The Climb....

Sorry it took so long. I got distracted. Sometimes parenthood does that, and I think that's just a little bit more important than blogging. :)

It kind of felt like we were heading into some big sporting event by the amount of people hitting the trail with us. Weird thing is that there were already a ton of people ahead of us. The difference was we headed into the dark and thick expanses of thousands of pine trees with backpacks and food, not into some arena where backpacks are forbidden and food is provided. But it was pretty cool. Spirits were high, and you could feel the energy everyone was exuding from their excitement. There was a family from New Hampshire behind us, a guy from Denver who was taking his buddy from Greenville, South Carolina just a bit ahead of us, a group of college students from CU Boulder setting a strong pace directly in front of us, and the guy behind us was here from California. Then there was us, the couple from Pueblo West who convinced my parents to stay an extra week so we could climb this mountain.

Right away we were huffing and puffing. Okay, this isn't unusual on a hike like this, so it's not extraordinary news, but usually the first half mile is the hardest, then you get a reprieve. Not on Mount Elbert. It's fairly steep for about a mile, then it does smooth out for a short distance before a very steep climb deeper into the forest where you can choose to continue to summit or fork off onto the Colorado Trail. You already know which route we took. But before we started this incline, we sat on a log and ate a snack.

We had immediate visitors. Gray Jays, a.k.a. Camp Robber Jays. Very brazen birds that beg for your food. Leave it to me to break even my own rules and put the tiniest of crumbs in my hand to see if they'd eat out of my hand. The answer: yes! And a stern word from my husband, which I brushed off. He was right, but I was victorious, so I didn't care. I snapped a couple of pictures of these two, but they're on my phone and I have to wait for the software update to download them to my Mac.

Snack finished, we loaded packs back on and started huffing our way up the hill. It seemed like it would never end. In fact, it didn't until we were above 13,500 feet! But we did stop a few times before we hit tree line at 12,000 feet, partially to take advantage of the cover of trees, if you catch my drift, and partially to rest. It seemed like it took forever to hit tree line, but that was only a little less than halfway! We already were seeing people turning around, and there was one large family group with about 5 teens that was struggling. Okay, the group wasn't, but one of the girls was really needing to go down. She had altitude sickness bad. But they pressed on. So did we.

The climb above tree line got steeper, so we started going about 20-50 feet, then would rest a moment. I took the camera out and started snapping each break.

By the time we reached 14,000 feet, the girl with altitude sickness was in really, really bad shape. Her dad kept saying "you've made it this far, you can make it to the top." He was saying this as she was puking. Again. And again, and again. We lost count of the times WE saw, but it was too much. I think she finally was able to convince someone that she had to go down because we never saw her again. I still hope & pray she's okay and that the family isn't kicking themselves now. One rule to this game: the mountain will always be there, you CAN come back. We pushed on.

You wouldn't think the remaining 440 feet would be all that difficult when you've made it this far, but you'd also be wrong. At this elevation your brain slows down due to lack of oxygen, you need more calories, and you're tired. We somehow managed to get off trail and onto a narrow game trail, or something. I even thought "huh, I don't remember hearing anything about this, but this is awfully similar to the narrows on Long's." Needless to say, we figured out we were wrong and pushed over to the trail. Thankfully it was easy! We made our first false summit and took a breather. Then we pushed on.

It was only about 150 more feet and we made our second false summit, but now we could see it we were so incredibly close to our true summit. We took another really quick breather and pushed to the top. Jeff was a bit hypocaloric by now, despite our big breakfast and snacks at breaks, so he was a tad lightheaded, but he kept on. Good man! Granted, we knew we'd be eating again very soon and that coming down would help, but still. The talus at this point was slick and the incline very steep, but we managed to do the entire climb sans poles, so we were happy. And the summit!! Oh, my, the summit....

We had a day that was nearly cloudless, so it was perfect. Despite the wind and very cold temps while sitting on top of the state of Colorado at 14,440 feet, it was smoky down lower, so our view was a bit less than it could have been, but we were able to figure out peaks from all over the state. We saw Pikes Peak quite well, the Maroon Bells near Aspen, the Needles Range to our South, and even all the way to the San Juan Range on the Utah/Colorado state line! Jeff signed the summit log while I wrote a note on my hand for pictures, I paused a moment by a flag someone had planted and thought of Jeremy Clawson (who's Utah memorial was on this day), and we posed for summit pictures. Lucky for us, we asked the one person who is shutter happy and took a LOT of pictures for us! He got three shots that we're going to have made and framed, and he made us laugh. What a fun guy!

