I’ve been sitting here trying to remember when it was I first decided that I desperately needed to hike to the top of a 14er in Colorado. I think it was in 2008. So if that is correct, it took me 9 years folks. I did it!!
For those who don’t know, a 14er is any mountain that is over 14,000 feet in elevation. I believe there are 53 in the State of Colorado alone. On Sunday, July 30, 2017, I went for a hike on Mt. Bierstadt and made it to the summit. Let’s go on a photographic journey together…
This is how we began our journey. Just three innocent little Kansans. The other two are my brother Ben and his girlfriend Julie. They were pretty cute in their matching hats. We started our hike bright and early at 5 a.m. thanks to my father who drove us up there, but who did not join the hike. He claimed he enjoyed going back to the cabin to sleep, but I just can’t imagine that was true.
We had actually planned to go on this hike the day before, but when I woke up at 4 a.m. on Saturday, I checked the weather and saw that it was going to be raining pretty much all day. We decided we’d try again on Sunday, and boy am I glad we did. Just goes to show that things can really work out for a reason.
It was pretty swampy at the beginning, which made me incredibly grateful for the dope hiking boots I got at REI earlier in the week. Completely worth it. We also basically had to ford a river. The second shot there is what it looked like as the sun was coming up behind the mountains. Simply gorgeous.
The above is a picture looking back at how far I’d come. I think I was about halfway up at this point. If you look really closely, you might be able to see the parking lot where we started. I think what helped on this deal was that we started the hike at around 11,000 feet since we started close to the top of the Guanella Pass.
Below is a picture looking the other direction, up the mountain. On the left side of the top of the mountain is the tippy top where we are heading. We had a ways to go. Not gonna lie, it was a little bit daunting, and it was pretty hard to breathe. But the mantra that I kept telling myself as I trudged up the mountain was “get comfortable with being uncomfortable.” I got that from my orange theory fitness workouts. Another thing that pushed me to the top was making it past 12,500 feet. That had previously been the highest I had been. So once I got to 13,000 feet, I knew I could do the rest.
Below is a picture of what looks like a lot of rocks. There were a lot of rocks on this hike. Some tricky footwork was required.
Below is a picture right before the summit. There was snow people. Not a lot, but enough that it warranted a picture. The last 250 feet or so were basically rock climbing, so it was kind of hard to stop and take a picture. That part was pretty fun though, I have to admit. It actually completely took my mind off of not being able to breathe.
Below is me at the top. My friends, I cannot convey to you the depth of elation that I felt in that moment. Mt. Bierstadt was my third attempt at making it to the top of a 14er. My first attempt was Mt. Elbert, and my second attempt was Gray’s peak. Elbert I was not prepared for. Gray’s I got altitude sickness. So there was a lot riding on Bierstadt for me, mentally and emotionally. I was absolutely determined that this time I would make it. Yes, I had some doubts. But in the end I prevailed people! Below is my best look of triumph despite total exhaustion! It felt amazing, and I would highly recommend finding this feeling whenever and wherever you can.
Below is the three of us at the summit. Julie and Ben were definitely able to hike this mountain more easily than me. I blame their long legs. They were kind enough to summit with me though! It’s probably hard to read the sign, but Mt. Bierstadt is 14,065 feet.
Take a look at the view from the top…
This last picture is an artsy fartsy picture I took while I was enjoying my stroll back down the mountain. The wild flowers were lovely, and I did contemplate having a Sound of Music “the hills are alive” moment. However, my knees were really begging me to just get off the mountain as quickly as possible. So I didn’t.
Bottom line my friends is that this was an amazing experience. I just wanted to share it with you, and I hope you enjoyed it even a fraction as much as I did. Happy hiking my friends!
Sagacious Student 