On June 7, 2005, I set out on a trip that I called the "Homeless On the Range Expedition" with the goal of trying to either climb 200 Colorado thirteeners (summits between 13,000 and 14,000 feet) or find a girlfriend, whichever is easier to accomplish. On July 30th I climbed the 107th new thirteener of my expedition: Lizard Head Peak (the most difficult mountain to climb of Colorado's 637 ranked summits over 13,000 feet). Then, on July 31st, I completed the most difficult rock climb I've ever done, following my friend Mark up "Post Office Crack" on Ophir Wall (Ophir, Colorado), a six pitch, 5.8 climb. (It was dangerous and scary, but still much easier than getting a date with a woman.) On Saturday, September 24th, I hiked up an "easy" thirteener, Unnamed 13,347, as the 200th "official" completion summit for my Homeless On the Range Expedition with my new girlfriend, Melanie, whom I had met through email correspondence during my summer adventure.

After I completed the Homeless On the Range Expedition, I made a third unsuccessful attempt to climb Peak Fifteen, considered to be the most difficult mountain to climb among Colorado's 200 highest summits -- and my only real peakbagging failure of 2005. Peak Fifteen is my last remaining summit out of Colorado's bicentennial (202 highest) thirteeners.

I have now summited 504 ranked Colorado summits over 13,000 feet and all of Colorado's 100 highest peaks. I was also the 11th person to go to the highest point of all 64 Colorado counties and I have hiked the 21 ranked summits above 11,500 feet in the Kenosha Mountains, South Platte River Mountains, Tarryall Mountains, and the Puma Hills.

Homeless On the Range: Endeavoring to Persevere


On June 13th, I plan to start an expedition that I'm calling "Triskaidekeuphoria: Homeless on the Range II." My goal this time is to finish Colorado's 584 thirteeners by climbing 130 thirteeners in thirteen weeks, starting with "Petroleum Peak" (symbolizing the peak of global oil production -- the apparent motive behind 9/11, sequential U.S. military conquests, and the bogus "war on terror") on June 13th and ending on Whitehouse Mountain on September 11th -- the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks orchestrated by the Bush/Cheney regime. I have a flier that I will be distributing during my expedition presenting evidence of the Bush/Cheney administration's criminal role in 9/11.

I have now summited 503 ranked Colorado summits over 13,000 feet and all of Colorado's 100 highest peaks. I was also the 11th person to go to the highest point of all 64 Colorado counties and I have hiked the 21 ranked summits above 11,500 feet in the Kenosha Mountains, South Platte River Mountains, Tarryall Mountains, and the Puma Hills.

Lizard Head -- Colorado's hardest thirteener
Take a Hike!
My Remaining Colorado Thirteeners
Homeless On the Range Trip Plan
My Trip Reports
Gary Swing: Thought Criminal
Email:
Name: Gary Swing
Email:
homelessontherange (at)  yahoo (dot) com
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