Green and Bear

For the first half of this year, I set a goal of getting 30 summits before school is out. So today I went for a triple summit adventure up Green Mountain then across to Bear Peak and then over the saddle to South Boulder Peak. The Boulder trails are generally hard packed snow right now, with minimal dry sections and a few parts with post-holing. Up Gregory Canyon from Chautauqua, I felt good enough aside from the thorn bushes which seem to be in full bloom while every other plant is dead. I really didn't feel like stopping on Green, and the summit was full of some stereotypical CU bros who had taken over the entire summit rock making all the noise they could. I normally don't mind such antics, but on a summit I enjoy silence and solitude.  First time I summitted Green without tagging the official summit marker, I don't think I even stopped. The stretch from Green to Bear was by far the most challenging. You can see Bear immediately, you just never seem to get much closer.

Sunny, but with the wind kept it chilly

I ended up hiking quite a bit of this, between being tired from already doing one mountain and from terrible, windy, snowy, post-holing conditions. As you may notice, I take more picture when I want breaks...

Short shorts don't care

I suffered to the summit of Bear where I consumed my sandwhich. I debated whether or not I still wanted to go for South Boulder. I decided to dig deep and go for it. I descended down off of Bear and within about 30 seconds saw that only one person had been on the trail, and I would be punching holes through deep snow the hole way there and back; I promptly turned around and began the return to Chautauqua. I really like steep technical descent trails like Fern Canyon, I zipped down and took the Mesa trail back pretty leisurely. I continue to wonder whether or not my foot is still semi-injured, felt good today though!

Reflection at a creek crossing

11 miles, 4,500 ft of elevation gain, in a hair under 4 hours, which is just under double Anton's time on this route - so I consider it a success.

Total Summits: 3 (2 Bear, 1 Green)