It probably wasn't a good idea. It had been about 2 years since I went up Elbert, my last 14er, and I felt out of sorts preparing to climb Mt. Yale. It had already been a long week, and my legs were still sore from being overworked. The day prior was very busy and it took me longer than usual to pack, as I kept forgetting where I put things or forgetting to pack something. I finally got to bed around 11:30pm. There were numerous reasons to not attempt this 14er, but I thought that if I kept on putting it off for the “perfect” day, the entire summer would pass without one summit. So, when my alarm went off at 2:30am, I crawled out of bed and got ready.

Normally, I make myself a breakfast burrito the night before and take that with me to eat in the car. However, I forgot to make one, and so instead I grabbed a banana and a protein shake. Probably not the meal to prepare for a long day. I finally left Castle Rock around 3am and headed to the Denny Creek Trail Head through Colorado Springs, about a 2 hour and 45 minute drive. Working on about 3 hours of sleep, I found myself nodding off every so often on the long stretches of US24.

I arrived at the TH at about 5:50am to find that the parking lot was almost full. I parked in one of the last spots and sat there for a minute. I considered taking a nap in the car and driving back. I wasn’t in any condition to summit. I shouldn’t have even driven out here. Why am I even here? But I figured the Castle Rock Happy Hour crew would be very disappointed if I didn't even make an attempt. I put on my shoes, only to find I had brought my skiing socks, not my hiking socks. Not only did the thicker socks not quite fit into my boots, they were way warmer than they needed to be. At least it was bright enough to not need my headlamp, which ran out of batteries on Elbert. I was thinking of what else I had forgotten as I finished packing my backpack and headed up the trail at about 6:05am.

But once I started up the trail, something weird happened. Despite my apprehension of not being on a 14er for two years, I suddenly felt this sense of peace once I got on the trail. I stopped obsessing about what I did and did not bring. This was just another 14er, just another trail, just another hike. I told myself if I just went slow and hiked at my own pace, I’d be fine. For the first mile the trail was wide, and nearly impossible to lose.

About a mile in, I got to the first creek crossing. No problems going over the bridge over Denny Creek.

At about 1.3 miles in I saw the sign for the Hartenstein Lake & Mt Yale trail junction. At this point I was encouraged that I was making pretty good time. I took the trail to the right and started the ascent of Mt. Yale

After the junction, the trail started to get a little steeper, but I was still feeling good and keeping a good pace. The trail was really well maintained and easy to follow. At about 1.5 miles in, the trail parallels Delany Creek for a bit. There was a section where the creek ran down the trail, making it a little muddy.

I came to a log bridge at about 2 miles in, going over Delaney Creek. I was still making pretty good time, but after this creek crossing, the trail become steeper.

There's one more small stream that I crossed before going up a series of switchbacks.

I passed a few more small meadows before the trail became steep, going back and forth up the mountain. I slowed down a little as I climbed up towards tree line.

I finally broke through the tree-line at about 2.5 miles in and about 12,100 feet in elevation. I told myself I was about halfway to the top, and it was around 7:30. I was making pretty good time. Once I got out of the trees, the trail became more and more steep. I had to slow down as groups of people passed me.

Once I came over the ridge, Mt. Yale, along with the rest of the route came into sight. I finally saw the trail of hikers scrambling up the trail to the top of the mountain. At this point, the self-doubt started to creep in. I wondered if I was going to be able to make it. I was feeling the effects of only getting 3 hours of sleep. I started feeling the blisters on my heels. I saw the trail ahead and saw how steep the climb was to the saddle, and I wondered how I was going to make it up that.

At about 13,000 feet, the trail begins a steep climb up towards the saddle. I didn't think I could slow down any more, but I did. More people passed me by as I stopped to catch my breath every 50 steps. Then stopping every 40 steps, every 20 steps, and then it seemed like I had to stop every 5 steps. I thought about turning back. What was I thinking when I thought I could do this? I didn’t think I had enough energy to make it up to the saddle.

