A tour of Del Norte Peak

So far this spring has granted me seven summits of North Twin Mtn (10,500 ft), with lots of steep ups and downs to get there, and one of Del Norte Peak (12,300 ft) for longer durations at lower grades.  I still want to explore trails closer to Wolf Creek, but a series of events have made routes accessible from home more desirable.  This became an opportunity to run my own marathon on the DN Peak's forest roads before bushwhacking to the top.

Just after leaving the parking lot:

An ATV type road forks off at the two mile mark.  They are still pretty muddy and wet.  Follow the road as it turns left:

Up a steeper segment, then get views of the neighboring valley including Blue Ridge and North/South Twin, and start to get views of the Sangre de Cristos on the opposite side of the valley:

Once the road turns south again you hit what I call the "4-mile cattle guard."  During the summer the cattle from our ranch are hanging out on one side or the other of here at ~9500 ft:

The road starts flanking the actual ridge as it continues to ascend at 2-12% grades.  Coming up on 7.2 miles is the turn off that allows a longer approach but also a western (read: snowless) ascent.  Turn before the "7-mile cattle guard", now at 10,500 ft:

The grades of ascent are numerically the same but feel greater because there's less variance, but after another good mile there's a downhill piece that lets your legs get their feeling back.  It also brings a glimpse at the northern face of Del Norte Peak:

The bottom of the hill navigates through a logging area.  I never have figured out if this is commercial or part of the burn protection, but there have been downed trees hanging around here even since last year when Nathan and I last made a full summit and took this route:

Another look on the inside of the bend.  Currently at 10,700 ft:

A bit more climbing as you travel west, then the road flattens for a couple miles while passing what can be camp sites or areas for folks (like us with permits) to collect wood.  At 11.5 miles, after wondering for some time if you blew right on past the peak, is the initial turn towards the summit.  Now at 11,000 ft, there's lots of mud and swampy areas due to continued melt and runoff:

I stayed on the road for something like a quarter mile, maybe a half mile.  Now you are getting closer, 11,300 ft:

And at some point you just have to decide to turn off and bushwhack.  Just keep the top in your view and climb straight up:

The trees begin to thin as you work your way up and increasing incline:

And now the real work begins - 20-45% grades per my GPS watch.  Above tree line is always awesome.  Just over a half mile and another thousand feet of gain remaining:

This was during one of the 45% grade sections.  Eye on the prize while trying to beat the clouds and weather:

I beat the clouds by about a minute, so my proof-of-summit shot meant I stood with my head at the base of a cloud.  13-ish miles completed.  Here is looking east.  

There's a glass jar with multiple registers, pencils, and a few odds and ends left by previous summiters.  Someone also stowed a tequila bottle amongst the rocks, but that is long ago consumed:

Clouds start to thicken, so time to descend.  Looking to whence I came, to retrace my steps back to the bottom:

After retracing my steps and getting back to the logging areas thunder starts to roll in to the south.  I'm in the clear before any lightning chance has sprouted.  Hey, I was just up there:

The long downhill also means less effort and more looking around.  Saw a bunch of cow prints, but also a few elk who had crossed the road between the 4- and 7-mile cattle guards.  Lightning was starting to strike back by the peak, so I didn't longer long:

Below the 4-mile cattle guard, a glimpse at the baby aspen trees filling in areas of burn recovery.  There were much more ashen stumps visible last year:

Once back at the parking lot I had a solid 26 miles, so I went ahead with the silly loop around the lot for an even marathon of 26.2.  Total ascent was just shy of 5000 ft of gain.  Satisfying and peaceful day.

West, or bust.

After over eight years living in NYC, and in a flurry of recent events, I now live in south cental Colorado.  Forgive the scarcity of posts regarding the transition, as we still do not yet have internet. I am instead pecking out this post on my phone.

We live in the San Luis Valley, the highest alpine desert in the world.  The valley is also deceivingly wide.  Locals describe the area like a tea cup.  The county and valley seat is Alamosa, population somewhere between 8500 and 10,000, which is the tea cup's saucer. That is where I will work in a mix of inpatient and outpatient settings at the San Luis Valley Medical Center.  It is coldest in Alamosa, often rivaling parts of Alaska and the quasi-Canadian Adirondacks of NY with winter lows to -40º due to the "low" elevation of 7500 feet. 

Originally Nathan and I expected to live in Alamosa, using weekends for excursions to the fun mountains at the edge of the teacup - there are, I believe, nine mountains reaching at/over 14'000 feet (aka 14ers) and many more lower peaks accessible to the valley. 

Then I went for a run in Alamosa during our 3-day whirlwind search for housing. I barely made it four and a half miles.  The valley is FLAT, so much so that mother nature rivals the best civil engineers for its widespread accuracy.  In short, I hated it.  The town is proud of its cross country team, which always wins thanks to thorough altitude training.  Me?  I have no interest in flat and fast racing.  That's not why I run.  Accessing incredible locations by foot, exchanging energy with mother nature (who always has a sense of humor!), creating that warm bubble of everything-is-right-with-the-world amid a cold winter run, the challenge of hills and terrain ... that is why I run.  I was not sure how I would withstand the fact that I had significantly better hill training opportunities in NYC than in this Colorado valley.

So while waiting for return calls for a few more apartments, we decided to pass time by taking the 45 minute trip to Del Norte, a town of 1500(?) that sits at the tea cup's curve.  Think of it as the valley's western edge of the foothills, at 8000' elevation.  Welcoming you to the town is Lookout Mountain, a small peak of (I'm guessing here) 8500-9000 that immediately abuts the south end of town. It even had a white D on its side.  Per locals, Del Norte stayed about twenty degrees warmer than Alamosa on those cold nights, since the super cold air tends to sink down into the saucer instead.  

We expected to have lunch there and maybe hit an antique store or two.  As I exited the car I realized we parked in front of a realtor.  Why not?  We inquired for shits and giggles, but they only do sales, and they directed us just around the corner to a realtor who rents.  Lisa was very personable, and before we knew it we were off viewing a rental house on a ranch just outside of town. 

Three hours later, we signed the lease.

Three bedroom farm house (functionally more like two), one bath, rather clean well water, propane tank for cooking and hot water, heated only wood stove.  It has a doorless garage, so at least our vehicle will be decently covered.   A mere couple hundred yards from the super friendly ranch owner (it has been in his family for multiple

That D mini-mountain is now my local training ground.  I've been on it twice already for over an hour each time, and it was profoundly rejuvenating.  There's even a local vegan friendly cafe on the west side of town (Peace Food Cafe, part of The Organic Peddler), and a micro-brewery (Three Barrel Brewery, I think it is called?).  Instead of trudging through the week and driving all over to make up the difference on weekends, we now have a great version as our homestead.  On weekends, we are a mere 10ish miles from Penitente Canyon, and can run from our house once we figure out what is public land and what is private.  (And once the government decides it needs to function again and federal lands open up again.)

Since integrating photos is not the same on the phone app of blogger, here's what you will see below:

- Bedroom window view to the west.
- Bedroom window view the next day, with snow.
- My hearty breakfast at Peace Food Cafe.
- Day 1 in the house's project: stacking a cord of wood, completed by me while Nathan and our rancher landlord wete inside waxing philosophical (sharing notes, not adversely!).
- Sadie and Nathan checking out a bird.
- Merus, warming up to her new abode.  Why my kittehs love sinks I still do not understand.