listen up now. i'll tell you what the big deal is about hiking your booty up to 14,000 ft above sea level-------> it makes you feel damn proud when you turn around at the bottom and look back at the freakin mountain you scaled up in a single day. i've got one and three fourths in my bag and not sure i will be high tailing it up anymore 14er mountains any time soon. it.was.hard. quite possibly one of the hardest things i've done to date. moving so slow i could have sworn i went backwards a few times and might have fallen down to die a slow death if it wasn't for friends making sure i breathed in and breathed out and put one foot up up up in front of the other.
the mountain we tackled was mt. massive and rose to fourteen-thousand-four-hundred-and-twenty-one-feet of grueling beauty. side note: we started at 10,080' so don't go thinking all you non-coloradans that we started at sea level. i'm no sherpa and i do welcome oxygen. a 13.5 mile round trip trail took you through all sorts of scenery. the start: in the density of the trees. pines fallen in masses from the heart wrenching pine beetles. hundreds left to be burned or carried away, whatever their fate. as with most things in life, death often brings light to new life and baby aspens were filling in amongst the laid pine. as sad as it is to see fields of trees browned over, nothing could be sweeter than the rise of the harmonious tree that is the aspen. we welcome you. then as you rise in elevation you move above tree line and stop drinking your water for fear of peeing to a crowd. no, but really it is quite exposed and the vegetation is even more barren. some of the most beautiful of flowers survive the harsh winds, the sideways hail, the bitter sleet and the persistent snow. we, humans, were so lucky to encounter all these forms of precipitation which is why these little flowers amaze me each time i summit to another mountain top and find a cluster of colorful buds alive and happy as ever. then for the final push: up the talus field over that boulder past the many carins to the fateful tip TOP. we-made---it---. and as the clouds so kindly parted for us the view allows you to breathe for the first time in miles just a bit deeper. a much needed breath of fresh mountain air. ahhhhh.
oh wait, did i mention we were alone. all alone. i tell you this because it is rare and sacred, for me at least. for some reason people actually enjoy hiking 14ers and they are rather crowded on the weekend. i guess our plan to start late was indeed a good choice.
the mountain we tackled was mt. massive and rose to fourteen-thousand-four-hundred-and-twenty-one-feet of grueling beauty. side note: we started at 10,080' so don't go thinking all you non-coloradans that we started at sea level. i'm no sherpa and i do welcome oxygen. a 13.5 mile round trip trail took you through all sorts of scenery. the start: in the density of the trees. pines fallen in masses from the heart wrenching pine beetles. hundreds left to be burned or carried away, whatever their fate. as with most things in life, death often brings light to new life and baby aspens were filling in amongst the laid pine. as sad as it is to see fields of trees browned over, nothing could be sweeter than the rise of the harmonious tree that is the aspen. we welcome you. then as you rise in elevation you move above tree line and stop drinking your water for fear of peeing to a crowd. no, but really it is quite exposed and the vegetation is even more barren. some of the most beautiful of flowers survive the harsh winds, the sideways hail, the bitter sleet and the persistent snow. we, humans, were so lucky to encounter all these forms of precipitation which is why these little flowers amaze me each time i summit to another mountain top and find a cluster of colorful buds alive and happy as ever. then for the final push: up the talus field over that boulder past the many carins to the fateful tip TOP. we-made---it---. and as the clouds so kindly parted for us the view allows you to breathe for the first time in miles just a bit deeper. a much needed breath of fresh mountain air. ahhhhh.
oh wait, did i mention we were alone. all alone. i tell you this because it is rare and sacred, for me at least. for some reason people actually enjoy hiking 14ers and they are rather crowded on the weekend. i guess our plan to start late was indeed a good choice.
