All summer long Nick has had the 14'er bug! Up until yesterday, he has climbed 9 of the 50+ 14ft mountains in Colorado & has been asking me to join him. It's not that I didn't want to hike with him, it's that I have terrible knees & am not in the best shape. I can handle the climb up - other than being outta shape, it's not that difficult. But it's the hike back down that absolutely kills my knees!
But I finally relented! I agreed to climb Mt. Sherman with Nick yesterday. According to his list of mountains ranked by other hikers, Sherman is the easiest & least technical to climb. So, that's the one he picked for my FIRST 14'er.
So, here are the pics from my iPhone.
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| Weather setting in. |
The weather was not ideal, but we were prepared! I had on 4 layers when we started; added Nick's Gortex coat at halfway. Nick had on 4 the whole time. We only saw about a dozen others on the mountain. Even with all the snow & cloud cover, it was a beautiful day, with the sun peeking in & out of the clouds. We "enjoyed" a hot lunch at the top, courtesy of Nick's stash of MRE's, we ate like soldiers hunkered down in the snow in a makeshift wind break! It took us 3 1/2 hours up & 2 back down. There were times when I wasn't sure I was gonna make it - getting close to hitting the wall a couple of times - but Nick would throw me some food & my energy would rally. It was hard, but very much worth it. Thanks to my hubby for believing I could do it! And, I'm glad I could be there when he bagged his 10th for the year!
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| Old Homestead halfway up |
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| Me halfway & definitely tired already! |
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| Nick inside the homestead looking like a military ranger or something! |
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| Old, collapsed mine in the hill |
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| The valley towards Fairplay on our way up |
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| Me, past halfway; working our way towards the ridge |
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| Saddle/ridge we climbed on the way to the top |
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| Snow crystals on the rocks along the ascent |
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| Nick talking to another hiker on the ridge |
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| TOP! |
Here we are at the top! It sure felt good to get up there, but we were disappointed that the sun didn't make an appearance for us to catch a glimpse of the vistas around us!
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| View on the way down - the Holy Cross Wilderness across the way |
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| The homestead standing in the sun on the way down |
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| The valley on the way down |
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| Me, ALL DONE & windburned! |
Today, I woke up feeling tired & sore from the knees down! I pretty much have been hanging out on the couch all day, but I am starting to feel a little more human again now. Hopefully I will be feeling well enough to run a little tomorrow (I am working my way through the Couch to 5K training program). Not sure I will join Nick on any more climbs this fall, but maybe next year I'll slowly work my way up the list with him!
1 comment:
Way to go girly! You wouldn't catch me dead hiking up to the cold LOL Plus the wind ewwww!! Wouldn't it have been much nicer in July or August? I'm proud of you!! WTG! I just read on another blog as she was running her 10K she ate gummy bears, they are quick at getting the sugar back in your system??
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