Dispatch #1: The Scenic Route to Colorado
Dispatch #1
The Scenic Route to Colorado
No Colorado this spring, so the summer started at home in new trail shoes. It ended in Colorado, with four 14ers, three rental cars and a new name on the website.
The Summer, Briefly
I spent the spring at home, took up trail running, and drove to Colorado the long way. I fixed a van, climbed some mountains, joined a run club, and came home with a new brand.
Here’s how it actually went, in the order it happened.
May–June · New Hampshire
Spring Without Colorado
I skipped Colorado this spring. Conditions out west were so bad that driving twenty hours for them made no sense, so I stayed home and had a long, easy spring in New Hampshire. Early summer was great, if not particularly eventful.
What I did get into was trail running. I’ve hiked my whole life, but running had never stuck. This year I wanted something I could do every day without a gym or a drive to the mountains, and a reason to build my aerobic engine. Last winter, falling for cross-country skiing, I found out my VO2 max wasn’t great, and they say the best skiers are made in the summer. So I bought shiny new shoes and went at it, and I mixed in the road bike and the roller skis too, knowing I’d be training at altitude in Colorado soon enough.
June 27 · Killington, VT
My First Race Photo Job
On June 27 I photographed my first race, the Cirque Series at Killington: 8.2 miles, more than 3,000 feet of climbing, and three of Killington’s peaks before a steep final push to the finish.
I fell in love with capturing endurance events right there on the mountain. It’s something I really want to do more of.
July 4 · White Mountains, NH
Fourth of July at the Sugarloafs
Fourth of July weekend is family camping at the Sugarloafs in the White Mountains, same as always. It was a lovely, low-key weekend with some hiking, trail running and mountain biking, and fireworks over the Mount Washington Hotel at night.
The best part was trout fishing on the Zealand River. Then it was back home to pack the van.
July · Midwest to Colorado
The Long Way West
The day after the Fourth I packed the van, loaded up the cats, and headed west. I know I could get to Colorado in two days, but this time I took a week off work and took the long way: Watkins Glen State Park in New York, the Wisconsin Dells, up through Minnesota and North Dakota, a few days in the Badlands and the Black Hills, then boondocking in Wyoming’s Bighorn National Forest before the last drop into Colorado.
I also gave myself a challenge: a 5K in every state until I hit Colorado. That was Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wyoming. It was hot, it was humid, and when you’re driving 10 or 11 hours a day, fitting in a run is a lot. Some days I ran 15 kilometers. In Illinois I had so little time that I ran at a rest area and under a highway overpass. It counts.
July–August · Summit County, CO
In the Heart of It All
I based myself in a cozy Airbnb in Silverthorne, right in the middle of Summit County. Working East Coast hours meant I was done by 3 p.m. with the whole afternoon ahead of me, and with so many trailheads, basins and bike routes close by, I was out adventuring almost every day.
I came out hoping for two 14ers and got Holy Cross, Harvard, Missouri and Pikes Peak, so double. Mount Massive was closed by the Willow Fire in Leadville, so that one waits. I also finally did the smaller hikes I’d been meaning to for years, like Buffalo Mountain and Ptarmigan Peak. The drought meant thin wildflowers, but my camera roll is full.
The one hiccup was the ProMaster’s oil cooler, which started leaking again on the drive out. It took three mechanics, three rental cars, two weeks and several thousand dollars to get a working van. On the bright side, the four-wheel-drive rentals got me up some 14er roads I wouldn’t have risked the van on.
Wednesdays · Summit County, CO
Alpine High Mountain Club
One of my favorite parts of the summer was joining a run club. The Alpine High Mountain Club is affiliated with Gravity House and started this summer, with a handful of people who wanted to run in summer and ski in winter. Everyone was friendly and wanted to get to know each other.
Each Wednesday we went around and said our names and where we were from. I always said, “I love it here, but I’m actually from New Hampshire,” and people were always welcoming. I made some great connections in the few weeks I was there.
With the van problems I didn’t make it to the Western Slope, but I did get to Steamboat a couple of times and its hot springs. By mid-August, as I checked out of the Airbnb, it had cooled off and leaves were already turning at elevation, very early, which is what drought does. I drove home at the end of August to find the East Coast pleasantly cool.
Late summer · New Hampshire
Meet mtn.anton
After a summer of training at altitude, I rebranded as mtn.anton. Skiing in winter, hiking, trail running and mountain biking in summer; my whole identity is the mountains, so mountain Anton fit. Alpen Globe stays as the brand for elopements, Airbnb and branding work.
If you scroll the site you’ll find a refined journal of trail adventures, a pile of new elopement guides, and new packages for everything from elopements to Airbnb and branding photography.
Until the next ridge,
Anton
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