About
The Virtual sherpa is Colorado based hiking site founded in 2016 to help adventure seekers plan for their next trip into the wilderness. From what to pack to where to park, The Virtual sherpa will help you prepare for your next trip so that all you have to do is show up and enjoy the beautiful scenery.
My name is Mickey and you can think of me as your guide, travel planner and “virtual sherpa” for all future hiking adventures. After completing countless hikes, backpacking trips, backcountry adventures and border-crossing expeditions, I decided to start this site to share my experiences with other adventure seekers in effort to help make your next trip more enjoyable.
You can check out my YouTube Channel for a wide variety of virtual trail guides on hikes in Colorado and beyond. In addition, I post videos on much more hiking related content from gear reviews to tips on what to pack. Whether I am re-hiking one of Colorado’s 58+ 14ers, climbing up a couloir or snowboarding in the backcountry you can follow me on Instagram or Facebook to get all of my content in advance!
This all sounds cool, but why should I listen to you? I have quite a bit of hiking and endurance event experience over the years.
-Hiked 100+ Colorado 14ers
-Ran 6+ Marathons
-Completed 2019 Ironman Tempe
-Tackled US State high points in: Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Oregon (so far)
-Hiked High Points in Ireland and Africa
-2022 Silver Rush 50 Miler Finisher
Finally, no – I am not an actual Sherpa and the name is simply showing respect and paying homage to the best mountaineers in the world (in my opinion).
I really enjoy watching your hiking vids., especially on Colorado’s Fourteeners. Keep up the good work. The only thing that surprises me is that you don’t have more subs on your YouTube channel.
Thanks man – appreciate the kind words! The YouTube just started last year, hopefully it will continue to grow over time.
Great videos. I’m from TX and plan to start climbing peaks this year. I’d love to tag along with you sometime.
Cheers man, appreciate the kind words.
Mickey, your a beast man! I love watching your videos for information/details about the hike and has inspired me to go after more 14ers out there! I spend alot of time in the Sangres and ready to get out there and see more across our state! Thanks for all your hard work and motivation you put into your videos! I’m working on my YouTube channel of hikes too-Jeff Little
Thanks Jeff, appreciate the kind words.
Great videos, no self promotion you are the real article. I just discovered a couple weeks ago. Going to move to Colorado this Summer to train for Three Passes Trek to Everest Base Camp in October. I’m glad to see which 14ers will be relatively easy. Just did Whitney in September along with White Mountain in Sierras. Had no real issue with elevation, just extra 25 lbsbs of fat. Then maybe Kilimanjaro . I’m in early 60s, gotta cramp it in b4 shuffleboard ourts take over my time.
Hey Jim, thanks and appreciate the kind words. Love your goals – Everest Base Camp has always been a bucketlist for me as well as the other 5 summits (have hiked Kili already and highly recommend – not technical at all – hardly over class 3 but a beautiful trip). The extra lbs are a problem for myself as well as I seem to enjoy the Colorado craft beer scene too much to cut it out of my life haha. Appreciate the comment and kind words!
Really enjoy your videos! Trying to plan a trip to Colorado to get in as many 14ers in week. Which ones would you recommend with trailheads in close proximity?
Hey Caroline – check out my map to find which ones are close: https://www.thevirtualsherpa.com/about-virtual-sherpa/colorado-hikes-map/
If you are looking for a good bang or your buck, the Decalibron knocks out four in one day: https://www.thevirtualsherpa.com/mt-democrat-mt-lincoln-mt-bross/. If you stick to the Front Range, you can easily knock out the Decalibron, Bierstadt, Evans, Grays & Torreys, Sherman, Quandary etc. as they are all fairly close to one another. The map will help though, 14ers are colored in blue.
I always enjoy your videos and the simple down to earth manner in which you present the information. I recently looked at your’s and maybe seven other vids on Long’s Peak and compared your climbing instincts with those, as well as your other climbs. You might point out some of the goofy stuff people do – like climbing while carrying ski poles, huge packs for no reason on day climbs – not using summit packs, are probably reasons for increase in injuries. It would have been nice to see some drone shots on Longs. Keep up the momentum.
