Camp Muir, Mount Rainier 10,100 ft

Some Background and History A rich geological and human history both contribute to the wonder of the stratovolacano that is Mount Rainer. The peak was forged by fire and years of lava, ash, and pumice piling up, layer upon layer, eventually forming a summit cone, a consequence of thousands of years of volcanic activity. Close

Castle Peak 14,265 ft Elk Range

Our Return to Castle Peak In the glorious heat and brilliance of mid summer, we finally made the return trip to the Elk Mountains to reattempt Castle Peak and possibly tag the summit of its unranked neighbor, Conundrum. Two years ago on our annual trip to Aspen we made our first attempt at these peaks,

Pikes Peak via the Crags 14,115 feet

Data from the Garmin Distance: 14.59 miles Net elevation gain: 4,418 ft Date of summit: 7/2/2018 It was the Sunday evening before the 4th of July, and we were itching for another 14er to summit though we weren’t particularly eager for a long drive or car camp the night before. In our peak “bagging” project, we only

Mount Princeton 14,197 ft, Sawatch Range

Though the hike up Mount Princeton will be described in better detail as we go along, the photographs above provides a fairly accurate summary of this mountain for those seeking to summit this summer. Talus hopping, navigating steep scree- filled slopes, and dodging the apparent infestation of spiders spinnning their intricate webs among the maze

Mount Yale Sawatch Range, 14,196 feet

It’s currently October 9th and already a fresh blanket of snow has fallen on the front range. Though not the typical dry fluffy snow of later in the season, the wet slushy puddles have definitely reminded us that the warm summer months are gone. As such, we reflect back on our last snow-free 14er of

Handies Peak, San Juan Range (14,048 ft)

As part of our trip to Lake City in late August, we also reached the summit of 14er Handies Peak via the stunning American Basin. This time, we opted to leave a bit later in the morning in our summit attempt, as the route up Handies via American Basin is a much shorter, class I

Wetterhorn Peak, San Juan Range (14,015 ft)

On August 17th of last week, we decided to climb Wetterhorn peak. You might be thinking…”you went to Switzerland!?” But, no in fact, we made a relatively easy 5 hour drive to the San Juan Range of Colorado and set up “camp” in Lake City, Colorado. The 14er Wetterhorn in Colorado is named after its

Mount Belford (14,197 ft) and Mount Oxford (14,153 ft): Sawatch Range

Distance: 11.2 miles Net elevation gain: 5,800 ft Date of summit: 6/24/17 As the day began to settle into dusk, we reached our destination for this quiet June Friday night. The dimly lit Rodeway Inn sign tiredly welcomed us to rest a few hours. Like many summer and early fall evenings before, we left the night

Missouri Mountain, Sawatch Range, 14,067 feet

Miles: 10.8 (Out and Back) Total Elevation Gain: approx. 4,600 ft Net Elevation Gain: approx. 4450 The days continue to get shorter as we progress through the month of August. There is a sense of urgency in the air to attempt our final summer mountain summits before the sleet and snow replace the warm bright

Huron Peak via the Northwest Slopes, 14,003 ft

Max Elevation: 14,003 ft. Min Elevation: 10,713 ft. Net Elevation Gain: 3,320 ft. Distance: 7 miles (out-and-back) Difficulty: Class 2 For the 4th of July weekend, we decided to head out with Will and Moses to the Sawatch Range and camp in the San Isabel National Forest with the goal of summiting Huron Peak early in

Mount Bierstadt – Sunset Hike June 25th 2016

Will’s friend Julian came up from New Jersey and was excited about the prospect of getting into the Rockies. After talking about possibilities, Will and Julian decided they wanted to go camping on Guanella Pass and possibly climb Mount Bierstadt. We are always up for some camping and/or hiking, so we all packed our gear up and headed out

Humboldt Peak, East Ridge, 14,064 ft

Distance: 8.7 miles (out and back) Average Slope: 20% Max Slope: 42-45% Fourteener #15 Elevation Gain: 4,337 ft. (net) Max Elevation: 14,064 ft. Min. Elevation: 9,727 ft. Average Elevation: 11,755 ft. Close-up of our route on the east ridge on the left; and a view of the entire route up Humboldt.Legend has it that the “Sangre de Cristos” or the

Mount Massive via Southwest Slopes: 14,421 ft

Distance: 8.06 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 4,037 ft. (net) Max Elevation: 14,421 ft. Min. Elevation: 10,384 ft. 14er # 13 We drove once again into the land of the gentle giants a mere 6 days later to tackle our next objective in the Sawatch Range, Mount Massive. Massive stands majestically southwest of the little town of Leadville beckoning visitors

Mount of the Holy Cross via the North Ridge Route

Distance: 12 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 5,649 ft. (total) Max Elevation: 14,005 ft. Min. Elevation: 10,311 ft. For years, rumors circulated that a natural cross could be found deep in the rugged back country of Colorado. Until photographer W.H. Jackson produced the famous photograph in his geographical survey expedition with F.V. Hayden in 1873, the existence of the beautiful religious