I couldn't find my gloves the night prior, or the morning before we left, but Jeff let me use his because his baselayer shirt has thumbholes that hold his shirt over his hands for extra warmth, so he was fine. Thank goodness! It was barely 40 degrees on summit and my hands would've been frozen. I took the gloves off as we sat behind a cairn to block the wind, called family, I shed my boots to have some barefoot time, and we ate. We spent about 30-45 minutes on summit and started our descent. Bear in mind we've been drinking this entire climb, and there's no place to "hide" once past tree line. It had been a long time. So our descent started with a sprint down slippery talus and steep slopes from 14,440 feet down to tree line at 12,000 feet. Talk about exciting! How neither of us managed to fall, roll an ankle, hyperextend a knee, or some other obvious damage to ourselves at this time is beyond me, but we didn't! My toes, however? They were screaming at me not long after the other relief came.

So, our time on top was fairly short, but we made it. Of all the people we saw in the parking lot when we started, just short of a quarter of them made summit. We don't know their stories, but we know the mountain will still be there.

We made my parents giggle the next day with our groans and slow movement, the muscles were so sore. And my toes actually bruised enough that I might actually lose a toenail (they're fine now, just acted like I smashed them in a door), but it was all worth it.

Saturday is August 22. Guess what? I've got another mountain to climb! This time it's close to home: Pikes Peak. I'll be solo from the household, but with about 6 other people. I am looking forward to the donut at the summit! (explanation later) Do you think Jeff and Luke will see me wave from 14,110 feet and 40-something miles away?

Heading Out...

It was such a gorgeous morning Saturday. The skies were clear, the air was quiet, and the temperature at our house when we left was 72 degrees. Bear in mind that we are just 7-feet short of a mile high, so we've got some elevation. It was lovely. Though it was an hour later than we had originally planned and hoped to set out, we were excited and ready for the adventure.

We made a quick stop in Canon City for gas, coffee, and some high calorie junk breakfast food, then we were on our way. A little less than 90-minutes later we made our junction at Hartsel. Anyone want to guess the temperature then? At about 8800 feet in elevation we were seeing the temperature sitting at 35 degrees. Yikes!! It was warmer than that when we did our early season climb on Mount Sherman! No stop this time, just a continuation of our drive in Buena Vista (pronounced B-you-na Vista). The sun was rising now and it was amazing. We could see the rays peeking over the summit of Mt Sherman and it was incredibly colorful from the haze of smoke the multiple wildfires in Western Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico.

Near Antero Resevoir the wildlife started were starting their morning feast. Jeff was snoozing a bit, still sort of hung over from the Benadryl, but I saw a ton of antelope grazing in the meadows. I am amazed that I didn't see any deer or elk at this time, but the antelope were still wonderful to see.

Coming into Buena Vista is always quite a sight. The Collegiate Peaks greet the drivers with a huge presence. Mount Princeton was looming this morning and letting everyone know it was going to be a fantastic day. I looked at the thermometer and saw the temps had risen to 45. Granted, we had dropped to just below 8000 feet, but still...

We made another quick stop in this town we greatly enjoy and went on to our trailhead. We had a little over 45-minutes to go. We'd already been on the road 2-hours, so we were anxious to get started. The upper waters of the Arkansas River were beautiful in the morning sun, and there were already a number of anglers out. It was a super easy drive into the outskirts of Leadville where we made our turnoff toward the trailhead. As we climbed the dirt road toward the base of the mountain we saw a very large number of primitive campers waking to greet the day. They were completely bundled up. Uh, that doesn't look good. We looked at the thermometer when we hit the trailhead. 10,000 feet (or just below) and it was 32 degrees. Oh boy...I'm not sure we packed the right clothes! Jeff was in shorts and a tee, I was in convertible capri pants and tank top, and we only had our lightweight softshell jackets and windbreaks. We did both grab a lightweight fleece on the way out the door, but didn't expect to use them.

We found one of the last parking spots (this is a popular trail) and braced for the cold. Stepping out gave us a huge sigh of relief because the amount of sunshine we had made it not too bad! I was fine in my fleece and my pants already rolled into shorts. Jeff was fine in his long-sleeves and shorts. We put our boots on, made sure our packs were ready and put them on, grabbed one more swig of water to keep our camelbacks full, and started out. It was going to be a great day full of adventure!

The Night Before the Climb...

Friday night seemed to be one that would let us rest and get some good sleep before our big hike in the morning. We needed to get up a little before 3am in order to be on the road by no later than 3:30am. We wanted to hit the trail head and start our hike by 6:30am. Really wouldn't be a problem, we had our packs ready, water filled, cooler set for our after-hike goodies, and small child in bed zonked out from another big day with his grandparents. Murphy had other plans...

