Mt. Bierstadt Trip Report 01/01/2015

Peak(s):	Mt. Bierstadt - 14,066 feet Mt. Democrat - 14,154 feet Mt. Cameron - 14,248 feet Mt. Lincoln - 14,293 feet Mt. Bross - 14,178 feet Mt. Blue Sky - 14,268 feet Quandary Peak - 14,272 feet Mt. Sherman - 14,043 feet Grays Peak - 14,275 feet Mt. Belford - 14,202 feet
Date Posted:	01/01/2015
Date Climbed:	09/27/2014
Author:	brooked

14, 14ers in 2014 (pics in video)
I created a short video of our 14, 14ers in 2014. I set the goal in the summer of 2013 not having climbed any 14ers. My husband joined me on the adventure and we had a great time and learned a lot. Three of the peaks we counted toward our total are unranked: Cameron, South Bross, and West Evans. However, this was my own goal so if it was over 14,000 feet we counted it! We were also on the top of Pikes but did not count it since we took the cog up and only climbed the incline. Hope to be back to Pikes this coming summer, possibly in the Pikes Peak Ascent! (Somehow I made the link to the video attach to the entire trip report?? Anyhow, click anywhere on the report below to be linked to the video!) Bierstadt 6/14/14 This was our first ever 14er and we arrived much too late. I can't remember exactly but I do not think we were actually hiking until around 8 a.m. There were many people on the trail on this day and it was MUDDY!!! I at first tried to avoid all the mud since I was wearing brand new Salomons. I soon realized it would be impossible and by the end my new shoes were completely covered in mud. Oh well.... they are trail shoes arent' they? They were pretty though. :-D Even with washes, they remained stained from the first hike on. Once above 12,000 feet I found myself with all the other slow pokes perched over rocks trying to suck in air. I slow down incredibly and get frustrated with my inability to move at a faster pace. I am a half marathon runner but my husband who almost does not cardio can usually leave me in the dust at high altitudes (although he doesn't). He must have way bigger lungs! This first hike taught me many things about hiking 14ers. #1 - Don't worry about your clothing or how you look or keeping things clean. There is no vanity above 14,000 feet. #2 - Lack of oxygen makes it mind boggling difficult to move. #3 - 14er climbers are extremely friendly! It feels like one big family! #4 - Peeing is a problem (especially for girls) above treeline. (I ended up having to duck behind a bolder but the mountain was so busy that day, I can't guarantee nobody saw me. #5 - Layers are important, and weather changes often. #6 - There is still a ton of snow on the mountains in June. #7 - Try to be off the mountain by 12. Expect afternoon lightning storms. It took us quite a long time compared to others, 6 hrs 48 min. for 7.85 miles. We got very lucky as we did not get back to the car until almost 3 pm and saw very disturbed looking clouds (tornado activity) come over the mountain as we were leaving. Grays Peak 6/28/14 The obvious question would be why didn't we hike Torreys as well? Well, that was the plan. However, we were greeted with the harsh reality that even in mid-summer you can find winter at the top of these peaks and we certainly did. We arrived much earlier this time, before 6 a.m. The road was very rough and more difficult than some reports had lead me to believe. We have a new Buick Enclave which my husband correctly insists is more luxury and not meant for off roading. We are not in search of a Jeep for future trailheads! My husband was not too happy about driving up and down that road. When we arrived it was already snowing. As we set out, many people began to put on microspikes but we did not have any. My Salomons had pretty good traction but my husbands hiking shoes did not and he had difficulty slipping on the ice and snow. It was extremely windy and freezing cold throughout this hike. Many people turned around but I was deteremined to knock off another peak, hoping for two. When we got to about 12,000 feet my fingers began to become painfully cold to where I could no longer ignore them. I was wearing two pairs of gloves and had no more with me. I remembered that I'd packed extra wool socks. Both my husband and I pulled on the wool socks which warmed our fingers enough to make it to the top of Grays. You can see me wearing wool socks while holding the sign at the top. Others had left a sign and I was glad as I did not want to take the socks off my hands to try to find the sign I had brought. The clouds opened just barely where we could get a quick shot before chasing all the others down the mountain. We only saw one man actually continue on to Torreys after completing Grays. It was white out conditions and we could not even see the peak. I was very disappointed to be so close to Torreys and not summit it. At least we had stuck through with Grays! After this climb I was unsure if my husband would continue with me. He did not enjoy it AT ALL. And to be honest, I also considered giving up on my goal for 14, 14ers... Decalibron: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross, S. Bross July 11, 2014 Amazingly enough, we found ourselves camped at Kite Lake on Thursday July 10th with intentions of hiking Decalibron the next morning. We discovered that our Buick Enclave may be a "luxury" vehicle, but it does work great for car camping. Our double sized air mattress fit perfectly into the back with the back rows folded down. We arrived pretty late after dark. Climbed