Today Brenda & I hiked to the top of Mount Elbert, the tallest mountain in the state of Colorado. At 14,433’ above sea level, it’s second only to California’s Mount Whitney (by about sixty feet) for tallest mountain in the lower 48 states. Today, we stood on the top of Colorado, and it was a hell of a feeling. Our first “fourteener”. Yeah!

Now, Elbert is considered an “easy” fourteener. And it is, I guess. The thing is massive, so the approach ends up being fairly shallow the whole way. But you’re still walking six miles across and 4,000’ up, and then get to reverse and repeat the process to get back to the car. We were quite pleased with our performance, regardless of the “easy” rep Elbert enjoys. We passed several people on our way to the summit, and got the whole ordeal completed in 7.5 hours, including spending 40 minutes up there just looking around.

At the summit I had to chuckle, as I looked across the valley at Leadville, CO. Just a couple miles south of town is Lake County Airport, the highest public airport in the lower 48. And here we were, looking down on it! Pretty amazing. A few planes flew by while were were near and on the summit, and it was kinda cool to be looking directly at them, or looking down on them. In the photo below, you can make out the town of Leadville in the center and the long runway at the airport just to the south of town.

The clouds started building and we decided to get the hell outta Dodge a little before 11AM. The general idea is to be off the mountain by early afternoon, lest you get roasted by a nice bolt of Colorado mountain lightning. Below treeline, there were loads of charred trees and pulverized stumps to serve as reminders of what happens up there when the afternoon thunderstorms unleash their energy. After heading back to the (really nice) B&B we stayed at for a quick shower, we headed home. As we drove along RT24 we watched Mount Elbert get quite a soaking from an afternoon rainstorm, but thankfully no lightning; we knew full well that there were still a bunch of people on that hill, as we had passed them on their way up just hours ago.

All in all, it was a great weekend and a great hike, and I think we’re as ready as we can be for our attempt on Long’s Peak. Stay tuned.

The Long’s Peak preparations continue, and this weekend it was Mount Audubon (our first thirteener!). Once again, the views were amazing and the hike was a huff-and-puff extravaganza as we neared the summit. As usual, the summit revealed views that made it all worthwhile, and something about the effort and the oneness with nature even causes me to eat rice cakes and fresh fruit — and actually enjoy it — while I’m up there. So this hiking thing is really healthy for me, all ‘round.

From the top you could see Long’s Peak, and it sorta just stood there saying “yeah, that’s right, I’m right over here, bitches; whenever…”

Leslie was headed for Peru on the day of the hike (on any given day in Boulder, you probably know someone who is on their way to some hiker’s paradise) so it was just Brenda, Bryce and myself. We had a ball and more pictures are sure to follow, I just need to go to sleep right now.

On the way home we made a quick stop in Nederland, to pick up some acid. (Anyone who knows me knows that this was not for me. The last thing I need to see is a melting floor, or say, a purple rabbit. I merely mention this because I think it’s pretty damned funny.)

Yesterday’s long day was followed by another great day today, where we got to once again see our dear friend Patty who was visiting her brother in Parker, CO and we celebrated her niece Grace’s fourth birthday with presents, cake and amazingly sweet Colorado corn (and yes, Patty once again brought cold cuts!).

Saturday, Brenda & I — along with our friends Bryce and Leslie — hiked to the top of St. Vrain’s Mountain, a 12,000+ summit. It was amazing, the views great and the thin-air experience interesting. All in all, it was a good start in our training regimen…

This all started with an email from my friend Bryce a couple weeks ago. The subject line read “Long’s”, and the message read “you in?”; the rest of the message was a forwarded email from Leslie who was talking about the campsite reservations she was making for an attempt on the Long’s Peak summit in August. Ever since then, vague discussions about trying to hike to the summit of Colorado’s most popular fourteener have evolved into an actual plan to hit Long’s this August.

Hiking is an activity that Brenda & I have discovered is well suited to us; we love the exercise, the views, the challenge, the variety and the companionship. We’ve been exploring the local peaks ever since we both got here, but the higher peaks and their attendant views have interested the both of us, and luckily we have met some people out here that are into the hiking scene as well. Long’s is not exactly the easiest peak to summit, but it’s a popular one and since our friends were already planning this trip and had been to the summit before, it was a great opportunity to tag along.