When I thought about turning around, I thought of the crew from the Castle Rock 14ers Happy Hour and channeled their positive energy and encouragement. Actually, that’s not true. In reality, I didn’t want to come back to this group of certified badasses at the next Happy Hour to tell them I bailed on Yale. I mean, these are people who run up 14ers before breakfast. They've got peaks like Whitney, Rainer, Denali, and Kilimanjaro under their belts. I thought I'd be a total failure if I didn't get to the top. I had to keep going . This was probably the hardest part of the climb, but I finally made it to the saddle.

At the saddle, I took a short break. I ate a protein pastry, which isn't the best choice of food on a 14er. It is very dry, and needed to drink a lot of water to get it down. I started up the Class 2 summit ridge of Mt Yale. I don’t know how or why, but I suddenly got a burst of energy scrambling up these boulders. I felt more at ease on this section than trudging up the long switchbacks up to the saddle. Maybe it was because I could take my time. Maybe it was because I wasn’t getting passed by someone every 5 minutes.

It didn't take me very long to get to the false summit at 14,100 feet. At this point, I knew the real summit was right around the corner. At this point you'd think I cruised the last 100 feet to the top. But you'd be wrong. This is where I started to bonk. I felt the pain in my legs and felt my energy levels crash. I was almost there, I just needed to get to the top.

I slowly hopped from boulder to boulder as I climbed the last 100 feet to the summit. I was in pretty bad shape, but I had made it. It took me approximately 4 hours and 20 minutes to get to the top. Not fast by any stretch of the imagination, but I made it.

I only stayed at the top for about 10 minutes. Enough time to get a couple of panoramic shots of the14ers around me. I figured if I stayed any longer I would either fall asleep, or my legs would freeze up and I’d never get down. I had to keep moving. So at 10:35am, I started back down the summit ridge, taking my time hopping from boulder to boulder. It took me a while to get back down to the saddle, as I started feeling the fatigue in my legs. Gravity was on my side now, but I still had to take it slow.

From the saddle, I just slowly scrambled down the switchbacks back to tree-line. I still wasn’t going very fast and was still getting passed by people. At this point, the wind died down and the sun started to beat down on me. I hurried to try and get back below tree line so I could cool down. Around noon, I got into the trees, which provided some shade, but it was still hot.

At this point, I knew the worst part of any 14er was about to begin. I've mentioned this in other trip reports, but I find that the hike from tree line back to the trailhead is the slowest part of of any 14er. I don't know why, when I'm climbing up, I never look at my watch. When I'm coming down, I look at my watch every 2-3 minutes. Time sees to slow down. Even as I passed by recognizable landmarks like the stream crossings or the meadows, they seem to be farther away from the trail head than I remember. Maybe it's because I'm exhausted at this point and I want to be done. Maybe it's because I think I should be going faster, since I'm going downhill. Even though it only took an hour and a half to get to the trail head from tree line, it felt longer than that. I was happy to get back to the car and take those socks off. I drove back to Buena Vista and just missed getting to Biggies before they closed. Instead, I had to settle for some chicken strips from City Market.

When I got home, i compared it to my stats from Elbert two years ago, and I found that the times were similar. It started Yale 20 minutes later than Elbert, but I got to the summit of both in 4 hours and 20 minutes. I stayed at the top of Yale for only 10 minutes, as compared to the 15 minutes at the top of Elbert. It took me 2 hours and 50 minutes to get down from Yale, and only 2 hours and 45 minutes to get down from Elbert. Both were about the same distance and about the same elevation gain. Point is that I wasn't that much slower than I was 2 years ago. So I felt like I hadn't regressed and was still able to climb these mountains.

And one more thing. You know that group of Happy Hour badasses? I didn't think they'd be all that impressed with my ascent of Yale, but they were super excited that I didn't quit and made it to the top. Mt Yale is nothing compared Denali or the Leadville 100 or the hundreds of other things they've done that I wouldn't even dream of doing. But I think that's what makes this activity and this community so different. They all understand the feeling of accomplishment when you push through what you perceive is your limit to achieve your goal, no matter what it is. And that's why I keep going back to this group, because these people are always super encouraging, no matter what you try to accomplish, no matter if you succeed or fail.

Summit #17 in the books for me. We'll see how many more I can finish.