Photos

Looking northwest from Culebra Peak.

A view from Culebra Peak

The first summit!

Luke rocking his Vasque Mindbenders and Dirty Girl Gaiters.

A look back at Culebra Peak from near San Luis

Where we slept the first night.

Road 19.5, taking us north.

A bit of shade on a shadeless road.

Lunch at the only tree for miles.

Desert wildlife.

Junaid hiding from the sun on the climb up to the Blanca group.

Alpenglow above Lake Como.

Mountain shadow.

The first piece of real “trail”!

Blanca summit, 3rd of the day!

Our camp at Winchell Lake.

Our first look at GSDNP.

The dunes.

Junaid in the sand dunes.

Luke on the dunes.

Columbines abound.

Climbing up to Cottonwood lake.

Crestone needle before it hailed on us.

Our camp at Bear’s Playground.

Jason dropping us at the PO.

Luke on the San Luis Valley crossing.

Junaid hiding from the sun on the San Luis crossing.

Preparing the trout that a friendly farmer gave us late in the day on the San Luis crossing.

Entering the San Juan range.

Junaid fixing his shoelaces.

Beautiful high country.

Luke, getting the shot.

Summit of San Luis.

Luke on San Luis.

Luke sometime after San Luis peak.

We ended up sleeping here.

Another shot of the “log bivy”.

Sunrise on the CDT/ CT.

A herd of Elk.

Luke herding sheep.

Sherman’s herd of sheep.

The hail we avoided with “the log bivy”.

Luke on Redcloud with Matt & Jenny. Matt gave Luke his rain jacket to borrow less than an hour after he lost his. Great people!

Junaid on Redcloud.

One of the many delicious looking birds we occasionally see in the mountains.

Junaid on Handies.

Somewhere in Cuba Gulch I believe.

Luke up on the CDT/CT.

Junaid foraging raspberries.

Trail-side wildflowers.

An old mining wheel barrow.

A very friendly mountain goat.

Junaid on the summit of North Eolus.

Our camp in Chicago basin.

Junaid eating in camp at Chicago Basin after a 4 peak day.

A very large mushroom.

Luke crossing the Animas river.

A good sign above Durango Mountain Resort.

Along the trail on the approach to the Wilson group.

The waterfall near our camp below El Diente.

Luke ascending the scree slope at the beginning of the El Diente climb.

Luke on the summit of Mount Wilson.

Luke under his tarp at our camp in Navajo Basin.

Junaid under his tarp in Navajo Basin.

Our camp in Navajo Basin.

The summit of Wilson Peak.

Luke on trail.

Organizing our resupply outside of the Telluride PO.

Luke on the climb out of Telluride.

Luke looking down into a basin above Telluride ruined by mining.

Junaid with the slopes of Telluride in the background.

Luke at the summit of Mt Sneffels the day we left Telliride.

The summit of Uncompahgre.

A herd of elk on the broad ridge we took north from Uncompahgre.

A shot east from the bridge over the Curecanti reservoir.

Welcome news.

Pearl Pass.

Summit of Conundrum.

On the way up to Triangle Pass there was a lot of hail from the previous night.

Pyramid Peak summit.

Luke on the summit of Pyramid Peak.

North Maroon Peak summit.

On the Maroon Traverse.

Luke on the Maroon Peaks Traverse.

The summit of South Maroon.

Luke as we started the climb to Snowmass Mountain.

Sunrise on the way up Snowmass Mountain.

Snowmass summit.

Luke rinsing his feet after a steam crossing.

Summit of Capitol Peak.

Junaid on Capitol’s knife edge.

Luke on Capitol’s knife edge.

Luke just after finishing Capitol’s knife edge.

Luke descending K2.

Junaid enjoying an amazing evening courtesy of friends Lauren, Ashley, and Carlton during a zero day in Aspen.

Luke on the way from Aspen to Mt. Massive.

Junaid on the cross country traverse from Lost Man Lake to Mt. Massive.

Luke and Junaid on the Mt. Massive summit.

A view west from the summit of Mt. Massive.

Somewhere under the rainbow…is Luke.

Another shot of Luke walking under the double rainbow on the way down from Mt. Massive.

Junaid on Mt. Elbert.

Luke on Mt. Elbert.

A rather large flash mob at the top of Elbert for a guy who was finishing the 14ers that day.