into the back and even had a sun roof to look at the stars before the windows frosted over. It would have been a pretty good nights sleep except that someone's car emergency horn started going off and continued going off for several minutes in the early am which woke me up and made it difficult to go back to sleep. I even had to get up and venture out to the outhouse in the middle of the night. We decided to go the traditional route in the morning starting with Democrat. I was very nervous about going down Bross and had read about the scree fest. I originally had plans to backtrack and go back down the original ascent. Once on Lincoln, there was a lot of talk from others about whether or not to hike Bross for fear of getting kicked off since it is private property. Being the stubborn girl I am, I was determined to give it a whirl. Knocking off Bross would bring us that much closer to 14, 14ers. Most others said they were turning around but I was surprised to see up to ten people follow (and pass) my husband and I once we set in that direction. Guess they all figured there was power in numbers. I had recently read a report from cookie hiker (I think) about adding on South Bross so we set off to add this unranked peak before heading down. By then however, it was starting to sprinkle and whether looked iffy. I decided to give the scree a chance on Bross. IT WAS DREADFUL. I was literally passed by probably over 100 people on this downhill and I fell too many times to count. It was just downright embarrassing. Since then, I become much more skilled at downhill climbing, even running so hope I'd do better if ever faced with that again. We were one of the last to come limping down the mountain. We got down just in time as a huge lighting flash struck democrat as we were leaving. It was a bit scary. I really enjoyed this hike, it was beautiful. However, my struggle down Bross left me feeling a bit deflated. Mt. Evans 8/1/14 We decided this would be a good mountain to take our 14 year old daughter on her first 14er. It is close to Denver and has a road to the top should you run into any problems. In retrospect, I wish we'd waited a day. This had been a very rainy week and I was unsure going into it. It started out beautiful. We hiked from Summit Lake and first summited the 13er Mt. Spalding. Just before the summit of Mt. Spalding we were surrounded by clouds that never dispersed. We could see almost nothing. I kept telling my daughter that it must be beautiful if the clouds weren't surrounding us. I was disappointed that she could not take it all in. We ran into a nice family that took our picture on the top of Mt. Spalding and then proceeded to get completely lost. It was a bit scary knowing you have your child up on a mountain and do not know where the trail is. We could not see anything. After much wandering we finally decided to retrace our steps until we got back to Mt. Spalding. I later looked at my Garmin watch GPS map and found we had been headed in the complete wrong direction. Luckly we were able to find the cairns correctly once back and Mt. Spalding and follow them carefully to Mt. Evans which was difficult in the fog. Once we got close to Mt. Evans it began to sleet... or snow... or sleet? Sleet that looked like snow I guess. We followed all the tourists that had drove to the top and took a picture in ponchos from the summit. It was at that time my husband and I decided to find some nice tourists to drive us back to our car safely. We ended up having to put our 14year old daughter on my husbands lap and share the back seat of a very nice BMW. (Hopefully we didn't get their seats too wet or dirty). We were so grateful to be getting our daughter off the mountain safely. Very loud lightning and thunder hit directly above us as we drove down. The roads looked to be covered in snow. (And it's now August....crazy). Once off the mountain, we bought our daughter an "I DID IT" hoodie and headed to our new favorite Beau Jo's. Unfortunately, our daughter was not too impressed with her experience but I'm hoping she'll choose to join us another time and be greeted with better weather and a better view. Quandary Peak 8/8/14 This was my favorite peak! we started at 6:28 a.m. and hiked 6 hrs 16 min. for a total of 7.11 miles. The weather was absolutely perfect. We've discovered how the weather can make or break a hike and is not always predictable. There was almost no wind. It was a beautiful day. We loved how it started below tree line. On this hike we found our first naturally growing columbine and multiple Mountain Goats. We made a lot of friendships on the trail and even practiced some down hill jogging, which was a blast. I loved this climb! My husband and I got room at a ski lodge in Breckenridge for the night and enjoyed soaking in their huge hot tubs. Mt. Sherman 8/9/14 I had read enough reports by now to realize that many found it very doable to hike two 14ers (or more) back to back. So the next morning we set of toward Mt. Sherman. All I can say is that most people on these 14er sights are in better shape or younger than me. We ended up parking a little over 1/2 mile from the trail head. My legs felt fine until we started the very gradual incline toward the trailhead. It felt like it took forever..... I really didn't feel like I would be able to do it. Each step hurt and was even more difficult than normal circumstances. I kept wrestling with myself in my own head. "I can do this, ....I