Video

highlighting the key obstacles on each of the 14ers:

Climb Date: Thursday, September 3, 2026

Party: Solo

Time: 17.25 hours camp to camp, barefoot 100% starting and ending @ 10,950'

Strava post

Instagram Videos (2 Parts) - Part 1, Part 2

Planning is the key to success

And if you're going to climb all four mountain tops above 14,000' in Chicago Basin in one day without shoes, you should probably pick a perfect day.

So, watching the forecast like a hawk, I booked my train ticket to position an attempt on a day with 0% precip, neatly wedged between other days with less ideal weather.

On the train I met a cool guy named Kyle from Indiana, another solo climber. We decided to hike in to the Basin together and camp. To claim a solo ascent, you don't need to ignore other hikers and be a complete recluse.

Plus, if I would have been an introvert on the train, I wouldn't have been able to give Kyle all the trouble I did for booking his trip without watching the weather at all, completely lucking out on a perfect day!

On the trail Kyle and I kept leapfrogging another solo hiker named Cecilie, who eventually joined our conversation and ended up camping with us too.

The plan was to hike in and camp at 10,950' wearing shoes on Wednesday, go barefoot from camp and climb all four peaks Thursday, and hike out wearing shoes again on Friday. This would allow over 3000' net elevation gain to the first peak, legit by my standards.

I would have loved to have hiked from the train all the way in and out while barefoot, but sole skin doesn't last forever. The weight of a big pack on the hike in (and out) would have certainly worn down the feet faster, tenderizing them for the big climb the following day, and I wasn't willing to risk unnecessary failure on the peaks proper.

Wednesday night my new friends and I were awakened by the sound of rain on our tents. What happened to 0% chance of rain? Hopefully the clouds would get it out of their system before the climbing day.

Kyle, Cecilie and I left camp together at 4:30am Thursday morning. Their pace was clearly faster than mine so I urged them upward. However, when they stopped to shed a layer, I passed them and took the lead all the way to Twin Lakes. Hahaha! I love having fresh feet and overtaking people on the trail.

The air was chilly and humid as night yielded to astronomical twilight. I veered right at the Lakes toward Sunlight Peak first, to tackle the Leap of Faith with the freshest feet possible. Above Twin Lakes (12,500') my feet were very cold, a factor I hadn't considered. I hoped they would warm up by the top of Sunlight Peak, but the whole climb would be in the shadows.

Fortunately, the spectacle of sunrise on Eolus was breathtaking and distracted me.

I was lucky to have a good vantage to capture footage of sunrise on Eolus and, on the closer side of the Basin, a cloud fireball between Sunlight and Windom (see video above), so I spent a few minutes looking back and forth. The feet were thoroughly chilled to the core now, but it was worth it.

Huge pyramidal cairns guided me to the least enjoyable part of Sunlight: the red dirt gully between Sunlight Peak and "Sunlight Spire." I remembered it being worse than it actually was - I just wanted to be as gentle as possible, as not to erode the trail further. Meanwhile, Kyle and Cecilie headed up Windom in a misty mountain setting.

From the top of the gully (saddle), the climb up Sunlight Peak is pure fun! Huge sturdy rocks to play on, leading you to the classic hole in the ridge to climb through. Coming out the other side of the hole, the view is breathtaking! Turn left and approach the crux: the summit block.

I had been climbing in the shade until popping out of the hole. It was 8:15am and the sun hadn't done much to warm me up yet. My feet felt cumbersome and slightly detached. I could only faintly detect what I was stepping on. I could wait for my feet to warm up, but who knew how long that would take? I had three other peaks to visit before the sun went down.

Jesse Ventura's words played in my head, "I ain't got time to bleed." (Or in my case, "freeze.") So without further ado, I climbed up to the top and stood like I owned the place.

I teach martial arts for a living. I have learned backflips, arials, fingertip handstand pushups, kip-ups, and basically mastered jumping rope.

The Leap of Faith still gives me pause.

