Past Trips

This week's hike will be on Friday evening.  We will meet at the ski hill parking lot and begin hiking up the servicce road at 5:00 PM. Please bring a dish to share, your own plate, utensils, and beverage. It can be much cooler at the top of the mountain so warmer clothing and raingear is recommended.

The elevation gain is about 900 feet and the hike up takes about 45 minutes. The views are spectacular, and a shared meal with frineds is very enjoyable.

This will be the first potluck dinner hike of the 2026.  The ski hill road is open for now, but will be closing again beginning June 1st. When the road closes down again, hikes will be scheduled for Friday or Saturday evening.  This is a potluck dinner, so bring a dish to share, your own beverage, plate and utensils.  We will meet at the ski hill parking lot and begin hiking up the service road at 5:30 PM

Warmer jacket and rain gear are highly recommended for cooler temperatures at the top or inclement weather.

Join Zack for a loop ride on Sunday, May 10, around the Valle Grande, the front meadow of the Valles Caldera.  The ride is 15 miles with mixed sandy and rutted jeep roads.   Suitable bikes would include gravel or mountain bikes.   The current policy of the Caldera is that everyone has to have either a day pass for the Caldera, or a year-long Interagency Pass (which covers two bikes).   Bring a snack, water, helmets and a repair kit.

If you'd like to come please email zackbaker@gmail.com

This trip is a mountaineering-style snow climb of historic Mt. St. Helens in Washington State. The St. Helens climb is done in a day, with additional days needed for travel time. The climb is fairly strenuous, at about 10 miles with 5600 ft of elevation gain, but considered non-technical from a mountaineering perspective - crampons and ice axe required, but no crevasse risk or sections requiring roped travel or belay.

Sirphey's restaurant is holding a special celebration of conservation, trails, and craft beer.   Join us for a hike to the Bandelier Visitor Center (location of Sirphey's restaurant) on the Frey Trail for this event.   Meet at the Frey trailhead, adjacent to the Juniper Campground, Bandelier, at 4 pm.  We will hike down to the Visitor Center/Sirphey, enjoy some food and drink, and the return (up!) to the trailhead.  The hike is 3.5 miles round trip with about a 600 ft elevation loss/gain.  The trail is somewhat eroded in a few spots, so I find hiking poles

We will leave early from the Bandelier visitor center, hike through several canyons (including Middle Alamo) to the Yapashi ruins and the Stone Lions, then keep going to Upper Alamo canyon and come back on the Frijoles canyon rim trail. It is a scenic hike going through different vegetation zones and interesting ruins.

This is a long hike with almost 3500 feet elevation gain. Participants should be in good shape and able to maintain a 2+ pace. 

Feel free to contact me if you have any question.

Dear Mountaineers,

It looks like we can pull off a llama trip once again for spring 2026. Llama packer BJ and I have agreed to dates for a drop camp. BJ will plan to stay with us at camp, which will be a pleasure, since we enjoy his company.

Let's do some more exploring around Ghost Ranch and its rock formations. I'd like to try to close a loop between Box Canyon and the Kitchen Mesa trail - going up Box Canyon to the route up and out on the CDT alternate route, above and around the dry falls in Box Canyon, then looping cross-country to intersect the Kitchen Mesa trail and return to Ghost Ranch headquarters.

This is the sixth annual spring climb to iconic Cabezon Peak.

Cabezon Peak towers 2000 feet above the Rio Puerco Valley. This volcanic plug is the remnant of the core of a volcano - like Shiprock. Appearing impregnable, Cabezon can nonetheless be ascended by the intrepid mountaineer who follows the hidden route that wends its way through a crack in the peak's defenses. Said mountaineer must be able to execute a couple of low fourth class maneuvers in pursuit of the summit and its spectacular views.

Daunted by the summer crowds hiking the Colorado 14ers? The spring 2025 backcountry ski on Shavano was a heap of fun. So, let's ski another Colorado 14er!

The trailhead is at 10,850', and our total elevation gain would be 3,450'. Approximately 7 miles round-trip. 

Participants should have alpine touring (AT) skis, telemark skis, or a splitboard. Other equipment requirements include: skins, shovel, avalance beacon, probe, and a backpack able to carry your skis (as the first part of the approach is likely to be free of snow).