DeCaLiBron: Mt. Democrat, Mt. Cameron, Mt. Lincoln, Mt. Bross

During the late afternoon hours of July 23rd, we grabbed our camping gear and day hiking packs and loaded up the truck for an overnight adventure to complete the famous “DeCalibron”. The DeCalibron is a 7 mile, high altitude loop trail that allows hikers to tag the summit of three or four of Colorado’s

Mt. Bierstadt: A photo essay

Perhaps it was a our desire to breathe some fresh mountain air that brought us back to Mount Bierstadt this late September Sunday. Or maybe it filled a longing to see some of the early signs of fall in the form of brown and gold crackling under our feet. Undeniably, we couldn’t withhold the unfaltering

La Plata Peak: Sawatch Range

Distance: 9.38 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 4,314 ft. (total) 4,114 ft (net) Max Elevation: 14,209 ft. Min. Elevation: 10,095 ft. Winter is coming. And unlike Game of Thrones, it is actually approaching rather quickly, more so, in fact, than we would like. Having an extra day off this past Labor Day weekend, we planned one of our final summer ascents

The Sawtooth (Mt. Bierstadt & Mt. Evans)

Distance: 11.2 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 4,335 ft (total gain) Max Elevation: 14,265 ft Min. Elevation: 11,473 ft We did Mount Bierstadt last year, that route is shown in green in the above Google Earth maps. The blue shows the new route we took to do the Bierstadt-Sawtooth-Evans combo. On the right is a closer look at the Bierstadt-Sawtooth-Evans

Grays and Torreys Combo (Standard Route)

Distance: 8.52 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 3,640 ft (total gain) Max Elevation: 14,278 ft Min. Elevation: 11,225 ft A couple of factors made us get into the X-terra at midnight, drive out to the Grays-Torreys trail-head, and start hiking to the summits at 2 in the morning. For one thing, Grays and Torreys are argued to be

Mt. Elbert Summit: 14,433 ft

Distance: 9.62 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 4,408 ft (total) 4,377 ft (net) Max Elevation: 14,433 ft Min. Elevation: 10,056 ft All week long we constantly monitored Mountain Forecast for conditions atop Colorado’s highest peak, Mount Elbert, hoping for an opportunity to summit this spectacular mountain. Nestled about 115 miles southwest of Denver in the Sawatch Range, this gentle giant rests majestically

Quandary Peak Summit: 14,265 ft

Distance: 6.84 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 3,364 ft (total) 3,371ft (net) Max Elevation: 14,265 ft Min. Elevation: 10,901 ft It felt as though we had only just closed our eyes when we were gently roused by the sounds of The Head and the Heart streaming out of the phone at 3:45 am on Saturday morning. To be honest, we were so excited

Grays Peak Summit: 14er

Distance: 7.7 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 3,239 ft (total) 3,034 ft (net) Max Elevation: 14,274 ft Min. Elevation: 11,240 ft With summer gone for the year and thus the lingering darkness in the early morning hours, we opted for a 5:00 am wake up time instead of 3:30 am for our 2nd 14er climb. The forecast predicted a crisp, clear fall day

Mt. Bierstadt Summit

Distance: 7.55 miles (out and back) Elevation Gain: 2,950 ft (total) 2,585 ft (net) Max Elevation: 14,057 ft Min. Elevation: 11,472 ft At 3:30am on September 8, 2013 we got out of bed, grabbed a quick breakfast and our gear, and headed out for our first 14er — Mt. Bierstadt. It was Allyson’s birthday and this was about as exciting an adventure as we

About

Contact Info This blog is maintained and written by Allyson and Thomas Checkley. All images and works are copyrighted and reproducing them without permission is forbidden. We maintain a Facebook page at Take A Walk CO and questions can be directed to us there or please contact tjcheckley@gmail.com with any questions or concerns. Disclaimer These trip

Plants of our Hikes

All of the many wondrous visions we have encountered have had some form of plant incorporated into it. These could be flowers, trees, ferns, weeds or even lichens; but regardless of what they are they all bring a certain color and personality to the picture we see before our eyes. This page identifies and describes

Points of Interest

After numerous hikes we began to want to compile a list of all the lakes, creeks, waterfalls, summits, and other wonders we have seen on the trail in one place so they are easy to find. Below is that list. It is divided into sections based on the type of landmark and then subdivided alphabetically.

Gem Lake Trail Hike Estes Park

May 6, 2013August 20, 2016 admin

Curiosity about the inaugural Stanley Film Festival led us to our next hike in Estes Park a little bit earlier than anticipated. We embarked on our journey around 11:00 am, this time with siblings and friends in tow and first made our way to the famous hotel (the location where the The Shining was set

Hike #1 Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge

April 30, 2013August 20, 2016 admin

“I take a walk..take a walk… take a walk…take a walk …ohhh…ohhhh” In accordance with the lyrics of Passion Pit’s latest catch, sometimes that’s all we really need to do. And so I begin in this inaugural post our quest to walk…..the plains in the rain shadow of the Rockies, the meadows with wildflower in