Tag: 14erHappyHour

14er Happy Hour – Cogstone Brewing

At the last Happy Hour I’d vowed to make sure I wore hiking
clothes at the next one.  Well, I just
didn’t feel like changing into hiking clothes just to go out.  But I’d promised myself…  So I asked the girls if I looked ok in my
jeans, work blouse, and heels.  Yes, I
did, but they reminded me I was supposed to wear hiking clothes.  We went back and forth on this a few times
(Emily:  “Mom, you actually look good in
hiking clothes, you should wear them”) and in the end I just wore what I’d been
wearing all day.  I was short on time and
wanted to get going. 

I’d never been to the Cogstone Brewing Company before, but
my directions placed it right near the old Girl Scout Shop (kind of by Tees n
Time).  I got there just a little after
6:30pm and backed into a space up front. 
I loved how the parking here was so much better than at the last HH!

As I walked up the front steps I met Scott again, who I will
forever remember as the “Cisco Guy”. 
There were a bunch of people already there, standing in the back corner
with their beer. 

I went to get a beer of
my own at the counter, which wasn’t really set up for ordering that way.  I got a red, and it came out to $5.41, which
I thought was a really odd number.  How
are you supposed to tip on that?  Then I
remembered this wasn’t a bar, it was a brewery, and they did things a bit
differently.  Still though, shouldn’t it
have been wither $4 or $5 so a $1 tip would have been appropriate?  Are you even supposed to tip at
breweries?  I did, but now I’m wondering…

I digress.

When I got back to the 14er table they announced it was “Geek
Night” at the brewery, so it was going to be busy.  It was basically a bunch of people who like
beer and geek trivia who meet every Wednesday at this particular brewery. 

We made the decision to just go outside onto
the patio.

Just as a side note, Nate Pittman brought his dogs.  Adorable!  Oh, and these photos aren’t mine.  I stole them from Stephanie’s post on the 14er page.  I don’t feel comfortable yet taking photos at this event, but that will soon change. 

It was cold, so someone tried to turn on the heater but
couldn’t get it working.  I stood there
with Scott and Bill Anderson, who has the same tattoo I want to get on his arm
(hmmm) and works in the summer repairing trails above treeline on 14ers.  He’s from Minnesota, has no kids but does
have a wife and dog.  We discussed a way
to get to the Barr Trail through Green Mountain Falls, and then they brought
out the Pikes Peak Atlas.  Which I need
BTW.  Like, yesterday.   It is a very detailed topo map of the Pikes
Peak region, including Mueller State Park. 
Most of the information it has isn’t available online (Stanley Canyon
still eludes me due to online directions). 
I was fascinated and we spent about 15 minutes pouring over it. 

See?  This is why I go
to these events.  Apparently everyone
knew about this map and I didn’t.  I don’t
know what I don’t know.  

The conversation kept turning to Pikes Peak.  I’m not sure why, but it did last time
too.  Maybe because it’s the only peak I
have reference to.  That needs to
change. 

It was so cool listening to everyone else’s
conversations.  At my table three people
were discussing their upcoming trip to Little Bear.  They’d all climbed it before, but wanted to
try a different route.  They were going back
and forth on dates, equipment, timing, weather, etc.  I asked if it was ok if I just listened in as
they talked and they agreed.  I couldn’t
help but be fascinated by their conversation. 
They were having the same discussions I have internally with myself
before going on a hike.  I try to
describe this decision making to other people, but they just don’t “get it”.  However, these were my people.  We spoke the same language.  Now I just need to find a way to get invited
to go along with them.

I went back inside to get a second beer (and had the same
tipping problem). 

When I came back outside there were a few new people
there.  One woman was from Southern
California, so we discussed some of the peaks there.  I feel like I spend a lot of my time at these
events trying to prove myself.  She’d done
Cactus to Clouds, but for some reason was sure it brought her to the top of Mt.
San Gorgonio.  I assured her it was Mt. San
Jacinto (with views of San Gorgonio) and agreed it was a very challenging
hike.  I hope to see her again because we
seem to have similar hiking abilities. 
She offered to share her pizza, multiple times, but even though I was
hungry I didn’t feel comfortable saying yes. 