can't do this, I should turn around now....No, we've come all this way.... I can do this." I was further disappointed once making it to the trailhead to find there was no outhouse. I always drink on the way assuming I can use a restroom at the trailhead. I ended up climbing around the (pretty neat) in order to pee before we climbed up the mountain. Amazingly, as we continued to climb, my legs loosened up a bit and made it easier for me to climb. By the end I wasn't thinking about my legs much at all. In my opinion, this is the easiest 14er. Even with parking a ways from the trailhead, our round trip mileage was 5.52. It took us 4 1/2 hours and that was with a very slow start and many breaks. The top was crazy windy but we later found out it was known for that. We found a teenage girl in this area crying. You did have to concentrate to keep from blowing off the ridge. We also passed a woman hiking this for her 80th birthday. I was super impressed but also a bit worried about her on the windy ridge. This hike was my husband's favorite simply because of all the mining ruins. He loves that kind of thing. I too found it pretty interesting! 9/1/14 Belford and Oxford After the Sherman hike, school started back up and busy life resumed. Our two daughers were in school, I was back to teaching, and I am in the process of completing my graduate degree. I was unsure if we'd find the time to finish our goal of 14. Somehow we managed to make it up to Belford and Oxford. We once again slept in our car at the trailhead the night before. I read later that this may not have been allowed but I saw no signs while there and we had no difficulties. We got up super early and started our first ever hike by headlamp adventure at 4 a.m. I have great memories of this. It was fun but we did run into some early troubles. First off, my husband's headlamp was way too dim. It did not light his path. Mine was not much better. We ended up using the flashlight. Then, here's probably my stupidest summer debacle . I took two caffeine pills in the morning since I was unable to drink coffee (I'm addicted to coffee) and we were starting off so early. I ate a half a bagel so I figured it would do alright in my stomach. About 20 minutes into the hike, I started to get very bad stomach cramps. I felt like I was going to vomit and felt very hot. I would strip off my jacket and crawl to the floor until the pain passed. Well, of course my husband wanted to turn around immediately. He told me it was silly to continue. I however knew it was the stupid pills and that I had to let them pass my system. I tried to eat and drink a bit more and continued on VERY SLOW with a few more rolling in the dirt in the dark episodes. (So glad noone passed during these embarrassing episodes.) At some point my husband said we were turning around immediately the next time my stomach cramps up. Luckily, it began to clear some 45 minutes later and we were back to a solid pace. That was no fun to be sure. I will never be so stupid with regards to caffeine pills again. This was a very LONG hike but one of my favorites. Probably my favorite behind Quandary. It was quite the trek and I feel accomplished to have completed it. We took Elkhead pass down and I was so glad we had read about it. It was indeed a beautiful way to decline and was not near as steep as if we had gone down the way we came up. Overall, we hiked 12 miles and it took us 10 hours (with my rough start). Some four months later, my big toe is still black and blue from this hike. I almost lost my nail but it has stuck through. Both hubby and I had bleeding feet when we returned from this great adventure! Torreys Peak 9/27/14 I really only have great fall weather to thank for our ability to get #14 in. By the end of September life was very busy with school, kids sports, and work. I really wanted to do Mt. Elbert but my husband was not up for that far of a drive. So instead, we decided to return to the peak that defeated us earlier in the year with Blizzard conditions. Torreys Peak. I'd read reports of the trail being improved since early summer but it was as terrible as ever. We did see some fluid leaked along the road where some car had damaged their undercarriage. This hike was mainly a mission to complete #14. It was enjoyable seeing the mountain in early fall rather than late spring. Fall colors were beautiful from the top! The weather was much more cooperative on this day and we made it to the top of Torreys without much difficulty. We did look at Grays Peak and consider reascending but instead decided to take our victory pictures and head down to Beau Jo's for one more fabulous pizza before calling it a wrap! Overall, this was an amazing experience. I'm so glad I set out on this adventure! When I set the goal for 14, 14ers in 2014, I really did not know what I was getting myself into. As a mother, it was difficult to find the weekend time to head into the mountains. It also was defeating at times to see how much easier these mountains seem to other hikers. Hope to continue next summer with not quite as many and be ready to tackle some class threes like Longs Peak. I also am considering signing up for the Pikes Peak Ascent. That's a bit crazy as well considering how slow I seem to move above 12,000 feet. I do have a qualifying race time to enter but would need more practice at higher altitudes. "High in the mountains life becomes very clear, the higher you go the more you can see." ~ Unknown