Doing Long’s will involve camping and a 3AM departure for the summit; it should be interesting. In the meantime Brenda & I just need to get used to altitude, and so Saturday we huffed to the top of St. Vrain’s Mountain:

The view was ok, don’t you think?

More challenges await, and we plan to step up the altitudes and gradients in the coming weeks to get ready for the big ascent. I’ll keep the exact date a secret for now, but it’s in August. We already bought headlamps for the pre-dawn ascent; We’re going.

Floyd Landis won the Tour de France, and Brenda & I hiked our first “12er” in what was a beautiful day. So much to process, I think I need to get out of the house. More later, for sure.

Brenda has been busy working a couple of jobs, and I was fairly convinced that this weekend she’d be working all weekend. So when I hiked up to Bear Peak via the Fern Canyon Trail yesterday, I really didn’t mind that my knee joints were solidifying as I sat on the couch last night. I figured I was done with physical exertion for the weekend. Imagine my surprise when Brenda emerged from her shop last night, having completed all tasks, and was all excited about going hiking on Sunday (today).

We’ve been meaning to summit South Boulder Peak for several weeks now, ever since we did Bear Peak for the first time last month. Weather and work have conspired against finally tackling the final summit of the nearest Boulder peaks, but today was the day.

We drove down to the South Mesa Trailhead, just south of Boulder and headed on out. We took the Homestead Trail to the Shadow Canyon Trail, and commenced climbing, and climbing and climbing, and climbing….

At one point, you reach a saddle, where you can hang a right and head for Bear Peak, or a left, and head for South Boulder Peak. The view at that point is already amazing, but we knew that more awaited us. Since we’d both already been to Bear Peak, we hung a left. There was about 500 feet remaining to the summit.

On the way up this last segment, we passed a trail runner on his way down from the peak. These people run up and down these trails, and my knees are still asking me tonight: “daddy, why do those people behave the way they do?” I have no answer.

Just shy of the summit, we were greeted by a huge pile of boulders and a couple of hikers just coming down from the top. “You have to climb the rocks!”, they said. No shit. Brenda & I stowed our trekking poles and crawled along the rocks to the summit. Here’s the view:

I have to say, I really like this local Boulder peak. I really think that it’s better than Bear Peak, which affords 360-degree views. A full panorama is nice, but Shadow Canyon is an awesome challenge, with great views along the way, and South Boulder Peak features amazing views with more dramatic vistas; there are plenty of perches on South Boulder Peak where you can look at the Continental Divide, and look down at your feet and stare in to a canyon that is three thousand feet below you (where you were just a few hours ago):

The hike down was accelerated due to an advancing storm, but I think that whatever speed I descended the peak today would not have mattered; between yesterday’s ascent and today’s, my knees and feet have been pounded more than they ever have. The views at the top(s) were worth it, but I’m quite certain that tomorrow I’m gonna be a hurtin’ puppy.

(Galen, if you’re reading, my FKT for Bear Peak via the Fern Canyon Trail is now 1:25.)

This past weekend Brenda & I hiked up to Bear Peak, one of the three major peaks in the immediate vicinity of Boulder. It was awesome.

Last weekend we had hiked to the top of Green Mountain, and I thought that was gonna be it for difficult hikes for a while, but for some reason Brenda was very excited about doing Bear Peak this past weekend, so far be it from me to decline. I’m still sore from it, but it was great fun and worth every step.

We took the Fern Canyon trail to the summit, and this is a steep ascent (I checked with some people from work, and apparently this is suitably hardcore). In just over two miles of walking, you ascend about three thousand feet. At the top you face a largish pile of boulders that you have to scramble across to get to the very top, and once at the summit you have a 360-degree view of Colorado. We sat up there for half an hour in raging wind, taking in the view. It’s like flying.

The view below is looking north from Bear Peak; the big bump in the foreground is Green Mountain, and to the right of that is north Boulder; to the left, the Continental Divide. This view gives you a good sense of how Boulder is tightly nuzzled against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

I kept looking east and west, east and west, marveling at the difference between the interminable flatness of the midwestern plains that form one edge of Boulder, and the craggy rocky majesty of the Rockies that form the other. Here’s Brenda against the eastern plains, with Denver and its surrounding suburbs visible:

We decided to descend the same way we ascended, even though that meant a really steep, knee-busting grind to the bottom. I want hiking poles now. I’m still sore, but it was worth it. I still can’t believe I live in a city where we are a mile away from trailheads that lead to such amazing views.