Longs Peak...

Living in Northern Colorado for much of my life there has always been a peak that sits off to the west and to tell you the truth I never had a desire to get a close look at it. Well that all changed after conquering Red Cone. So with a little more hair on my chest I agreed to go to the top of Longs.

Sunrise at 5:45 AM in the bolder field after 3.5 hours in the dark.

View of the Diamond from the bolder field.

Boulder field, Diamond and North Face.

The Keyhole... and this is where the pictures stop until we get to the top. The west side of this mountain is way more exposed and I was stressing. Nick on the other hand walked with his hands in his pocket but I was grabbing at anything I could get my hands on.

Views from the top... Survey marker at 14,255 feet.

Looking down at the Home Stretch.

Proof that I was on top.

Chasm Lake

Mt. Meeker (13,911')

Nick the Serhpa making a call.

View of Rocky Mountain National Park to the northwest.

Red Cone Pass / Radical Hill

There is nothing like the Colorado mountains. The beauty and size of these mountains is absolutely breathtaking and what better way to see them than in a Jeep.

Getting started up the Red Cone Pass trail.

View of Red Cone Pass trail looking to the west.

Red Cone to the right and Handcart Gulch to the left.

Handcart Gulch / Webster Pass and Radical Hill in the background.

Red Cone Pass, 12,801 feet above sea level. Beat that for a Wednesday morning dive!

Looking back at the switchbacks on Radical Hill.

Parked and enjoying the view on top of Radical Hill trail. 

Mountain goats along the trail (around 12,300')

What a day... words can not describe the views that you get when you are on top of the world. Lucky me... I live in Colorado.

Adventure 1... Ice climbing

Where do I start. I would love to just show the pictures and say that everything was perfect but that would be a lie and probably offensive to Nick and Mason. The day starts out great, on the road @ 6:00 AM and I am looking the part. A quick drive half way up the Big Thompson Canyon and there we were. Cross a frozen river and then hike straight up the mountain. Sounds good so far doesn't it... well half way up this said mountain (I am guessing we were around 10,000 feet) we all realized how out of shape I was. So Josh needed a little break (like 10 minutes before I was man enough to continue) to pull it together. There wasn't much said, at least there wasn't much verbalized but I am sure the thoughts that were going through Nick and Masons minds had little to do with how manly I was. 
After the slight delay we got to the ice and the fun began...

Yep that is solid ice... 

Notice I am not in the picture... probably for safety reasons. (Rookie)

Nick taking the rope to the top of the "bunny hill"

Mason's ascent...

Slow and steady was the name of the game...

Moving right along...

Back to the professional...

Well all in all it was an amazing time and even the word amazing kinda cheapens the experience. Early morning alone in the mountains, beautiful surroundings and then there was the ice climbing. Nothing ordinary (please see domesticate definition) about this outing! _omesticated.