This is a tribute to my dog and favorite hiking partner, Kona, who passed away on 1/3/26. We shared many 14er and 13er adventures together over the years and here are some of the highlights. I'm sure many people don't care but its helping me get through this. Kona is the reason I really got into 14ers in the first place. Prior to having her, I had summited 4 14ers over the first 28 years of my life. Over the next 6 years I would summit the remaining 54 peaks. Kona accompanied me for 28 14ers and 8 13ers. Hiking in the mountains and hunting pheasants on the plains were the places were she was truly happy. She would whine in excitement as we pulled up to the trailhead and her tail would wag the entire hike.

In 2017 I moved from Golden down to West Texas. I drove to Hill Country and got baby Kona when she was 6 weeks old, as soon as the breeder would separate her from her mother.

We lived in West Texas for two years and moved back to Arvada in 2019. If you know anything about German Shorthaired Pointers, you know they have tons of energy and can be absolutely crazy if they don't use that energy in a constructive manner. At two years old Kona was a handful. We went to the dog park several times a week to let her run, but that wasn't even close to enough exercise to tire out a 2 year old GSP. So nearly every weekend we went for hikes as well. Still she had energy to spare. Eventually I took her on Grays and Torreys for her first real mountains. She absolutely had a blast and finally I found something that would tire her out!

We climbed 14ers pretty much every free summer weekend in 2019. That summer I climbed 14 peaks and she joined me on 12 of those. Here are a few highlights from the Summer of 2019.

By the end of the summer I was absolutely hooked and could not stop thinking about and planning the next summit. All winter I would study routes and make plans for 2020. Well we all know what happened in 2020. I ended up being furloughed for about 8 weeks in 2020...PERFECT! Lots of time to explore the mountains, especially further away peaks in the San Juans.

This day on Uncompahgre was my all time favorite day in the mountains. It was so beautiful and just the perfect day. There was so much snow on 6/3/20. I remember looking out and realizing, for the first time, how vast the San Juans are. On the way down I had the best and longest glissade of my life. I swear it lasted a mile and about 5 minutes. Kona sprinted alongside me to keep up. She was able to stay on top of the fairly soft snow with her large webbed feet. We were the only people on the mountain that day.

After 2020, I had completed most of the Class 1/2 peaks that I felt comfortable taking Kona on. There were a few left she could do, but not that many. However, in the summer of 2021 life had different plans for her. She tore her CCL (equivalent to our ACL) playing in the backyard and had the TPLO surgery. She was out of commission, even for short walks, for 2-3 months. I was unsure if she would ever be able to hike with me again. The vet said she should make a full recovery and be a "normal dog" afterwards. Normal dogs don't hike 14ers though.

After the recovering from the surgery I was very cautious with her. I was always scared to overdo it and she wasn't the kind of dog to back down from a challenge. She would always keep going even if she was hurting and would regret it the next day. Eventually in the spring of 2022 she got back to doing shorter hikes closer to town. We built back up to longer distances, but still I would never let her do what she did before surgery. On July 23, 2022 we summited Mt Massive together for her first post surgery 14er summit. Generally 6-8 miles was the max I would let her go after the surgery, even if she wanted to keep going.

In 2023 she didn't climb any mountains with me as I was knocking off the Class 3/4 peaks. She HATED to be left behind! She always knew when I was going to the mountains without her. If I ever woke up before 5am she knew it was either for a mountain or to go hunting. She didn't care which it was, but she needed to go. Of course I left her at home when I climbed Long's Peak, and my now wife said she cried for hours that morning.

Labor Day weekend 2024 was when I had my finisher planned out on Mt. Columbia. 12 miles was way more than she had ever done post surgery. I knew I wanted my number one hiking partner to join me on the finisher. So we started training! I repeated Quandary, Sherman, and Bierstadt with her to get her ready for Columbia.

FINISHER!

I'm so glad she was able to join me for the final 14er. Along with 15 of my closest friends and family. Oh and I got engaged on the summit of Columbia!

After the 14ers we started working on the 13ers. It was nice to take her on some of the easier and shorter 13ers that weren't so hard on her. We did Square Top in 2025. We saw a guy on the trail and he asked how old she was. I replied 7 and a half. He was amazed that she was in such good shape for being that age. I told him that hiking 14ers and 13ers kept her young and in shape!

Her last peak ended up being Kelso Mountain on July 18, 2025. How interesting that her first two were Grays and Torreys and her final summit was right next door and from the same trailhead, over 6 years later. She also found a ptarmigan near the summit of Kelso, combining her two favorite activities, hiking mountains and hunting birds.

Cancer took her from us too soon. I was truly blessed to have this dog in my life for over 8 years. She was so sweet and caring, and had the highest emotional intelligence of any dog I have been around. She was a lucky dog and got to go on so many amazing adventures. Big Bend to the Black Hills, pheasant hunting in Kansas to Jeep trails in Moab, and of course every part of Colorado. Not sure how I will be able to continue hiking without her. She was a very special dog.

If you have read this far, please hug your dog. Give them extra attention and snuggles. Tell them you love them. You never know when it will be the last time. Life is too short, especially for a dog.