A trio of local 9000-foot summits: Kineo Mountain, Grouse Mountain, and Blodgett Peak

No, not all in the same day! That would have made it more challenging. My runs lately have been local and short for the most part.

Last Saturday, I did Kineo Mountain, starting on Seven Bridges trail (622). In order to make it a bit more interesting than the usual route, I cut off early and scrambled directly up the south face of the mountain. This wasn't a tough scramble, although it was steep. It was mostly deep scree and a few bands of easy-to-climb boulders. I arrived right at the saddle below the summit and quickly topped out. I returned to North Cheyenne Cañon via trail 667, connecting to 776.

The saddle below the summit of Kineo.

The rock outcroppings atop Kineo are super neat!

Summit panorama, Kineo Mountain.

The view of the North Cheyenne Creek drainage, with the south summit of Almagre in the distance to the right side of the photo (it's the one above treeline.)

Then on Sunday, we took the kids for the Kids Fall Series 1 race at Bear Creek Park. The Fall Series, put on by the Pikes Peak Road Runners, is a free "fun run" race series for children that fosters a love of running.

After that, we headed up to Mueller State Park to catch some fall colors. We decided to do the Grouse Mountain trail. This short trail is only half a mile to the summit! It was so short, even for the kids, that we added some additional hiking after that. This summit was so easy that it's almost cheating!

The kids and the summit sign.

The view south from Grouse Mountain. Mt. Pisgah is the pointy one just right of center, and the Crestones are the range far in the background on the right side.

Alex and I at Mueller State Park. 

Finally, today (Wednesday), I decided to do a quick midweek trip up Blodgett Peak. This would mean I'd topped out three local 9000+ foot peaks this week (although one was almost too easy to count.)

Blodgett Peak is an interesting mountain. If you are adamant about sticking to the primary drainage, it can be a class 2 all the way to the summit. If you deviate from this  at all (intentionally or not), it can quickly become a class 3 on the boulderfield or even a class 4 or 5 where the cliffs are.

Today, I intentionally sought out the boulderfield, and scrambled up through the main "crack" between the two cliff faces below the false summit. I then traversed the ridge to the true summit.

The main crack between the two cliff faces has a couple tricky moves which I would consider class 4, and one spot where it was so washed out that I had to climb up the side of the cliff a short way. I'm not an expert but this single move seemed to be class 5. It might have been avoidable if I was taller or the gully was less washed out, but as it stood from where I was, it looked like the safest route.

Climbing between two cliff faces.

The narrow view down. This route could be dangerous!

When I topped out on Blodgett, I sat and soaked in the views with my binoculars. I watched cars driving the dam at Rampart Reservoir. I had a clear view of the 14ers Bierstadt and Evans, and I could even (faintly) make out Longs Peak far in the distance.

The views on top Blodgett Peak are very worthwhile! For such a short summit, less than 10,000 feet, there's a LOT you can see from up there. I could have stayed up there all day. Blodgett definitely is the best mix of challenging climbing, local accessibility, and superior views for a fairly small time investment.

The true summit of Blodgett as seen from the false summit.

Pikes Peak behind the golden foothills. These trees were all burned in the Waldo Canyon fire in 2012, creating an interesting contrast with the autumn-colored shrubs.

Blodgett Peak summit panorama. 

Selfie! What a hot day, considering we're expecting snow tomorrow.

What a super week in local adventuring. Now I can sit home and comfortably await our first snowstorm of the season tomorrow. However, I think I'll still be chasing summits this season as long as the weather permits.