Thanks for the kind words, very much appreciated. I truly try to pack for each hike in a efficient, yet responsible manner. Far too many times I see people way under or over prepared for a day. As much as I would love to fly the drone on Longs and many other peaks, I have to obey the rules for flying which permit drone usage in wilderness areas and national parks.
Hey Micky,
Karl here, we chatted a couple months ago, thanks again for all you hard work and beta. I would be super happy if you come and see my Little Bear Traverse video, inspired by you . . . https://youtu.be/gF04YTbBH2s If you ever want a hand with making a video my strengths are technical rock climbing, 360 camera shooting/editing and drone piloting but I’m not into HUGE hikes. I’ll be doing Lone Eagle peak soon and MAYBE a gnarly traverse up there in addition if conditions are favorable . . . To be clear, I’m an “artistic documenter” and aim to allow normal people to have wild experience like we do without leaving home, and preserve my own memories as well. I’m not a guide like you covering all points of a route and associated risks dangers, required tools . . . . Love your website too. Nice job. My only aspiration in all of this would be to get sponsored by DJI, Panasonic or the like to have nice free gear. I have a decent day job . . . . Best Wishes
Dude, this blog has been so helpful. I’m a CO native who has been hiking since before I can remember, but only recently decided to start climbing 14ers. My wife and I have finally started to cross them off the list, and your blogs have made all the difference teaching us the routes and how to prepare. Keep doing what you do!
Thanks a bunch Alex, happy to help and glad the website has been helpful for you!
I am so glad I found your sites to help me plan and prepare for summiting more and more Colorado 14ers! Thank you for all of your expertise and information. Very helpful.
I am wondering if you have ever hiked Mt Whitney? I submitted a few years ago on a day permit (round trip in 14 hours) and have now submitted eight 14ers here in Colorado. I’m curious how you would rate Whitney or classify it within the Colorado 14er system.
Thank you again for all of your guidance!
Hey Charity, glad you enjoy the site and content! I haven’t hiked Mt Whitney but from what I understand there are a several routes to the summit varying in difficulty. Since you did it it one day, I would assume you took the Mount Whitney Trail which mileage-wise is longer than all of the 14er routes except Snowmass. Just guessing, but I would put Whitney in the same ranking as Snowmass which is the “hardest category” due to elevation gain and mileage: https://www.thevirtualsherpa.com/ranking-the-colorado-14ers-by-difficulty/
Keep in mind though that several 14ers are class 4/5 which would be more technical than most of the common Whitney routes. Hope this helps a bit!
Mickey, I appreciate all your documentation of hikes and all your hard work laying out all the information and videos.
I would recommend you put Truchas mountains NM on your list. Way cooler than Wheeler. These are cragy , jagged peaks that are much more reminiscent of some of the Colorado 14rs. If you want some info shoot me an email if you can and I’ll reply.
I’ve done a lot in that area and have good info on approach and where not to go.
Gavin_macgregor@msn.com
There are 3- 13rs South Truchas, Middle, and North Truchas and good class 3 ridgeline approach from Trampas lakes . Definitely the best that NM has to offer. Better yet, not many if anyone on those hikes.
I really wanted to get more clarity on the Blanca Ellingwood zapata lake approach. I know the day sucked for you and clouds kept you from being able to fully describe or point out some of details of the rout once up C2.
I am putting this on my to do list for next month
Once up C2 I was unclear of the traverse. I really wanted to get a little more on how to traverse that redline. Also the c3 rating and what to expect. Is there a lot of exposure on traverse?
Thanks, will check those out. As far as Ellingwood – Blanca – From C2 to the ridge of Ellingwood is really a straightforward hike. Class 2, maybe one class 3 move towards the top with a bit of exposure but really pretty straightforward. Ellingwood to Blanca Ridge is Class 2/3 depending on your route, but a hundred ways to choose from. If you stay ridge proper, there will be much more downclimbing and spice than if you stay middle or lower. I agree that that portion of this hike was poorly described, check out my newer videos they are 100x better.