Jeff was fairly lucky in that this is the time of year his allergies kick him in the butt, so he had enough drugs in him to knock him out for a while. I, on the other hand, made it to bed somewhere around 10:30pm, 30-minutes later than I wanted. Then I was up at 11:30, midnight, and close to 1am because my small child decided he couldn't sleep. It didn't help that every dog in the neighborhood, ours included, was barking. A lot. Granted, Luke usually sleeps through this, but not tonight.

I had just managed to get Luke back to sleep and my head barely touched the pillow when there was a knock at the front door. I leapt out of bed with a bit of anger, peeked out the window and saw my next door neighbor there. I felt an immediate fear because they've had one heckuva time as of late. One that includes 2 ambulance calls within 3 days, damage from baseball-sized hail on a vehicle, and some other stuff that's just not very fair. Anyway, I open the door and Carly tells me that 4 or 5 kids are running around breaking into vehicles and they caught the kids at our truck (which stays outside due to size and the fact we only have a 2-car garage). The cobwebs cleared and I headed out with a flashlight to find all was fine. Moments later there were 7 Sheriff's cars dashing about the streets, complete with spotlights looking for these kids. Jeff did join me shortly and said he was tempted to sleep outside...I talked him out of that. By the time we got back in bed it was after 2am. Oh boy...

The cops kept their patrol up and we dozed back off. The alarm went off about 25-minutes later, but we hit snooze. After the excitement we figured we could just delay our start about an hour. I was up at 3:30, Jeff about 3:45. We left the house at 4:15...and the cops were still patrolling. Given the problems Colorado Springs and El Paso County are having with the police (there's not enough and some calls just can't be answered due to lack of manning and money), I am so extremely grateful to be in a spot where we have a near instant response and resources to see that even the most minor of incidents is looked into in a very timely manner. And I'm grateful for neighbors who look out for each other. It makes chaotic nights, which are rare, worth it....

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH!

Yup, that's me on the summit of the 2nd highest peak in the lower 48 States, and the 17th highest peak in the entirety of the United States. Mount Elbert, Colorado, at a height of 14,440 feet above sea level! What a ride!!

The highest peak in the lower 48 is Mount Whitney, California at 14,494 ft, the other 15 are all in Alaska with Mount McKinley leading the pack at 20,320 ft (also affectionately known as Denali).

Rest assured I will detail our trip, including the...uh...interesting night before the climb. For now, I have a 3-yr-old needing attention and dinner to cook. So, stay tuned! Adventure awaits!

Ouray '09...part 3

We'd finally come to the day I was greatly looking forward to: the return trip up to Yankee Boy Basin at the base of the gorgeous Mount Sneffels! This is where we took our family picture last summer, but we weren't able to venture very far into any hiking forays for two reasons. First, Luke was barely 2 and we didn't want to push him. Second, there was still so much snow that the meadows were still covered and the vehicles were still a good 2-feet shorter than the pack. Knowing that the area was pounded pretty well during the winter, but then experienced a dry and very warm spring (just the opposite of us on the East side of the state), we knew the snowpack would be all but gone.

We loaded into the 4Runner and ventured out after breakfast. I was like a little kid, yet also a wee bit snippy because of the one part of the drive that I knew was going to cause me anxiety. Something about any road that is barely big enough to allow 2 vehicles in opposite directions with one side nestled into (yes, INTO) the mountain while the other side is a vertical drop of hundreds of feet into a raging river doesn't do my heart much good. I decided to study the rock formations next to and in front of me while trying to remember to breathe without hyperventilating instead of completely freaking out. It mostly worked, but Jeff had to give me a little ribbing. I threatened him with the one thing that he really doesn't like and is afraid of, but he only laughed at me. The bugger...

Once past the cliffs, I was fine. I love this landscape and could not believe the range of colors we saw in the wildflowers! They were spectacular! The pictures just don't do justice. In fact, they're rather bland and you don't get any sort of an idea of what we were witnessing. My wonderful in-laws gave me a pocket spiral book for identifying Rocky Mountain wildflowers last year. I nearly have the thing memorized I've used it so much. In fact, it stays in my 4Runner for easy access and use! Anyway, the only flowers I did not see or recognize from that book were the ones that are primarily found on the dry plains near my own house. Everything was blooming, from the paintbrush, to the columbine, to the larkspur, to the chiming bells, to the monkshood....all the way down to the little pink elephant heads! I couldn't believe it! THIS is what was hiding under all of that snow last summer!