Another shot of the crowd celebrating on Mt. Elbert.

Luke and Junaid on Mt. Elbert.

Twin Lakes from the Elbert summit.

A look back at the large group on Elbert’s summit from South Elbert.

Junaid catches up with Luke on South Elbert. He is not flipping the bird.

The worst of the damage from Junaid’s superman trip/fall on the way down from Mt. Elbert.

Friends of Luke join us for the trip up to La Plata Peak.

A view near the top of La Plata Peak.

Luke and Junaid pose for a pic with Luke’s friends on the top of La Plata peak.

Descending La Plata Peak to the south.

Just after sunrise from the Huron summit.

Early morning light from the summit of Huron.

Junaid capturing a panorama on Huron’s summit.

Luke capturing the morning light from Huron.

Another Huron summit shot.

Luke and Junaid on the Mt. Huron Summit.

Luke heading up Missouri Mountain.

Junaid approaches the summit of Missouri Mountain.

Luke on Missouri Mountain.

Missouri Mountain survey marker.

On the way to Belford.

Junaid approaches the summit of Mt. Belford.

The Belford summit survey marker.

Luke on the Mt. Belford Summit.

Luke on the Mt. Belford summit.

Looking back to Mt. Belford.

The Mt. Oxford summit survey marker.

Luke and I taking pictures of each other on top of Mt. Oxford. It was our second 4 peak day.

Junaid celebrating the 4th summit of the day on top of Mt. Oxford.

I asked Luke how he felt about our second 4-peak day. This was his response.

Luke on the top of Mt. Harvard.

Junaid on top of Mt. Harvard.

A relic of the mining days on the traverse between Harvard and Columbia. The wheel still turns.

Junaid arrives at the summit of Columbia.

Luke snacking on a Snickers on the Columbia summit.

Junaid hides from the sun on the summit of Columbia.

Luke on the Columbia Summit.

Luke has a chat with a mountain goat on the way down from Columbia.

Luke heading for camp after Columbia.

Sunrise before climbing up Mt. Yale.

Sunrise before heading up Yale.

Luke on the Yale summit.

Luke examines the route description for our descent on top of Mt. Yale.

Junaid descending from Yale’s summit.

Luke and Junaid got a room at Mt. Princeton hot springs after getting drenched in an extremely intense thunder storm. This 12 egg & package of bacon snack after a good soak was delicious. It did prove to be too much grease for Junaid though, who woke up at 2am to vomit.

Junaid reaches the summit of Mt. Princeton.

A beautiful day on the summit of Mt. Princeton.

Luke enjoys the view on Mt. Princeton.

Luke looking back down the ascent up the north side of Mt. Antero.

Luke heading up the north side of Mt. Antero.

Junaid reaches the summit of Mt. Antero.

Luke on the summit of Mt. Antero.

Some deer species or another we spotted in the distance while descending south from Mt. Antero.

One of a number of very large mushrooms we saw near our campsite after Mt. Antero.

Waiting for sunrise from Tabegauche.

Sending out the SPOT check in while waiting for Sunrise from Tabegauche.

Waiting for the sun.

Sunrise from the summit of Tabeguache. We awoke around 2:30am to make a coffee summit sunrise.

Junaid and Luke celebrating the sun on top of Tabeguache with a cup of coffee.

Sunrise selfies!

The sun!

The Shavano summit register tube got a new sticker! We do love Aspen Brewing Company!

Luke on Mt. Shavano.

Luke packs up on the Shavano summit.

Luke enjoying a couple of Bud Lights in the motel room that his mom got us in Salida.

Junaid on the first day out of Salida…headed for Pikes Peak.

A strange quality to the light during the climb up to Pikes Peak from the Craggs Campground.

The clouds begin to gather as we parallel the road up to Pikes Peak’s summit.

Junaid looks over a sea of clouds on the hike up Pikes Peak.

Luke enjoys a mountain burger at The Mountain Burger at the gas station in Florissant. One of the best burgers on the route!

Luke on the road from Florissant to Hartsel.

Luke checks the time as we hit the 1000-mile mark.

Luke waits for Junaid at the 1000-mile mark.

Junaid catches up to Luke at the 1000-mile mark.

Junaid and Luke at the 1000-mile mark. Several motorists were undoubtedly confused as to why two grungy guys in backpacks could be so happy on the side of this long lonely road that they were raising their flasks to them and cheering.

