But when it comes time to make it back down, I don’t know whether it’s just because it’s boring, or because I’m just really, really tired, but it takes me quite a long time. Oh well.

In right about 2.5 hours I made it back to my car. I was hurting. The entire trip took 7 hours and I was aching. I’m glad I decided to get both peaks while I was up there, and I couldn’t believe the amount of people making a late start on these mountains. I’m glad I left early too. Next time I won’t carry such a heavy pack and next time I will bring sunscreen and more food and water. It was a learning experience for me, but hey, I made it atop two fourteeners in one day. Go me.

Drive: 1.5h
Ascent: 3h
Summit: 30 min
Traverse: 45 min
Summit: 15 min
Descent: 2.5h
Drive: 1.5h
Total: 7h

Torreys Pk – South Slopes – Solo Ascent

Date: May 18, 2002
Elevation: 14,267′
Rank: 11th
Route: South Slopes, Grade II, Class 2, 9.0 miles, 3600ft vert.
GPS: N 39° 38.566′ W 105° 49.25′
Team: Matt Esser (Toid)

Pre-climb: I hadn’t gone climbing in a while, and I was just waiting for the right weekend to come along where I didn’t have anything to do. This was it. I checked the weather forcast and it looked promising. The idea to go climb Grays and Torreys came into my head at 4am, and by 5am, I was out the door.

Climb: Getting to Grays and Torreys is really easy, just exit off of I-70 and then go up this really bumpy road for what seems like forever. I must admit though, the bumpy road gave my body a pre-climb wake up and an after climb massage. The road was in summer condition. There was no snow on it at all. When I arrived at the trailhead at 6:30am, there were already 8 or so cars there. This is the first fourteener that I have seen cars. Then again, this was the first one I’ve done on a weekend, and it’s getting closer to summer.

The first part of the trail is really easy and well travelled. I signed the register and continued hiking. I arrived at the turnoff for Dead Dog Couloir in an hour. I was moving at a pretty good pace, 2.4 miles and 1,400ft in an hour. I stopped to have a snack as I watched the people work their way up the Couloir, it looked really fun, I just wish I had crampons. I saw some mountain goats on the way up, they looked really friendly. Another hour passed and I found myself at the saddle of Grays and Torreys, I had been following this guy who was making excellent kick steps in the snow. I was planning on doing Grays first, but since he was doing all the hard work and headed towards Torreys, I figured I would too. This was probably the most tiring part of the whole trip. Traversing across this snow, trying not to slide down or fall over without crampons was a challenge. I stopped many times to have water, and I developed a headache and was starting to see things. It didn’t take me long to realize that I was getting a mild case of Altitude Sickness. I was climbing too fast without enough food and water in my system. By the time I reached the saddle I had drank two nalgenes full of water. (a nalgene holds 1L of liquid) I think I was overworking myself. I had way too heavy of a pack on. I won’t bring all my winter clothes next time. I forgot that it is starting to be summer and I just need raingear.

I reached the saddle at 13,707ft and looking up Torrys did not look fun. I turned around and looked up Grays. Not much fun there either. Torreys looked steeper, and that was where the guy in front of me was headed so that’s where I was going to go. It took me an hour to do that last 0.4 mile and last 550ft. But after 3 hours of climbing I reached the top of Torreys and the view was most excellent. The population at the summit was 10 humans and 2 dogs. I laid down for about 30 minutes and had the rest of my food. I signed the register. Up until this point I thought there was no way I would ever make it up Grays, but sitting there listening to the people on the summit joke about wanting a keg, or a bong, or a tv to watch the Colorado Avalanche game cracked me up and lifted my spirits. My headache was still present and I started to develop a raspy cough. I noticed I wasn’t the only one that had it. Then the guy that I was following decided to ski down Dead Dog Couloir, which seemed pretty insane to me, probably because he didn’t have a helmet and he also expected his dog to follow him claiming his dog had “four wheel drive”. Now I know why they call it Dead Dog. *smile* Everybody at the top was taking pictures of this incident, as it was highly entertaining.

I descended back into the saddle and reached a point to make a decision, either I take the turnoff to head back down the mountain or follow the ridge up to the summit of Grays. I felt decent, my legs were pretty much shot, and I would have a 4.0 mile walk back to the car coming up, I didn’t feel 100%, but I was only 550ft away from the summit. I thought to myself that in all reality I could reach it if I just put one foot in front of the other and kept walking. Besides, the barrage of people from Torreys summit were behind me headed up to Grays and there were people coming off of Grays headed to Torreys summit. I looked up at the clouds and saw the first dark cloud of the day looming over Grays summit. The weather didn’t look like it would hold up much longer and I needed to make a decision fast.

In one final surge I went up the ridge to the summit of Grays. The traverse from Torreys took about 45 minutes. I was now standing on the highest point along the Continental Divide in North America. 14,270ft. I had made it. The number of people on this summit quickly grew to 15 when the people that I was on Torreys with joined me, and the people climbing Grays gravytrain route were making the top. I signed the register, and sat down again. I could feel my legs shaking already, and the guy sitting next to me didn’t look good at all. People were giving him Ibuprofen and their water to try and help him out. He was the worst off person at the top. We saw the clouds and it didn’t take the group long to decide that we needed to start heading down. I only spent 15 minutes up there after it had taken me 4 hours and 15 minutes to get there.

Coming down was both easy and hard. Easy because gravity can just pull you down the mountain and it’s definitely in your favor and your heart rate doesn’t go bonkers because you are not working as hard and plus you are getting into the more oxygen rich environment. It was also easy because that was the direction of the wind, so that helped things a bit. However, it was hard in the sense that the snow had now turned to slush and it was a pain to keep from slipping. Oh, how much I wish I brought my ice axe so I could glissade. At points I was literally running down the mountain taking these HUGE steps. My steps were going 2ft into the snow, so that was my brake. I didn’t come up with this idea, I was following the lead of these two other guys that looked like they were having fun doing it. Soon though, my energy wore out, and by the time I reached halfway down to the parking lot, I was done.

My face got burned, as usual, I always forget sunscreen, I only had one nalgene left after I reached Torreys summit and I drank most of that on the climb up Grays. Luckily my headache had gone away and my only problem was having to pee the 4L of water I drank in 5 hours. A lot of people passed me on this homestretch back to the cars. My biggest problem is coming down the mountain. I can make it up the mountain just fine, in fact I passed a lot of people. But when it comes time to make it back down, I don’t know whether it’s just because it’s boring, or because I’m just really, really tired, but it takes me quite a long time. Oh well.

In right about 2.5 hours I made it back to my car. I was hurting. The entire trip took 7 hours and I was aching. I’m glad I decided to get both peaks while I was up there, and I couldn’t believe the amount of people making a late start on these mountains. I’m glad I left early too. Next time I won’t carry such a heavy pack and next time I will bring sunscreen and more food and water. It was a learning experience for me, but hey, I made it atop two fourteeners in one day. Go me.

Drive: 1.5h
Ascent: 3h
Summit: 30 min
Traverse: 45 min
Summit: 15 min
Descent: 2.5h
Drive: 1.5h
Total: 7h