I overheard Yin Ling mention she was doing Rim to Rim next
week and tried to talk to her about it, but she was deep in Little Bear
preparations.  When I was finally able to
snag her for details I didn’t get much: 
she was just a tagalong on the trip and hadn’t actually planned
anything.  She didn’t realize the details
of the hike were so difficult to plan.  How
can I be a tagalong?

Oh, and I shouldn’t have worried about what I wore.  Sue Kim was there and she looked nice, so I
didn’t feel overdressed. 

It felt like I left early but it was actually late when I
got home.  I’d spent 3.5 hours there and
it had only felt like one.  There is so
much I don’t know.  So much to
learn.  But what I really need to do is
just get out there so I can contribute to conversations and get some
experience.  I’d love to be invited along
on some climbs, but I don’t think that’ll happen until I gain more
experience.  I don’t feel like I made
much progress in the “hiking partner” department.  I need to work on that.  I also need to spend some quality time on
the14er site, getting to know how it’s used.

14er Happy Hour – Cerberus Brewing Company

I’ve been trying to attend one of these
events for almost a year but I just haven’t been available on the dates they’ve
occurred.  I wasn’t available today
either, but our Rocket Troop meeting got cancelled at the last minute, so I
re-arranged an appointment for 8:30pm instead of 7pm and decided to go.  By myself.

Going alone was a conscious
decision.  There are several people I
could have invited, and who I would have enjoyed going with.  Rebecca even offered to go with me and be my
designated driver,  but I knew if I went
with someone I knew I wouldn’t have mingled and met other people, and that was
my main goal of attending this event:  to
meet other like-minded 14er hikers and pick their brains.

I don’t get out much, so I had Rebecca
and Emily help me get dressed.  Jeans and
a cami and heels.  I felt
respectable. 

Before leaving the house I quickly
posted to the event page: “Woohoo! I’m actually going to make it tonight! Long
time listener, first time caller… I’m excited to meet you all!”

I hopped in the truck and drove downtown
to the Cerberus Brewing Company.  I’d
never been there before but had no trouble finding the place.  Parking was insane!  My truck was too big for their little parking
lot, but after a 20 point turn I was able to drive back out and was extremely
lucky to find someone vacating their spot just across the street.  I pulled up as far to the curb as I could but
my truck still stuck out a little ways into the street.  I was a bit of a hazard but I was legally
parked. 

I saw people already seated that looked
like they’d be a part of the 14er crowd, so I quickly went to the bar to order
a beer.  There were 4 of us in a line
that took 20 minutes.  This was so not
cool!  Since we were at a brewery (not a
bar), everyone in line ahead of me wanted to try several different beers before
ordering.  UGH!  The line at the bar should have been for
people who already knew what they wanted. 
IMO, if you don’t know what you want, sit at a table and be served.  Anyway, the bartender didn’t think far enough
ahead to take the order of people who knew what they wanted while those in
front of them were still deciding.  When
it was finally my turn I asked for their largest option for beer (thinking it
was the 32oz) because I didn’t want to stand in that line again.  I had hoped on ordering fries or something to
eat as well (I hadn’t eaten dinner yet), but that wasn’t possible at the walk
up counter.   I was handed a 16oz Amber (which was very good
by the way) and headed out to the patio to meet some fellow hikers, resigned to
waiting in line again at a future point. 

I saw two men sitting and talking at a
table outside that looked like hikers, so I introduced myself. No, they weren’t
hikers but bicyclers who’d just finished a ride.  Whoops! 
It was then I realized everyone there pretty much looked like a serious hiker.  Gotta love Colorado!

We made small talk and I did get a lot
of great information from them about some trails at the Air Force Academy.  We chatted for about 15 minutes before I left
them to enjoy their time.

Next I headed over to a circle of chairs
where everyone seemed to be introducing themselves.  This looked like the right spot, so I made
myself comfortable and began chatting. 