14, 14ers in 2014 (pics in video)

I created a short video of our 14, 14ers in 2014. I set the goal in the summer of 2013 not having climbed any 14ers. My husband joined me on the adventure and we had a great time and learned a lot. Three of the peaks we counted toward our total are unranked: Cameron, South Bross, and West Evans. However, this was my own goal so if it was over 14,000 feet we counted it! We were also on the top of Pikes but did not count it since we took the cog up and only climbed the incline. Hope to be back to Pikes this coming summer, possibly in the Pikes Peak Ascent!

(Somehow I made the link to the video attach to the entire trip report?? Anyhow, click anywhere on the report below to be linked to the video!)

Bierstadt 6/14/14

This was our first ever 14er and we arrived much too late. I can't remember exactly but I do not think we were actually hiking until around 8 a.m. There were many people on the trail on this day and it was MUDDY!!! I at first tried to avoid all the mud since I was wearing brand new Salomons. I soon realized it would be impossible and by the end my new shoes were completely covered in mud. Oh well.... they are trail shoes arent' they? They were pretty though. :-D Even with washes, they remained stained from the first hike on. Once above 12,000 feet I found myself with all the other slow pokes perched over rocks trying to suck in air. I slow down incredibly and get frustrated with my inability to move at a faster pace. I am a half marathon runner but my husband who almost does not cardio can usually leave me in the dust at high altitudes (although he doesn't). He must have way bigger lungs!

This first hike taught me many things about hiking 14ers.