I have SO enjoyed – and benefited from – your webpage and YouTube videos. What an incredible service for those of us who are fledgling climbers. Thank you! I’m hoping to take on The Decali (Decalibron without the Bross) next July. Climb on, sir. Climb on!
Hey Mickey!
Big fan of the channel and all things you do. Recently started to shoot some footage trail running and hiking on a small channel of my own. Wanted to see if you would ever like to go out and explore together sometime. I live just outside of Golden, CO so we might be in the same neck of the woods. Love going up on weekends 14er bagging and trail running until the fresh snow comes. Then it’s time for the backcountry. If you are interested let me know. I’d love to get out and share some trail time together.
Keep on exploring!
Cory
Hi Mickey, I just want to thank you for your great videos and reviews. I really appreciate your honesty in the information you present to viewers/readers. It is great to have an experienced and responsible adventurer such as yourself sharing this information. I am a Western Colorado native and only started climbing 14ers about 5 years ago. Its been a great way to spend time with my 70+ year old father giving us both some great memories. We’ve done most of our hiking in the West Elk Mountains (11,000 – 13,000 ft) and the 14ers in the San Juans.
With your informative videos and guides, we’ll be broadening our horizons. I hope to meet you on the journey, Randy
Thanks Randy, really appreciate the kind words.
Have been watching your videos all summer and wanted to tell you what a great job you do – I used to hike every weekend in younger years (mostly in Wasatch, some 14ers) but with kids I’ve gotten out of shape and am limited to easier hikes now – your videos are so enjoyable to watch, seeing peaks and routes I wanted to do but never got around to – thanks for what you do! Watching your Ellingwood Ridge video tonite reminded me so much of days just pushing thru when you don’t want to go any further – how do you feel it compares to Little Bear/Blanca in terms of overall effort, mental challenge?
Thanks very much, appreciate it! Ellingwood was def a slog but glad to have done it for sure. It was night and day vs LB/Blanca though. LB/Blanca is just a much more technical traverse, longer approach and the exposure is far superior to anything on Ellingwood. I will say that Ellingwood had much more route finding than LB/Blanca did.
9/10; would invite this guy to dinner
Awesome videos man! I love watching them when I’m scoping a hike out, and I also like just having them on for the views/vibes while I work. If you ever make it down to New Mexico for some hiking, please try to check out the Anatoli Route in Santa Fe! https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/new-mexico/anatoli-route
Thanks for all the info man. Love the way you explain things, as someone with pretty much no mountain experience, it’s absolutely fascinating. Much love man, be safe out there!
Hey Mickey, just wanted to let you know you’ve really been a huge inspiration for my 6 and 7yo kiddos. After I took them to Acadia this year they’ve been all about hiking. When we got home they asked about Katahdin (I was telling them it was a cool mountain in Maine too) and we found your hikes. Since then we’ve spent countless nights watching your climbs, at their request,, and because of you they’ve officially picked their first 14er we’ll be doing next late spring – Handies. Anyway, thanks for helping me keep their heads out of video games, you make some truly great vids that keep all of our attention, and we love the knowledge you pass on. All the best man.
Hi Ricci,
Really appreciate the kind words and great to hear that your kids are enjoying the channel. Will try to keep the swearing at a minimum haha
In all seriousness, thanks for the support though it means a lot.
Mickey
I really enjoy your YouTube videos. Might you have a few mins to offer your opinion of the difference in difficulty between Middle Teton summit (without the south) vs. Mt Elbert. I did Mt Elbert via the east ridge last year and want to summit Middle Teton this summer with my son. The 6,000 feet of gain seems intimidating, but as flatlanders, I’m thinking since the elevation is slighting lower it may not be that much worse than a standard 14er route.
Thoughts?