We did not encounter near the water on the road as we did last summer, but there was still some. That makes it more fun, and Luke enjoys it. He did eventually fall asleep, but we enjoyed the ghosts of the mines. It's amazing how some houses still stand while others crumble, and how the blocks and belts remain completely intact and appearing ready for work while the building of the stamp falls down around it. While I love to crawl all over these beings, I am smart about it and was shocked to see people walking around inside a house that could collapse and fall at any moment. They were inside and taking pictures!! Amazing! I admit, I did want to stop and do the same thing, but Murphy's not nearly as kind to me and the house probably would've fallen on my head.

There other people up in the area were sparse this day. Unlike last year when it was a Saturday, and despite this being the same weekend (again) as the annual FJ Cruiser weekend, it was almost strange to not see all that many people! Kind of nice, too. More for us to enjoy around us and less to have to worry about on the bumpy road. We finally managed the climb to the middle trailhead for Mount Sneffels, our photo spot, parked and hopped out. Luke was ready to go, go, go! That was fine with me, but it was also time for some snaps of the camera. We spotted a nice buck on the hill across from us and watched through camera lens and binoculars. I can honestly say I've never before seen a deer with fat rolls, but this guy did! It was hard to figure out how he was able to walk, he was so fat!! Then it was time to take a little hike.

Oh, how I wanted to just take off and do an impromptu climb of Sneffels! Not going to happen with a 3-year-old (nor would I attempt that, he'd have a tough time with the altitude AND wouldn't be able to handle the hike), but that's okay. We opted for the hike to Emory Lake tucked neatly into the valley at the upper trailhead. It's an easy hike on a narrow trail and only about a half-mile long. Easy for all of us. And lovely! The lake is a typical dead alpine lake, and sparkling blue from the snowmelt, somewhat akin to a glacial lake. And COLD! I'd say it was probably somewhere between 35 and 38 degrees. Luke was just happy to throw rocks, I took a moment to sit and enjoy the quiet beauty, then wandered up a bit to catch a glimpse of the lower lake at Twin Lakes. And I do mean a glimpse. We took a few pictures, checked out the survey/altitude marker placed in 1933 by the San Juan Mountaineers (at 12,191.4 feet) before readying to head back to our vehicle for a picnic lunch. But wait!

Just then a group of 4 teenaged boys made it to the lake after summitting Sneffels. Typical of 17'ish-year-old kids (and something I, myself, have done...would probably do again!), they stripped down to their skivvies and jumped into the startlingly cold water. We loved it! And they were well-mannered, so it was even better!

We ventured to our 4Runner, had our lunch, met a retired couple from my dad's hometown of Moline, Illinois (wowza!), and were able to grab this year's family shot at the same spot overlooking Yankee Boy Basin as last year. It's not as good of us, but I'm still quite pleased with it. Such a special place for our little family!

Jeff and I have pledged and vowed to each other to make the climb up what I affectionately refer to as my "love affair," but we'll have to have some serious advanced planning since it's a 5-hour drive....well, actually, about 7-hours to the trailhead.....and will definitely have to camp before & after our climb. In the meantime, we're already planning for next summer's trip out to the Uncompahgre Wilderness. This time, Luke and I will be able to experience the 4-wheel trails, we may do more primitive camping, and hopefully catch fish again!!

Farewell, Sir...

I'm taking a brief break from telling of our annual Ouray trip to give homage to someone I liked. No, I didn't have a crush on him, though I did think he was cute. But I liked him very much. He was a kind person, a fun person, and a bit of a comic. He was also very driven and touched a lot of people.

Jeremy Clawson was 3 years ahead of me in high school. I never actually realized he enlisted in the army the year before he graduated, but he did. He served tours of duty in Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and I'm sure in countless other and smaller campaigns that the general person wouldn't have a clue about. He also achieved commissioning in 2006, promoting from butter bar (2nd Lieutenant) to 1st Lieutenant within the last year. I have also learned he was one of the few who have been awarded the Bronze Star for his meritorious service in Iraq. For those who aren't military related, or just aren't sure what this means, this is huge. I mean HUGE. Jeremy undoubtedly put his life on the line to save someone else and was rewarded for it.

There is a lot of information regarding Jeremy's non-traditional college career that is equally impressive. He apparently uncovered a huge scandal involving the financial aid and athletics department at his school. This resulted in the athletic director being fired. I think that's a pretty darned big deal!

The things I, personally, remember most of Jeremy were the smile that could light up any room and cheer up any person. No matter what, he would greet you with a smile. He cheered for the underdog, and he never made you feel left out. Along with that, he was a goofball. He enjoyed life and just let it be known with goofy actions. In that manner, he always reminded me of my big brother. It left a mark.

