Or Is It 14,115 Feet?

It's almost a different beast when you're used to heading out for a day's climb with someone else. I think it's harder to get out of bed when you're going "alone!" I was able to get to bed Friday night around 10:30 with the intention of getting up around 3am Saturday morning. It almost happened...I hit snooze twice and got up at 3:20. I figured that still gave me more than enough time to get on the road by 4am. I had everything ready, just had to get dressed & grab my pack and poles off the table. THAT I did have zero problem doing.

The other weird part is that I traded my dear husband vehicles for the day. He had a sail race on Saturday, Luke was staying with neighbors for a few hours during the race, but then it was with daddy at the potluck after the race at the marina. It's much easier to just trade vehicles than car seats, and the Saturn gets much better mileage, anyway. There was plenty of room in 3 other vehicles at the meeting point to keep the poor little car from having to worry about even an easy mountain dirt road. But it was strange to be sitting so low to the ground, though the coyote feasting on a roadkill deer partially in my lane on the freeway near the plant was VERY easy to see.

I was about 5 minutes late to our meeting point on the West side of Colorado Springs, but I wasn't the last one there. Whew! That's a relief! I even had time to dash to 7/11 for my "crab fisherman breakfast (that's one full of copious amounts of calories, specific to the job at hand)!" Jason and Kerry patiently waited for me, but we were still waiting on Heather. Strange, but we figured she'd meet us at the trailhead and we wanted to get started. It was already after 5am!

Ute Pass can sometimes be the perfect place to spot a black bear, or two, in the early morning hours, but it was quiet today. The summit house on the Peak was like a star leading us to our destination, and the sky was just barely starting to get a bit of color. It was beautiful...my favorite time of the morning! We made the trailhead by 6:15, which was already 30-minutes after when we wanted to be underway, and it was already packed! A quick trip to the outhouse, a change from sandals to hiking shoes, trek poles locked onto packs, packs thrown on our backs, and we were off! It was 6:30am, and 39 degrees at 10,100 feet. Still no Heather, though.

The trail here was incredible, not horribly steep, but beautifully wooded. I love the smell here! The stream was so clear, too...something that never ceases to amaze me. We could see the rock outcrops near the Crags, hear the creatures waking up and chattering at us, and gave pleasant greetings to our fellow hikers. We could see tree line and it seemed like we made it there in a very fast manner, but it had already been 2 hours! Wow! Tree line is also the point Kerry and I made a pit stop. There's typically not many places you can hide above that level, which can be problematic when it's as busy a trail as this one. Then we heard a greeting, and some friendly conversation among Jason and....HEATHER! Leave it to the triathlete to be the one to start about 15 minutes behind us, miss the trail cut-off, go about a mile out of the way, turn back, and STILL catch us at tree line! Our little group was complete.

Sunrise
looking toward the Crags
The trail before tree line
The first peak of the sun actually on our trail right near tree line

We cruised on and enjoyed the views around us. On the ridge above us were 4 mule deer bucks galloping along, heading for the cover of the trees below. The hummingbirds were buzzing, the pika were meep'ing, and there wasn't a cloud in the blue, blue sky. We stopped to look over the Highway 24 corridor toward other mountains we know and love and decided this was our "Sound of Music" moment. Guess who started the singing? Yup, the dorky one who was the youngest of the group.

two of the bucks
The ridge the deer were on
"The hills are alive with the sound of music!"
Sentinel Point

I can't believe my camera zooms a couple of miles!!! I see the Jeeps!!

We pushed up to where the trail leveled off a bit and stopped again for a snack and some photos. We could not only see the summit, but had a fantastic view of the summit house. There were already a number of cars coming DOWN! Good grief...it was just a little after 9am! But they couldn't see what we were. Their loss, let me tell you. Then we pushed on.

Summit house up top,

Snack/picture break!

The next probably 3 or 4 miles were very easy, a very slight uphill grade that took us through the Devil's Playground (so named because lightning bounces from rock to rock during thunderstorms), across the Pikes Peak Highway, and on up toward the summit. We took a break for more photos around 13,500 or so feet in a gorgeous spot that we could see Colorado Springs, Woodland Park, and a great number of reservoirs belonging to our group's employer, and on out to the plains (through the haze from the numerous Western wildfires). We pushed on.