Middle Teton is quite a bit harder than Mt Elbert in my opinion. You mentioned the vertical gain which is certainly one factor, but the other major one is the technical difficulty. Here in Colorado, we refer to Elbert as a walk up since there is not any technical terrain or much route finding. With the Middle you will likely be dealing with some snow, route finding and class 2/3 terrain. Its certainly doable (The Middle) – but just prepare for those things I mentioned in my guide and video. Good luck
Hi Mickey — I enjoyed the video you posted of your hike up Mt. Katahdin using the Knife Edge trail. The overall hike does look as beautiful as you described! My wife and I are in our 60s and we’d like to try the Knife Edge route up Katahdin. We’ve never done any class 3 scrambles but we’re in reasonably decent shape for our ages as we do daily aerobic workouts and some weights at our local gym. So I think our stamina would be good enough to do the 8 to 10 mile Katahdin hike. We did the Tuckerman’s Ravine trail at Mt. Washington 20 years ago and we did trails at Mt. Monadnock (NH), Greylock (MA), and Bear Mountain (CT), all just last year. However, I’m wondering if the exposure you show and describe on Katahdin’s knife edge might be a bit too much for us and could dissuade us from continuing on that route. Or do you think there’s enough side routes along that ridge to avoid the worst of the exposure (in case of a stumble or slip) so that we’d feel confident enough to complete the route safely in reaching the summit of Baxter Peak. Or do we think we’d be better off trying a different trail to get to Baxter Peak. I would appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks so much. — Mike
Hey Mike, if you want to summit Katahdin – you can use a few other routes, including the descent I show here: https://youtu.be/lbZzounLHEM – 12 min mark or so that are much less exposed.
If you do take the Knife Edge, you don’t have to stay as direct to the ridge as I did and can avoid a lot of the exposure. However the 6:36 mark can’t be avoided and is probably the most technical part of the ridge. Either way, hard for me to give advice about what people are comfortable with, but hopefully this helps out a bit.
Sounds like you guys would have no problem with the mileage and elevation gain – but just hard to gage how you will deal with the exposure.
Best of luck either way, its a beautiful area- Mickey
Very grateful for you and your videos. I climbed Quandary this week. First 14er. Really first climb. Had both knees replaced a year ago and watched videos over the past year to set expectations. It was really hard but your encouragement/wisdom was felt all the way up and down. I wanted to call for an Uber with about an hour to go but made it anyway. Thanks again!
Congrats on the summit!
Have watched several of your YT Videos and enjoy them very much. Great Scenery in the Great State of Colorado. That being said, my wife and I are in our mid 50’s and enjoy RMNP and the trails they have to offer. However, we have set a goal to summit a 13er in 2023. We are looking at Mt. Sniktau as our first. We are not used to altitude living in KS. Do you have any pointers on training for this summit? I know it starts off Loveland Pass so already starting out over 11K.
Keep up the good work – Sorry to hear about Reno.
Hey Mitchell,
Sounds like a great goal and good choice of mountain. I would recommend staying up in Summit County a few days before if you can to acclimate to 10kish and that will help you going up to 13. In terms of training, low and slow on the Stairmaster or treadmill at 10-12% grade for 60 minutes or so can really replicate those steep slopes this hike starts off with.
Best of luck and keep me posted on how it goes!
Mickey
Thanks Mickey – Will do. We will keep you posted.
Well – did not quite finish. Thank You for the advice on training and acclimating for a few days. I know weather can be unpredictable, but I would be remiss if I did not ask – What would be the best time to go for this summit? We have seen the views in June to October on All Trails.
During the summer – being off the mountain by 11/12 is best. In the fall, you can really get a way with a lot more. Views up there are always fairly similar and beautiful.
Hey Mickey,
I have continued to watch your most recent YT hikes…Not only enjoy, but for motivational purposes as well.
I continue to watch YT Mt. Sniktau and noted you went in June of 2019?. What day or week in June did you summit? The views were outstanding, and if I get a chance would like to go about the same time –
Thanks –
Mitch
Hey Mitch, hiked this one June 27th to be exact. For future reference, if you ever have a question about a hike date, the Garmin tracking file embedded in the site has the date hike on top. Best of luck with your hike!
Have you thought about bigger peaks? (Aconcagua, Denali etc). You definitely have the experience! Curious as to why you have ventured beyond CO/CA/NM? Money/time?
