Bagged My First 14er

A woman I used to race (ski) with in high school, Sarah, was in CO this past week and months ago she reached out to some friends she has here letting us know she'd be in town and that she was going to hike a 14er (a mountain that is over 14,000 feet) and invited anyone to come along. I jumped at the chance since I've been in CO for 13 years and this is something I've never done. We hiked Mt. Bierstadt which is 14,060', about 7.5 miles round trip and about a 2600' elevation gain. About 1000' gain in the last mile to top...yikes!

I was nervous (I'm super out of shape) and excited. I woke up at 3:15 AM (this would be one of the key reasons I've never done a 14er before!) to get to her friend's house and then carpool up to be on the trail by 6:00. This is important because you want to avoid the afternoon heat and more importantly the afternoon storms that roll in. General rule is to summit by noon - but the earlier the better. We took off on the trail at 6:17, summited (yes!) around 10:30 and got back to the parking lot at 12:37. 

My lungs were fine. I could feel a little burn in my thighs and glutes as we got to the boulder field. But overall I did much better than I anticipated. Two of the four girls kept experiencing waves of nausea. We made sure we stopped a lot, drank a lot of water and had regular snacks. It paid off as we all summited. In true Colorado fashion dark clouds rolled in so we didn't spend too much time at the top. Not too long after we started our descent it started to hail, luckily just teeny balls but enough to hurt if it hit you in just the right spot. The two dogs with us weren't too happy about it. It hailed/rained for a good portion of the descent but eventually the sun came out and we stripped a bunch of layers off. It was an amazing day and I'm excited for my next 14er!

View of Mt. Bierstadt when we arrived (the higher peak on the right).

Looking back from the trail as the sun was rising. 

We're having FUN!

These next pictures alternate between the summit and the parking lot - which is just beyond the pond. You won't be able to see the lot unless you zoom in. I took a few sets as we kept getting closer to the top. I think I might've zoomed in on the last one of the trailhead because otherwise you couldn't see the pond. 

The next few are as we're getting close and you can tell we're clearly in the boulder field. Some are looking up and some are of the amazing views from up there. 

This is what's known as a false summit - you think that's the top but not a chance!

SUMMIT!!!!

Lots of people - and it was a Monday!

Parking lot waaaaay down there!

A very nice gentleman that we talked to in the parking lot and then saw on the summit (and throughout the hike) gave us his sign that he brought to use in our group pic. 

Ominous cloud. 

See the hail on the ground?

I have some more pictures from my camera but it will probably be a while before I can transfer them. One of them is a pic of the observatory on Mt. Evans!