Chicksclimbing’s Blog

There is a beauty in the simplicity (one of my current favorite phrases) of carrying what I need in my backpack and heading into the hills. In fact, it’s been a while since I’ve slung a heavy load into the remote regions of my own backyard …the Grenadier Range outside of Silverton Colorado.

Kim humping her load to Ruby Lake

It is truly an astounding group of peaks to feast your eyes upon and a bit of a hump to get to!  During our morning workout, my girlfriend Teddy, suggested we head into the mountains for the weekend after hearing what a beautiful spot Ruby Lake is. I love spontaneity and two days later, we were on the train from Silverton heading to Needleton, our starting point.

It’s an amazing train system that heads deeper into the mountainous gorge along the Animus River, a class five kayak run I paddled many years ago, going deeper and deeper into the range. The trail to Ruby Lake is steep and a little obscure – it took 3 hours to climb 2600 ft (give or take) for about 4 miles. All up, up, up.

Home Sweet Home

Upon arrival – the sun was setting with an orange glow on the lake, the peaks rose 3000 ft out of the like towering above us, and best of all, no one was in sight. The next drainage over is Chicago basin where everyone and their brother goes to bag the 14ers and we heard that a small group of about 30 people shared that experience.

From the top of Turret Peak 13,800 ft

Instead of bagging one of those classics, I prefer the 13ers where there is less (no) traffic and more adventurous trails with route finding. The following day we climbed 3000 ft to the top of Turret Peak next to Pigeon with not a soul in site. I love that. I gazed out over the Weminuche Wilderness, an area I spent the summer of 1982 working for Outward Bound – I felt a touch of nostalgic for those carefree days of living out of my backpack, truck and base camps.  Back then, I experienced a strong sense of purpose imparting my knowledge of climbing and the outdoors to the groups I traveled with.

It was always fascinating to watch the internal journey unfold for each participant as they faced fears, did something they never dreamed they’d do and generally pushed their personal limits.

Teddy & Kim

I think that is where I became intrigued with the depths a human can go in the midst of discovering their potential achieved through adventure. It has always true for me but it is even more of a privilege to witness it in others.  I think that period of my life really shaped who I am today….still adventuring and leading people into those unexplored places of their soul, stretching and trying something new. It’s also true that my most meaningful friendships have been made through adventures and shared experiences living on the edge.