CO 14er FKT Attempt (Maune)

[Brett M]

Alright, I’ve got to post this now while I am still able to do so. The plan is to start driving to CO this afternoon, climb Bells tomorrow, take train on Thursday, and start on Friday if the weather still looks reasonable. I hope to start at 5:30 AM but may start a little earlier if I have acclimation issues (I think I will be fine but not by a wide margin). Dsunwall has graciously offered to lend his DeLorme again for tracking. I don’t know the link for it, but hopefully he can provide it later (things have been hectic!).

Regarding support, I would greatly appreciate any help people could provide. Beyond the San Juans, I don’t have guaranteed access to a 4wd vehicle. There’s a plan in the works for the Sangres though. My core support team (wife and coworker) are coming from CA. Though they are a superb crew, they don’t know the CO 14ers and THs well at all. Think back to before you climbed any 14ers and words like “Como” and “Pikes Peak Highway” meant the same to you (nothing!). Anyway, just having a car to follow at times would even be a big help to prevent us from getting lost. The crew also won’t really know when and where help will be needed so if anyone can help then please be proactive and don’t wait for the crew to say where help will be needed. I will know when it will be needed but I will be doing a lot of hiking and my brain will turn to mush after a few days anyway.

Despite how short the attempt was last year it was amazing and produced many memories that I will cherish for a lifetime. In this sense last year was a success and I fully expect the same to happen again this year. Besides my deep appreciation for any assistance people can provide, I hope anyone who helps will also be rewarded with amazing memorable experiences—perhaps the only real thing of lasting value in life. If nothing else, things will be interesting!

I will be busy traveling and preparing up until the start of the attempt and may never get messages if sent directly to me. If you can help or need to relay a message to me then contacting my wife, Hareem, is best.
Her 14ers user name is: Maunes
Her cell number is: 626 429 0358

Lastly, I have a Culebra reservation for Friday the 17th. If I am still moving, then this will be on day 8 of the attempt. So far I have been unable to reach the ranch management to see if I could climb at a different time. If things go well then ideally I would be able to climb it late Sunday night/early Monday morning (July 12th/13th). I would greatly appreciate it if someone could talk to the ranch management on my behalf to help with this.

Trying my best to live the dream
Brett


(Follow Brett's progress here: https://share.delorme.com/DwightSunwall)

[Jason Halladay]

Besides my deep appreciation for any assistance people can provide, I hope anyone who helps will also be rewarded with amazing memorable experiences—perhaps the only real thing of lasting value in life.

Well said!

Best wishes for your attempt, Brett. It's inspiring and impressive to "watch" you and others go for this goal. I wish I could help but most likely will not be able to provide any assistance, unfortunately.

[thatmushroom]

My boss is gonna kill me. But it's worth it. Best of luck!

[andrewrose]

Good luck Brett!

[colokeith]

oh man back to back attempts!!!

[IHikeLikeAGirl]

Man...I should just quit work now....

Best of everything to you Brett!

[CO Native]

Another weeks worth of entertainment watching your progress. Very excited. Wish you would have posted sooner for support help though. I can't imagine doing this without a detailed plan, but you certainly showed your speed and adaptability has it's advantages as well during your last attempt. Good luck and watch out for those Pikes Peak chicken sandwiches.

[rob runkle]

Good luck Brett!! I'm hoping to take my kids up their first 14er (Handies) on July 13. Maybe we will see your footprints...

[14erFred]

Wishing you all the best with your FKT attempt, Brett! May you be blessed with good weather, good health, limitless physical resilience, and positive karma throughout your alpine quest!

[glenmiz]

Good luck Brett! I'll be watching (rather than doing everything else) once Andrew finishes.

NO CHICKEN SANDWICHES!

[Brett M]

For the Sangres I was thinking of doing Willow -> Crestones -> SLC and then start the Blanca group from the Huerfano side, but then the road washed out. Is there a solution for this (dirt bike)? I guess I would hopefully be there on Sunday. Maybe the road would be improved by then?...

[maunes]

As Brett stated, please do contact me when/if you could help. This record is a momentous undertaking even more so for someone from out of state, full-time job, and young kids amongst other things. I have been tracking Andrew Hamilton's progress and it is awe-inspiring and humbling what him and his crew are accomplishing! They are setting the bar high for the next record attempt.

I will add to Brett's list of requests, please let me know if there are any restaurants that we should avoid when getting food near the mountains -- apparently this is a crucial piece of information we did not take in account last year!