#1 - Don't worry about your clothing or how you look or keeping things clean. There is no vanity above 14,000 feet.
#2 - Lack of oxygen makes it mind boggling difficult to move.
#3 - 14er climbers are extremely friendly! It feels like one big family!
#4 - Peeing is a problem (especially for girls) above treeline. (I ended up having to duck behind a bolder but the mountain was so busy that day, I can't guarantee nobody saw me.
#5 - Layers are important, and weather changes often.
#6 - There is still a ton of snow on the mountains in June.
#7 - Try to be off the mountain by 12. Expect afternoon lightning storms. It took us quite a long time compared to others,
6 hrs 48 min. for 7.85 miles. We got very lucky as we did not get back to the car until almost 3 pm and saw very disturbed looking clouds (tornado activity) come over the mountain as we were leaving.

Grays Peak 6/28/14

The obvious question would be why didn't we hike Torreys as well? Well, that was the plan. However, we were greeted with the harsh reality that even in mid-summer you can find winter at the top of these peaks and we certainly did. We arrived much earlier this time, before 6 a.m. The road was very rough and more difficult than some reports had lead me to believe. We have a new Buick Enclave which my husband correctly insists is more luxury and not meant for off roading. We are not in search of a Jeep for future trailheads! My husband was not too happy about driving up and down that road.

When we arrived it was already snowing. As we set out, many people began to put on microspikes but we did not have any. My Salomons had pretty good traction but my husbands hiking shoes did not and he had difficulty slipping on the ice and snow. It was extremely windy and freezing cold throughout this hike. Many people turned around but I was deteremined to knock off another peak, hoping for two. When we got to about 12,000 feet my fingers began to become painfully cold to where I could no longer ignore them. I was wearing two pairs of gloves and had no more with me. I remembered that I'd packed extra wool socks. Both my husband and I pulled on the wool socks which warmed our fingers enough to make it to the top of Grays. You can see me wearing wool socks while holding the sign at the top. Others had left a sign and I was glad as I did not want to take the socks off my hands to try to find the sign I had brought. The clouds opened just barely where we could get a quick shot before chasing all the others down the mountain. We only saw one man actually continue on to Torreys after completing Grays. It was white out conditions and we could not even see the peak. I was very disappointed to be so close to Torreys and not summit it. At least we had stuck through with Grays! After this climb I was unsure if my husband would continue with me. He did not enjoy it AT ALL. And to be honest, I also considered giving up on my goal for 14, 14ers...

Decalibron: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross, S. Bross July 11, 2014

Amazingly enough, we found ourselves camped at Kite Lake on Thursday July 10th with intentions of hiking Decalibron the next morning. We discovered that our Buick Enclave may be a "luxury" vehicle, but it does work great for car camping. Our double sized air mattress fit perfectly into the back with the back rows folded down. We arrived pretty late after dark. Climbed into the back and even had a sun roof to look at the stars before the windows frosted over. It would have been a pretty good nights sleep except that someone's car emergency horn started going off and continued going off for several minutes in the early am which woke me up and made it difficult to go back to sleep. I even had to get up and venture out to the outhouse in the middle of the night.

We decided to go the traditional route in the morning starting with Democrat. I was very nervous about going down Bross and had read about the scree fest. I originally had plans to backtrack and go back down the original ascent. Once on Lincoln, there was a lot of talk from others about whether or not to hike Bross for fear of getting kicked off since it is private property. Being the stubborn girl I am, I was determined to give it a whirl. Knocking off Bross would bring us that much closer to 14, 14ers. Most others said they were turning around but I was surprised to see up to ten people follow (and pass) my husband and I once we set in that direction. Guess they all figured there was power in numbers.

I had recently read a report from cookie hiker (I think) about adding on South Bross so we set off to add this unranked peak before heading down. By then however, it was starting to sprinkle and whether looked iffy. I decided to give the scree a chance on Bross. IT WAS DREADFUL. I was literally passed by probably over 100 people on this downhill and I fell too many times to count. It was just downright embarrassing. Since then, I become much more skilled at downhill climbing, even running so hope I'd do better if ever faced with that again. We were one of the last to come limping down the mountain. We got down just in time as a huge lighting flash struck democrat as we were leaving. It was a bit scary. I really enjoyed this hike, it was beautiful. However, my struggle down Bross left me feeling a bit deflated.