The Devil's Playground

Heather, Kerry, Jason, yours truly...Colorado Springs behind us ~13,5k ft

Here's where it started getting steep again and we were back to going short distances before small breaks. The lack of oxygen forces it, really. It seemed like we'd never reach the Boulder Field, but it was finally before us! Our class 2 portion of the hike! We located the cairns (small piles of rocks) marking the way, but this isn't a spot you absolutely have to remain on the trail. We were off trail a number of times, but still near it. The funny thing about it, though? It's class 2 because you have to use your hands and pull in a few places, but it was still easier than the portion right above tree line and right below the Boulder Field. Well, at least to me (Kerry agreed).

Jason and Heather about halfway up the Boulder Field

Kerry led the way through the Boulder Field and was first to summit. Tradition says she had to because this was her first 14er. What a moment! But it was also weird because the first thing you see on this summit is a warehouse with propane tanks to the side. Ahh, the life of a tourist spot! But it's the best way to get up to the top. We were relieved, happy, and anxious for our world famous Pikes Peak donuts at 11:30am, 5 hours after we began. But summit pictures came first.

Jason making his way up
Heather smoking us all

Kerry making her first summit!

I'm sure you've noticed the title. I say that because all the 14ers have grown, one by eleven feet, one by only 2 feet, but most by about 5 feet. The height for Pikes Peak is still officially 14,110 feet, but the new height is listed at 14,115 feet. The only one made official this year was Mount Elbert, which grew from 14,433' to 14,440...the rest are sure to be made official shortly. Still, both the GPS we had with us read 14,106 at the sign, but you can see it's in a lower spot with the naked eye. What a strange place to put the thing...

(ignore the mileage...I forgot to mark and started it late)

Pictures done we headed inside and were shocked by the extreme heat. It was in the mid-50's outside, but sweltering inside! One nice thing about this summit is there is food, drink, and bathrooms up there! Pit stop, then donuts (with pictures), and a swig of something not off our backs, a change of socks for me (thicker socks for the downhill), and we were headed back down. It was 12:30pm, making time on summit 60 minutes.

Kerry's first summit!
Kerry with her donuts
My extremely cheesy "look at me!" donut picture

It took us 4 hours to descend. 12 miles roundtrip, 10 hours on the trail. Whew! We stopped a lot just to enjoy the nature around us. It was such a lovely day. The clouds were starting to build as we came down, and though we weren't really in danger, we knew we had to keep an eye. It did finally end up raining after we left.

There is so much from each of my climbs this year that will always stand out for me, but this one had a different element: tourists. I'll never forget the looks on various faces in the summit house. Those of us who climbed up (either the way we came from Crags, or the East face up Barr Trail) had a look of health, happiness, accomplishment, and donut ecstacy. Those who drove had a look of fear, relief of being alive, and a bit of "wow, I feel weird," accompanied by glazed eyes. Those who came up the Cog Train were moving very slow and had a look of "I don't feel so good," and very glazed eyes. The hikers were polite, the tourists rather rude. Not my fault I've taken my pack off, put in so it's narrow in front of me near my feet, and you STILL run into it! Man, the dirty looks we hikers got. But the best part? The double-take looks those who drove up gave us, followed by the slowing of vehicles and the "what's wrong with you? Why are you walking up this thing? Are you crazy??" I loved that!

I do still have one small streak going. It cracks me up, and I wouldn't mind it keeping going because it's funny. On Mt Sherman, Jason, Jeff, and I all managed to come down without falling on our butts....until we were within 50-feet of the vehicles. Then I hit a roller rock and landed on my butt. Mt Elbert saw Jeff and I run down about half the mountain with no problem, but we got close to the end of the trail, close to vehicles, I hit a roller rock and fell on my butt. Pikes Peak was another the four of us managed to come down with now issue. I was literally stepping off the trailhead and into the parking lot when I found a roller rock and landed on my butt. All three times were in front of at least a handful of people (Sherman being the least) who politely tried to stifle their laughs. I just let the laughter roll. Gotta' love it!

My climbs on the 14ers are done for the summer, but the memories will go on. I am thrilled to have made it this far after so many struggles the past 4-years, and I can only hope to pass the passion on to my little boy. Thank God for it all...