Jeremy left us last week. Something happened that caused his death while on post in Oklahoma. Someone found his body on one of the firing ranges at Ft. Sill. It's been quite a shock to the Jordan High School Alumni, those who knew him in college, the soldiers he served with, and, of course, his dear, close-knit family. He leaves behind a wife and a daughter.

The military memorial service is set to begin in about 5-minutes, the burial in Kansas (where he lived) will be later in the week, and another memorial service for his Sandy, Utah connections will be sometime after next weekend.

I have placed Jeremy's blog from his time in Afghanistan at the top right of my own blog. Please visit and let the family know what a phenomenal man Jeremy A. Clawson was.

Ouray '09...part 2

We woke to a sparkling blue sky and cool temps, but it was perfect. I immediately started on breakfast because the guys were heading out as soon as they finished eating to ride the ATV's over Imogene Pass. Jeff didn't get to make this pass last year because his machine broke down. It was a silly and easy fix, but when you're 260 miles from home and don't have much of a way to look at it, you just chalk it up and find something else to do. That's how we all ended up in Yankee Boy Basin then, and we had full plans to do it again this year. Just not today. Anyway, Imogene is said to be a gorgeous ride that drops down into Telluride. Mileage is shorter than that paved way, but it takes longer because it's the old mining road, not maintained, and only available to 4wd vehicles. I like those better, anyway. Luke and I haven't done this pass, yet, because he's too young to do these technical rides and I don't have my own machine. We're working on a way to remedy things so we can all go next year, but it's a process barely in the stages of conception.

Once the guys left out Luke and I got dressed, cleaned up the trailer a little bit (dishes!), and headed on our way into the town of Ouray. It's so lovely there, even with the 90-degree heat. I had planned for us to take a tour into the Bachelor-Syracuse gold mine, so we stopped there first to make our reservation. Actually, I thought we'd head from there to spend the few hours until our reserved tour in Silverton. I chickened out once we made it onto the Million Dollar Highway. Something in my gut said not to go and I really don't like major highways that are narrow, winding, and drop hundreds of feet into river valleys with no guard rail for a little more sense of security. Funny, actually, considering I will travel on any back road that is narrower, less secure (at times), and drop hundreds of feet into river valleys with little problem. The exception to that is the Pikes Peak Highway. No thanks, I'll take the Cog or hike up the mountain instead!! (I should've bought a shirt that exclaims "I Survived the Drive Up Pikes Peak," but I didn't).

Instead, Luke and I stopped at the back road highway (highway?? Umm, okay) that leads to Engineers Pass. I threw the 4Runner into 4-low and started up. You should've seen the looks I was getting! I guess people are used to see a slight woman with a 3-year-old driving roads like this! We didn't get far up before I decided to stop and take a little hike. I wanted to see if the little trail I saw went down to the river. It didn't, but we cruised through a thicket of chokecherries and into a stand of aspen before we lost the trail. Must've been a deer trail, or something. But I got some cute pictures of my boy playing with leaves before we headed back to the 4Runner.

Once back up at our vehicle I snapped a picture of a train of FJCruisers heading up the pass. This was the weekend of their annual convention, something WE greatly enjoy, despite the fact we're not part of that. They loved that we made it where we were and invited us up to the pass with them. Sweet! I'm there! We loaded up and took off up the road. I didn't snap many pictures because I was driving, but it's a fun pass. Given the time, and that we were quite hungry, I turned around at the pass and headed back down. I love having a vehicle that takes us places like that!

We grabbed a bite in Ouray, walked around the town a bit trying to get an idea of something to bring back for our neighbors watching my old dog and our house, and then headed up to the mine for our tour.

Bachelor-Syracuse was open from around 1850 (the start of the gold rush) until 1988. It produced gold, but there IS some silver ore, which is odd given the rock that the mine lives in. The tour takes you almost 1900 feet into the mountain, and it is quite chilly! It stays around 50-degrees year-round, not much unlike a cave, but with a breeze because of the air shaft (original opening to the mine). It's a wet mine, too, so the mine car travels the tracks through a stream that exits the mine the way we went in. It was cool!! We stopped at a rib and learned the history, saw exhibits and how mining tools from open to close were used, heard stories, and saw the silver in the ceiling of this rib that eventually became a blacksmith shop. I loved it!

We left the town once the tour was over because Jeff and Jason were back at camp. It was time to do more fishing. The night before didn't land us anything and we still had hope. After spending close to 2 hours on the inlet to the lake, we still didn't land anything. But we had fun. Back to camp for dinner and to hit the rack. Yankee Boy was awaiting us in the morning, and I couldn't wait!