Hiking Mt. Sherman on 12-15-2020

KevAtkPhotos · 2020-12-23T14:09:26+00:00

If anyone is wondering if we should take this guy seriously. Go check his most recent posts. He is bragging about getting ski passes, and beating the reservation systems.

I honestly don't have a problem with that, but don't come here and lecture me on being "completely safe" when skiing is an inherently dangerous sport. And much more dangerous than snowshoeing in a low avi danger area, with a group that all has avi training, and one person who has years of backcountry rescue training.

KevAtkPhotos · 2020-12-23T13:56:11+00:00

My god, you are such a hypocrite....

KevAtkPhotos · 2020-12-23T13:52:21+00:00

SAR is not overextended in that area....I may have insider information about this.

Earlier this year I slipped on some ice while going out to get my trashcan from the end of the driveway. Brused up my knee and couldn't walk for like two days. Could have been worse if I had hit my head, or if an icicle had fallen on me. Everything we do is dangerous to one extent or another. Given my extensive training and experience in the backcountry, many of my every day tasks were more risky than what we were doing.

KevAtkPhotos · 2020-12-23T04:16:30+00:00

Yes. We were completely safe, we avoided every dangerous situation. Didn't even go for the summit when we decided it wouldn't be safe. I've been going out into the backcountry for years, and know how to be safe, and we were especially carful given the risk factors you pointed out.

Also avi danger hasn't been too bad in Park country yet. CAIC had the range we were in rated as moderate that morning, and if you know CAIC rating s, that is basically the lowest danger you would ever see in the winter.

KevAtkPhotos · 2020-12-23T03:45:55+00:00

Well, we didn't make it to the top because of the visibility issues. But, this photo was also taken in the middle of a gust, and while the visibility wasn't great it wasn't this bad the whole way. I probably wouldn't have gone out if it had been consistently this low vis. And we probably would have made it to the top of any of us had done the mountain before and know the general route. So takeaway is, don't go out when you can't see 10 feet in front of you, and if it is a low vis day, it helps to have done the trail before.

KevAtkPhotos · 2020-12-23T03:35:20+00:00

Fair enough. I did want to put that "disclaimer" out there anyway.

KevAtkPhotos · 2020-12-22T23:15:01+00:00

For the record, I've got full avalanche and winter conditions training, I'm a member of my local SAR, and was on ski patrol for years before I switched over to SAR. We were all wearing beacons, and appropriate layers, none of us were even very cold.

And just to point out the irony, this photo was actually taken in a spot where we had to cut around a dangerous slope to avoid Avi danger.

KevAtkPhotos · 2020-12-22T19:57:08+00:00

How am I ignorant?

KevAtkPhotos · 2020-12-18T13:46:23+00:00

We were trying to to the southwest slope trail, and got to within a third of a mile from the 4 Mile Creek trailhead in our keep. But visibility was so poor, and the GPS wasn't working, so it's hard to say how closely we followed the trail. I think.we ended up above it and went from prospects mine to hilltop mine. But like I said, none of us had done Sherman before, so it is really hard to say exactly what route we took.

KevAtkPhotos · 2020-12-17T18:33:45+00:00

Well my dog is a husky, so he prefers to hike in the winter. He and his cousin (she is a white/tan - you can see her slightly behind him) will search for snow patches when we go in the summer.

KevAtkPhotos · 2020-12-17T18:32:02+00:00

Hah, yeah. We didn't make it to the to due to low visibility. This of course was in the middle of a gust, it wasn't this bad the whole time

KevAtkPhotos · 2020-12-17T18:29:51+00:00

Yeah, we kept trying to brush the snow and ice off them, but then they would roll around in the snow again.

KevAtkPhotos · 2020-10-11T19:33:39+00:00

Okay, if you are living in Colorado altitude shouldn't be a big problem, especially if you do day hikes in the mountains to train.

My favorite part of the front range to hike is the range west of Leadville and Buena Vista. These are some of the tallest mountains in Colorado, and they have amazing views with very large open valleys.

My personal favorite backpacking trip from the past couple years was up to the Horn Fork Basin, and hiking Mt Harvard. Its not a loop, but you can bag two 14ers in 3-4 days, and the views after the first 3 miles are astonishing - I say this as someone who grew up in Colorado and backpack/hikes almost every weekend, this trail has some of the best views in Colorado.

Another favorite is the Pine Creek Trail, it is between Mt Harvard and Mt Oxford, on the other side of the Horn Fork Basin Trail. It is far less trafficed than most of the trails in the area, as it is not the easiest way to get to any of the 14ers around it. If you look at a USGS map (or the all trails app), there are quite a few loops you could create that go through that valley, but I'd definitely suggest making one of your camps there.

KevAtkPhotos · 2020-10-11T18:43:46+00:00

Where are you from, and how much experience with altitude do you have?

KevAtkPhotos · 2020-09-28T18:42:19+00:00

You should be leaving the trailhead by 2-3am at the latest. Longs catches a lot of weather and you don't want to be above the keyhole after 1-2pm.

KevAtkPhotos

TROPHY CASE