Mt. Evans 8/1/14

We decided this would be a good mountain to take our 14 year old daughter on her first 14er. It is close to Denver and has a road to the top should you run into any problems. In retrospect, I wish we'd waited a day. This had been a very rainy week and I was unsure going into it. It started out beautiful. We hiked from Summit Lake and first summited the 13er Mt. Spalding. Just before the summit of Mt. Spalding we were surrounded by clouds that never dispersed. We could see almost nothing. I kept telling my daughter that it must be beautiful if the clouds weren't surrounding us. I was disappointed that she could not take it all in. We ran into a nice family that took our picture on the top of Mt. Spalding and then proceeded to get completely lost. It was a bit scary knowing you have your child up on a mountain and do not know where the trail is. We could not see anything. After much wandering we finally decided to retrace our steps until we got back to Mt. Spalding. I later looked at my Garmin watch GPS map and found we had been headed in the complete wrong direction. Luckly we were able to find the cairns correctly once back and Mt. Spalding and follow them carefully to Mt. Evans which was difficult in the fog. Once we got close to Mt. Evans it began to sleet... or snow... or sleet? Sleet that looked like snow I guess. We followed all the tourists that had drove to the top and took a picture in ponchos from the summit. It was at that time my husband and I decided to find some nice tourists to drive us back to our car safely. We ended up having to put our 14year old daughter on my husbands lap and share the back seat of a very nice BMW. (Hopefully we didn't get their seats too wet or dirty). We were so grateful to be getting our daughter off the mountain safely. Very loud lightning and thunder hit directly above us as we drove down. The roads looked to be covered in snow. (And it's now August....crazy). Once off the mountain, we bought our daughter an "I DID IT" hoodie and headed to our new favorite Beau Jo's. Unfortunately, our daughter was not too impressed with her experience but I'm hoping she'll choose to join us another time and be greeted with better weather and a better view.

Quandary Peak 8/8/14

This was my favorite peak! we started at 6:28 a.m. and hiked 6 hrs 16 min. for a total of 7.11 miles. The weather was absolutely perfect. We've discovered how the weather can make or break a hike and is not always predictable. There was almost no wind. It was a beautiful day. We loved how it started below tree line. On this hike we found our first naturally growing columbine and multiple Mountain Goats. We made a lot of friendships on the trail and even practiced some down hill jogging, which was a blast. I loved this climb!

My husband and I got room at a ski lodge in Breckenridge for the night and enjoyed soaking in their huge hot tubs.

Mt. Sherman 8/9/14

I had read enough reports by now to realize that many found it very doable to hike two 14ers (or more) back to back. So the next morning we set of toward Mt. Sherman. All I can say is that most people on these 14er sights are in better shape or younger than me. We ended up parking a little over 1/2 mile from the trail head. My legs felt fine until we started the very gradual incline toward the trailhead. It felt like it took forever..... I really didn't feel like I would be able to do it. Each step hurt and was even more difficult than normal circumstances. I kept wrestling with myself in my own head. "I can do this, ....I can't do this, I should turn around now....No, we've come all this way.... I can do this." I was further disappointed once making it to the trailhead to find there was no outhouse. I always drink on the way assuming I can use a restroom at the trailhead. I ended up climbing around the (pretty neat) in order to pee before we climbed up the mountain. Amazingly, as we continued to climb, my legs loosened up a bit and made it easier for me to climb. By the end I wasn't thinking about my legs much at all. In my opinion, this is the easiest 14er. Even with parking a ways from the trailhead, our round trip mileage was 5.52. It took us 4 1/2 hours and that was with a very slow start and many breaks. The top was crazy windy but we later found out it was known for that. We found a teenage girl in this area crying. You did have to concentrate to keep from blowing off the ridge. We also passed a woman hiking this for her 80th birthday. I was super impressed but also a bit worried about her on the windy ridge. This hike was my husband's favorite simply because of all the mining ruins. He loves that kind of thing. I too found it pretty interesting!