Some notes from the evening:

  • The brewery was crowded, especially for a Wednesday night.  I’m not sure if it was because their beer is stellar (it was pretty good) or because they’re the only place to go in the area, but they were full from 6pm when I got there until 8pm when I left.  Great for them, not so good for me (I’m not a fan of crowds or waiting for beer).  I’ll probably visit this brewery again when I have more time and it’s less crowded. Just wondering when that may be?
  • I was overdressed.  Usually I say you can never be overdressed, but it was a bit of a detriment in this case.  The women there didn’t want to talk with me, and the men didn’t take me seriously until I’d talked with them a bit and proved I was a serious hiker.  Note to self:  wear hiking clothes next time.
  • Everyone was nice and cordial.  This was a nice surprise because there are a few trolls on the FB site and I was hoping this wasn’t a culture type thing.
  • There were probably 30 of us all together.
  • There were way more men there than women (by a 7 to 1 ratio at least I’d say)
  • There was a woman there who hikes Pikes Peak every month (she’s done this for 60+ months in a row).  I’ve never seen her on a trail, but she hikes during the week so our paths wouldn’t likely cross.  I’m really bad with names, but I think her name is Yin Ling.
  • Other than her, the other hikers had only hiked Pikes Peak once. This surprised me since its right in our backyard.  I was very surprised to hear most of them took the Crags route, and those who took Barr Trail took the train back down.  Hmmm.  They seemed to think I was crazy for hiking it so many times up and back.  Oh, and they were impressed with my time too.
  • There were people there of all different hiking abilities.
  • Half of us were first timers to the event, the other half were regulars.
  • I was by far the novice with only hiking one 14er, but gained points for hiking it so many times.
  • I met several people, but in no way had time to meet everyone.  I felt as if I had to cut a lot of conversations off early because I wanted to meet more people and I was time constrained.  I could easily have stayed a few more hours. I felt bad for leaving so early.
  • No one had a regular workout routine, they just hiked 14ers. 
  • I’m really bad at remembering names, so here are the names of some of the people I met, in hopes I’ll remember them better:  Stephanie, Joe, Matt, Scott, Yin Ling, Matt, David, Karthik (KK, works for CTU, West Cost Swinger, from India)

I felt as if everyone was asking me
questions, and I didn’t get enough time to ask them questions back.  I did learn several things however.  Flat tires seem to be a problem on many of
the 4WD trails.  I should do these with
other people and preferably with someone who has a jeep. 

At one point I asked the group I was
sitting with “So, what allows you to hike?” and was met with blank stares.  I was sitting in a group with all men, and
this apparently wasn’t a concern to them. 
Their hobby was hiking, so they hike. 
End of story.  It’s not the same
for women hikers.  I’m a full time mom
and I work full time, but my kids are getting older.  Having my kids in school and not working
Fridays is what allows me to hike at this point in my life.  Once again, this concept was foreign to them,
so I moved on to another subject.  Hiking
goals. 

I was surprised at how many of them had
already hiked all of the 14ers and are now working on 13ers. I met one man who
lives 2 blocks away from me who’s already hiked them all (Scott Davis).  His advice was good advice:  the shortest or standard route isn’t always
the best route.  Many of them are boring
and I should seriously look into all routes before making the decision of which
to take.  This seems like pretty good
advice, and something I probably wouldn’t have considered.  We exchanged phone numbers and while he isn’t
really interested in hiking the 14ers again, he’d be open to giving me advice
on them all if needed. 

This event was really a good way to meet
people with similar hiking goals.  Everyone
was sharing information on previous trips, planning new ones, talking about
gear, etc. I saw several groups make plans for backpacking trips and several
14ers right there.  There are a bunch of
peaks I know I’ll want hiking buddies (especially ones with technical gear and
possibly a Jeep).  I need to figure out
how to be a part of this, which means I’ll definitely be attending the next
14er Happy Hour (if I can make it… I’m seriously going to try).

I left at 8pm because I had an 8:30
appointment, but I left wanting more. 
After meeting other 14er hikers and listening to their stories I’m more
excited than even to begin this journey. In the course of taking with these
people I realized if they can do it, I can do it.  As I’ve told many hikers while hiking:  Start and stop stopping.  Just keep going and you’ll make it. There’s a
book title in there somewhere.