by TeresaGergen » Fri Jul 22, 2016 9:50 am
Kirk swore for years that the Highest 1000 ranked peaks in CO were good enough for him, left the lists behind, and set out on a new course of being a “collector of peaks.” While this strategy was great for getting around the state and the country, climbing at all elevations, and focusing on enjoyable and interesting peaks, he still found himself wanting to get above treeline now and then. I guess it doesn’t take long when you’ve already done the Highest 1000 before you find yourself running out the rest of those alpine CO 12ers. With not that many left by last summer, he decided he was ready to tackle Turret Ridge, and with that obstacle behind him, all he had left was – a lot of hard days! His final peaks this summer have involved numerous 20-28 mile days, often back to back, as he attempted to fit climbs in before the monsoons hit, and around having to work on several weekends. After racing the weather in the San Juans this past week, Kirk became the 5th person to finish the list of all 1,313 ranked peaks over 12,000 ft in CO on “Quarter to 5 Peak” on 7/22/16. Congrats!