9/1/14 Belford and Oxford

After the Sherman hike, school started back up and busy life resumed. Our two daughers were in school, I was back to teaching, and I am in the process of completing my graduate degree. I was unsure if we'd find the time to finish our goal of 14. Somehow we managed to make it up to Belford and Oxford. We once again slept in our car at the trailhead the night before. I read later that this may not have been allowed but I saw no signs while there and we had no difficulties. We got up super early and started our first ever hike by headlamp adventure at 4 a.m. I have great memories of this. It was fun but we did run into some early troubles. First off, my husband's headlamp was way too dim. It did not light his path. Mine was not much better. We ended up using the flashlight. Then, here's probably my stupidest summer debacle . I took two caffeine pills in the morning since I was unable to drink coffee (I'm addicted to coffee) and we were starting off so early. I ate a half a bagel so I figured it would do alright in my stomach. About 20 minutes into the hike, I started to get very bad stomach cramps. I felt like I was going to vomit and felt very hot. I would strip off my jacket and crawl to the floor until the pain passed. Well, of course my husband wanted to turn around immediately. He told me it was silly to continue. I however knew it was the stupid pills and that I had to let them pass my system. I tried to eat and drink a bit more and continued on VERY SLOW with a few more rolling in the dirt in the dark episodes. (So glad noone passed during these embarrassing episodes.) At some point my husband said we were turning around immediately the next time my stomach cramps up. Luckily, it began to clear some 45 minutes later and we were back to a solid pace. That was no fun to be sure. I will never be so stupid with regards to caffeine pills again. This was a very LONG hike but one of my favorites. Probably my favorite behind Quandary. It was quite the trek and I feel accomplished to have completed it. We took Elkhead pass down and I was so glad we had read about it. It was indeed a beautiful way to decline and was not near as steep as if we had gone down the way we came up. Overall, we hiked 12 miles and it took us 10 hours (with my rough start). Some four months later, my big toe is still black and blue from this hike. I almost lost my nail but it has stuck through. Both hubby and I had bleeding feet when we returned from this great adventure!

Torreys Peak 9/27/14

I really only have great fall weather to thank for our ability to get #14 in. By the end of September life was very busy with school, kids sports, and work. I really wanted to do Mt. Elbert but my husband was not up for that far of a drive. So instead, we decided to return to the peak that defeated us earlier in the year with Blizzard conditions. Torreys Peak. I'd read reports of the trail being improved since early summer but it was as terrible as ever. We did see some fluid leaked along the road where some car had damaged their undercarriage. This hike was mainly a mission to complete #14. It was enjoyable seeing the mountain in early fall rather than late spring. Fall colors were beautiful from the top! The weather was much more cooperative on this day and we made it to the top of Torreys without much difficulty. We did look at Grays Peak and consider reascending but instead decided to take our victory pictures and head down to Beau Jo's for one more fabulous pizza before calling it a wrap!

Overall, this was an amazing experience. I'm so glad I set out on this adventure! When I set the goal for 14, 14ers in 2014, I really did not know what I was getting myself into. As a mother, it was difficult to find the weekend time to head into the mountains. It also was defeating at times to see how much easier these mountains seem to other hikers. Hope to continue next summer with not quite as many and be ready to tackle some class threes like Longs Peak. I also am considering signing up for the Pikes Peak Ascent. That's a bit crazy as well considering how slow I seem to move above 12,000 feet. I do have a qualifying race time to enter but would need more practice at higher altitudes. "High in the mountains life becomes very clear, the higher you go the more you can see." ~ Unknown

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