Hey Casey – have ventured a lot outside of that area. Check out my northeast hikes, Oregon, Costa Rica, Dolomites, Ireland, Kilimanjaro etc. Check out this playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjce9PH2Pl74mEMdnw7ubcdc0JiYIM6bW Always more to see but trips cost money and take time – when you are trying to balance a full time job, a home life etc. always a balance to be had. Certainly a big goal of mine in months and years to come – keep exploring different parts of the world!
Hello Mickey,
I love watching your videos. We are planning a trip to Colorado arriving 5/26-6/5 and would like to climb Mt Evans and Mt Elbert. This appears to be early in the season and many of the camping options appear to indicate they may not be open yet. Do you have any suggests where we could stay to climb Evans on 5/28, and Elbert 5/30? Which trail heads would be accessible that time of the year for each mountain? Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
Good afternoon, I having been living vicariously through you for months as we prepare for our trip to Colorado. We are coming in on 5/26 and going to Twin Lakes/Leadville for a couple nights of acclimatizing. We want to try Mt Elbert from the south route. Do you by chance know the current conditions, specifically ability to get to the 4×4 trailhead? How much snow do think we could be dealing with? Do you have any suggestions for a plan B? Thank you in advance for any recon you can provide.
You can get within 1 mile of the upper TH last I heard, a fallen tree blocks the road after that point. Would plan on a 14 mile day just in case. Lots of snow still, have snowshoes to deal with snow from 11-13k but mostly packed/snow free once you get above treeline. I imagine spikes will also be very helpful.
Mickey,
60 years living and enjoying the Colorado mountains all seasons. Recommend your site to friends, everything you need for a successful safe trip. Live in Ridgway, two drones. Contact point if you need anything. Continued success.
Hey Mickey,
Just wanted to drop a line to thank you for your Pemi Loop video. I completed the hike in one day (the standard loop just under 15 hours) and your video was invaluable for planning and figuring out the logistics. Even then, I was surprised by just how strenuous the hike ended up being and great job for doing those extra miles and making it look easy on tape. Looking forward to your many more videos, especially the East Coast ones!
Cheers man, glad it was helpful!
Mickey,
I recently watched your Mt Shavano video. My son and I are meeting in Salina over memorial day weekend. I am in my late 60s and this may be my last shot at climbing a Fourteener. Our plans are to climb Mt Shavano. Is that possible this time of year without snow shoes? If not, could you suggest an alternative 14ner so that I can check that off of my bucket list before it’s too late. I know that this is too early in the season, but this is the only time that we could both get off work together.
I would head to Quandary Peak – it will be much easier day than Shavano. All mountains will still have snow, but Quandary will be much more well traveled.
Thank you for getting back to me. I know that this is risky, and by most accounts, probably considered reckless, but thank you for responding with such understanding.
Mitchell
Hi Mikey, enjoyed very much your video of Longs Peak via Meecher and as I’m heading to the Rockies shortly I was wondering about the alternative to the Keyhole route by traversing across the boulder field to pick up the cable route, which offers some good scrambling opportunities that I relish, returning via keyhole. I’ll probably be alone so route finding would be less of an issue on this route I imagine. Have you done this one? On my list this trip is also Bierstadt & Sawtooth to Adams. You’ve probably have vids of those so I’ll go check! I’m a Brit, love the mountains and have just returned from a trip to the White Mountains Presidentials in NH, now in Norway, fly to CO 22nd July. Looking forward to it! Thanks for any tips! Best, Frank
Hey Mickey! My name is Wyatt. I am a 13 year old boy who has climbed 13 14ers. A goal of mine was to climb 14 of them before my 14th birthday on august 13. However, I was supposed to do one with my friend but he had a a death in the family so he backed out. I know this is very last minute, but I was wondering if you wanted to climb pikes peak from the northwest slopes from crags trailhead? On my birthday, the 13.
Thanks!
I’m planning a trip to Colorado next year and would like to hike up Mt. Quandary. As I’m coming from Michigan, which is flat, I am trying to find out how to train for it. What is the incline of Quandary? I think I read somewhere it’s 10%. I could set the incline on a treadmill at the local Planet Fitness for that. I want to do sone day hiking near Denver and then sone day hiking near Breckenridge to get acclimatized to the altitude before attempting the climb. I’d appreciate any information. Thank you!