On the road from Hartsel to Fairplay. The South Platte river was swollen with the rains that had just caused massive flooding in the front range.

A herd of elk walking below us on the climb up to Mt. Sherman.

Luke on Mt. Sherman.

Junaid sends out the SPOT check in from Mt. Sherman.

Luke descending Mount Sherman.

Junaid at the recently washed out section of road that leads up to Kite lake and the Bross/Lincoln/Cameron/Democrat group.

Heading up the Lincoln group.

Junaid and Luke near the “public summit” of Bross.

Mt. Lincoln summit marker.

Junaid doing the SPOT check in for Mt. Lincoln.

Luke on the Lincoln summit.

The Mt. Cameron summit.

Junaid sending out the Mt. Cameron SPOT.

Luke and Junaid on Mt. Cameron.

Junaid approaches the summit of Democrat.

Junaid sending out the SPOT for Mt. Democrat. This was our third 4-peak day.

Luke on Democrat. At this time we were able to count how many peaks we had left on our hands!

Junaid and Luke on top of Democrat, the fourth peak of the day.

Luke’s Yama Mountain Gear shelter at the end of our third 4-peak day.

Luke and Junaid on the Quandary summit.

Quandary summit marker.

Mountain goats on the Quandary summit.

Looking down from near Fletcher Peak at the Climax mine. We ended up having to detour a long way to get around it.

Heading South from near Vail to rejoin our planned route.

Luke crosses a bridge during the second day of our walk from Quandary thru Copper to Holy Cross.

The notch mountain shelter on the way up Holy Cross.

Luke at the summit of Mt. Holy Cross. Only 5 left!

Junaid at the summit of Mt. Holy Cross. Only 5 left!

Mt. Holy Cross summit marker.

Luke and Junaid on MT. Holy Cross.

Luke found a dog while we descended the road from Mt. Holy Cross. He called the owner who came and collected the dog. Apparently having strangers find her dog after losing it in the woods on her run was a common occurrence to her.

Two Elk Pass. On the way from Holy Cross to Grays and Torreys peak.

Junaid on the trail at Two Elk Pass.

Buffalo mountain towering above Silverthorne.

A moose in Chihuahua Gulch below Torrey’s Peak.

Junaid heading back to Keystone after waking to a snowstorm.

Gray’s Peak seen from Torrey’s Peak.

The view west from Torreys Peak.

Luke on Torrey’s Peak.

Junaid huddles behind some rocks to shelter from the wind while he sends out the SPOT from Gray’s Peak.

Junaid heads towards Argentine Pass with Torrey’s and Gray’s Peak in the background.

Evans and Bierstadt, our next objectives.

Natural ice sculptures near Silver Dollar lake.

Luke’s camp the night before we climbed Bierstadt and Evans.

A summit view from Bierstadt.

Luke and Junaid on Mt. Bierstadt.

A moon and a cairn on the route between Bierstadt and Evans.

Luke on the Mt. Evans Summit. Since Luke had climbed Long’s Peak before, this was his completion day for 14ers summits. Of course we were a week away from completing them as a Thru Hike.

Luke on the summit of Mt. Evans.

We stopped here on the descent from Mt. Evans and ate the sandwiches that a very kind woman tracked us down at the summit and gave to us.

ummm??

Seriously. What’s the deal here?

Heading up to the Continental Divide.

Walking the Continental Divide.

Junaid snaps a pic from the Continental Divide, South of James Peak.

Junaid and Luke excited to be on the Continental Divide.

Luke walking the Divide.

We walked into the evening after this amazing sunset.

This amazing sunrise was followed by a long, wet, cold day.

Junaid trudges on through what proved to be a very wet day.

Heading up the North Inlet Trail to get into position for Longs Peak the next day.

Junaid takes a selfie on the second to last day of the trip. The day before had been wet and cold all day, this day was beautiful.

Sunlight playing with an icicle.

Luke on the second to last day of the trip, heading up toward Andrews Glacier.

Looking down at Black Lake on the final day of the trip.

Luke on the Summit of Long’s Peak. WE MADE IT!!!

Junaid with the Longs Peak summit register.

Luke with the Longs Peak summit register.

Luke and Junaid celebrate on the summit of Longs Peak.

Junaid and Luke at the finish line of the 14ers Thru Hike, Longs Peak.