You don't want to undershoot it, and you certainly don't want to overshoot it either. I think the helmet camera footage captured the moment well (if you haven't watched the above video by now, dude, you're missing out). What I didn't include in the video was the 30 seconds of staring at the jump, pumping my legs a little bit, and crouching like I'm going to jump but waiting for the right moment. Frozen feet, don't fail me now!

On the way down, near the saddle I was very surprised to bump into Kyle and Cecilie. They had already cruised up Windom (in the fog) and were now almost up Sunlight! I think they were getting me back for getting a lead on them earlier that morning.

The descent down the red gully was slow but fine. Traversing over to the saddle on Windom was rocky but again, fine. Being my 3rd time up Windom, I still underestimate the fun that can be had on this peak as well! I topped out at 10:45am and enjoyed the absolutely incredible views.

Cool, 2 out of 4 complete!

In the past, I had only done two at a time before heading back to camp, and tackling the other two on the other side of the Basin the following day. But today, we're going for the gold.

Looking across to the Eolus group was a bit daunting, especially now that my feet were thawed and fully appreciating the San Juan rock. But I really wanted it. And, I can't find any records of anyone having done the Chicago Basin 14ers barefoot, so how cool would it be to be the first?

A men's group of about 10 from Oklahoma was making their way up Windom as I started the descent. One of them was facing his fears of heights with the help from his team in a positive way. Props to that guy (and the whole team from the flat lands) for making it to the top - I think the whole valley heard their shouts of victory when they claimed the summit.

Dropping in to Twin Lakes at 1:00pm, I filtered a couple more liters of water and saw a man coming up from the camping area. Turns out he had attempted Eolus the day before but wasn't feeling it and had turned back at around 13,000'. Today he was back for another go, but he still wasn't sure about it, especially because he didn't really know the route. I told him I was headed up that way, and if he didn't mind my increasingly slow pace, I'd be happy to join forces. Morgan and I turned out to make a great team for the Eolus Group, and I certainly didn't mind his thoughtful photos and videos along the way!

We saw some folks coming down Eolus and, what do you know, we bumped into Kyle and Cecilie! I was jealous of their pace, and I was thrilled to see they were having a wonderful day in the mountains.

Being a rock climber, Morgan had no problem enjoying the Class 3 gully up to the Eolus - N. Eolus saddle. It was short and sweet. We dropped our packs at the saddle to head up North Eolus first. I remember this little scramble being so much fun, having been up here 3 times before.

The first few moves up North Eolus made me wince like nothing before. Why on earth is the rock so painful all of a sudden? Turns out, North Eolus is made of big grippy rocks that look rounded from a distance, but are comprised of tiny angular corners and protrusions. With shoes, I had flown up this stuff. Without shoes, this unranked peak was without a doubt the crux of my barefoot adventure that day.

On the standard route up Mt. Eolus, our last 14er of the day, there are two parts that can seem difficult to some people.

First is the Catwalk. It's mostly a wide sidewalk with a drop-off on both sides. In one or two sections it narrows for a few steps, but otherwise it's more like a "Cakewalk" in my opinion. Depends on your comfort level with exposure. (See video)

Second is the ledges on the mountain proper. It starts with an easy ascending zig-zagging trail, then gets steeper, with helpful cairns to guide you to the top. A few minutes earlier, on our way toward Mt. Eolus, another climber was on his way down and reported that the ledges on Mt. Eolus were harder than Sunlight Peak. Apparently they wigged him out a bit. Morgan and I had no problems whatsoever, and found the whole thing enjoyable.

Morgan and I had a blast filming each other on the Catwalk on the descent, and enjoyed each other's company all the way back to camp. He was such a trooper - I was sluggishly slow (he claims I wasn't as slow as I kept suggesting) but he stayed with me the whole way back.

I pulled into camp at 9:45pm and was relieved to plop into a warm sleeping bag (after putting socks on, of course). Man, that feels good.

The next day, Kyle, Cecilie and I made quick work of the 6 miles back to the trailhead to catch the train. The shoes felt amazing, and I confirmed that I would not have enjoyed making that hike out with my abused feet. The plan worked!

Kyle joined me for the best part of the trip: soaking the dogs in the cold Animas River.