#7 – Hiked my first 14er!

My husband and I traveled out to Colorado with the goal of hiking Grays Peak and Torrey’s Peak – 2 of the easier 14ers.

We messaged with a friend, Bjorn, who lives in Denver and he suggested we do a different peak because Grays and Torreys will be packed due to their proximity to Denver. He suggested we hike Missouri Mountain (14,067 feet) with him. He said we’d need to meet at the trail head at 4:00am so we could start by 4:30am. Really? That means we need to leave Breckenridge at 2:00am and wake up at 1:00am. Whoa, that’s crazy.

Bjorn said the early start was for a number of reasons: to get a parking spot at the trail head, to avoid afternoon thundershowers, to give ourselves plenty of time to take it slow.

We thought about it for a while and decided that we might as well do it. Remember….”Sounds great, let’s do it!”

So we went to bed around 6:00pm, hoping for 7 hours of sleep. We jumped out of bed when our alarms went off at 1:00am. Got in the car at 2:00am. Right on schedule. Both my husband and I slept pretty good and we were excited about meeting up with Bjorn and Kent. These are 2 guys I worked with years ago at MindSpring.

The four of us met in the parking lot at 4:00am and we started the hike at 4:30am.

Here are some photos of the hike up to the peak:

Hiking in the pitch black dark with head lamps so we could see our footing. That was a 1st for me.

The sun started to rise and we could see the beauty of the mountains!

We crossed a few streams.

Steep for miles and miles.

We are headed to the rock at the top of this photos. Lots more altitude to gain!

We hiked through a field of boulders.

And we kept hiking up. Gaining more and more altitude.

We made it to the top of the ridge! We are close to the peak but not there yet. It was super cold and windy up on the ridge at close to 14,000 feet. Beautiful views.

And we keep going up the ridge. More beautiful views!

We made it to the top of our first 14er!!! 14,067 feet! We climbed 4,500 feet in elevation. It felt so good.

You could see mountains for miles and miles. Colorado is where my husband and I want to live someday. Being up there on that peak made us more sure than ever of our dream to live in the west.

We rested, had some food, and took in the sights!

Now for the descent……

This is a different kind of hard especially on my knees. Here are some photos on the way back to the trail head:

Taking it all in before we head down the mountain.

Taking some layers off.

Crazy that we were up on top of that mountain in the distance.

Crossing another stream. We had crossed it in the dark earlier that morning and here we are many hours later. Hoping my tired legs hold up. I don’t want to get wet. All was good and on we went.

That is the story of my first 14er. I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you Missouri Mountain! And thanks to my good friend Bjorn for taking so many fantastic photos!

On to Mount Kilimanjaro next. Trek starts in less than 2 weeks. Stay tuned for more soon.