Kolby's First 14er - Sept. 2026

Some friends and our sons hiked Mt. Elbert mid September this year.  Way to go Kolby!  It was not an easy hike and took us around 9 hours, but he pushed through.  Photo dump from the trip:

Mt. Massive

Twin Lakes

La Plata Peak

Chapin Chiquita Ypsilon - July 2026

 While KD was at camp Kolby, Cami and I went for a 13er hike up in RMNP.  Kolby still has his free 4th grade National Parks pass, so we wanted to get some good use out of that.  We drove up the Fall River Road for the first time and, wow...that's the nicest dirt road I've ever been on in the mountains.  Once we start on the trailhead, we made quick work to treeline.

As we appraoched the saddle between Chapin and Chiquita, a couple passed us on their way down telling us to turn back because the winds were 70 miles per hour at the saddle.  Having been through nasty winds last year on Kolbys first failed attempt on a 14er, this concerned us a little.  Years of hiking experience have taught me never to listen to strangers for advice of this sort, so we decided to press on and judge for ourselves if we could handle it.  Before reaching the saddle we left the trail and hiked steeply up the tundra to the summit of Chapin, our first mountain of the day.

Looking at Chiquita from near Chapin's summit

Victory!

To our pleasant surprise, the winds were tame as we descended to the saddle.  The route up Chiquita was fairly steep and arduous, the crux of the day for sure.

Obligatory shot of Longs in the distance

Chiquita summit

Two mountains was enough for Cami and Kolby, so I gave myself a time limit to reach Ypsilon's summit and back.  The slope was gradual and very easy.  It took about half the time I expected.  The best views of the day were near the Ypsilon summit where you look down some very dramatic cliffs with jagged spires into Spectacle Lakes thousands of feet below. 

Looking toward Ypsilon from Chiquita 

Spectacle Lakes - Prints available

Fairchild and friends

On the descent we literally ran into some mule deer bucks that had little fear of humans in them.  This made for some nice photo oportunities.  The animals in these national parks are very used to peaple being up in their business.  Just this past week, some old guy got chased by and flipped into the air by a Bison in Yellowstone, though he was not provoking it at all!  It was all over the news/social media.  At first I thought it was AI, but turns out it was real:

Elk just chilling in the valley below us

New Mexico Trip - June 2026

 In June we spent some time with friends at their Cabin in Cloudcroft, New Mexico.  It was very hot in the desert, but nice and cool up at the cabin above 8k ft.  We did some hiking around the area, played games and visited two national parks.  

White Sand National Park was interesting and fun for the kids to go sledding in summer.  Apparently, the sand is made of gypsum, the stuff that's used to make drywall.  We played around until the heat was too intense, then had a nice lunch in Alamogordo to celebrate Shyll's b-day.

If you've never had a chance to visit Carlsbad caverns, you should add it to your bucket list.  I was amazed at how you go down, down, down and keep going down.  This series of caves goes on for miles.  A legitimate hike that's all underground was a fun way to explore while avoiding the heat.  There's even a restaurant/gift shop down in the caves.  

We did some shooting and also visited the space museum.  That area is famous for having some of the best night sky viewing in the country.