hiking – Page 14 – Wild Wanderer

Seventh Summit of Pikes Peak

This was a last minute trip.
It wasn’t until about 10pm the night before I realized hiking the 26
miles up and down Pikes Peak would even be a possibility. When I discovered I had some time in my
schedule I immediately went online to check the weather forecast. As usual, each forecast was different, but
they all agreed there would be storms and possibly snow in the afternoon. One even predicted thunderstorms starting at
10am, but most stated there would be “fall like weather”.

I’ve missed several opportunities to hike the mountain this
summer because I listened to weather forecasts that turned out to be false, or
materialized later in the afternoon than forecasted (meaning I’d have already
hiked and been home before the storms started).

I asked Rebecca her opinion and she said yes I should go! She also said she’d look for me if I didn’t
come back tomorrow night. And by ‘look
for me’ she meant drive to the trailhead and yell. So I packed up my gear, prepped coffee just
in case, and decided to “decide” in the morning.

My alarm went off at 2am and I looked out my front window to
evaluate Pikes Peak and my chances for a successful hike. I couldn’t see the light from the summit
house, or, more importantly, Pikes Peak at all; It was covered in low lying
clouds.

So I went outside. It
felt warm (low 60s). I went back and
forth in my head on whether or not to attempt the hike for about 5 minutes
(seriously, which is a long time for someone who usually makes quick
decisions). In the end I decided to
go: I could always turn back if the
weather got difficult, and I’ve never regretted taking a hike when I didn’t
feel like hiking. I made sure I had my
ski gloves and set out on my way with the rest of the gear I’d packed the night
before.

I didn’t get to the trailhead until after 3am. There were only 2 cars in the parking
lot. The dashboard of the car read 63
degrees outside. I figured the cars
belonged to backpackers at Barr Camp, paid my $10 parking fee, and started
hiking at 3:12am.

I usually check the time as we hit different landmarks/mile
markers, but never actually write them down.
I’ve got a pretty good idea of how long each segment should take, but this
time I wanted to keep close track of my progress.

I love hiking Pikes Peak.
I’m super appreciative of hiking buddies and I’m glad to hike with
anyone who’d like to hike with me (quick caveat: they must be in good health, have no heart or
lung problems, and WANT to hike the peak), but I find when I hike with others
we take a lot of unnecessary and sometimes lengthy breaks. These breaks are probably necessary for them,
but I’ve always wondered how quickly I could hike the peak if I only stopped
when I was tired. So this time I was
keeping a trail log on my phone.

I started hiking to the sound of crickets. The first three miles of the hike are the
most difficult and require you to ‘power’ through them. The redeeming factor to this stretch of the
trail are the city lights. You can see
Manitou and Colorado Springs glowing in the distance. I’ve tried dozens of times to get a good
picture, but have come to the realization the only way to enjoy the view is to
actually be there.

Strangely I wasn’t able to see the summit house light. It’s a very bright light I can usually see
from my house, and I’ve always seen while hiking the peak in the morning. I’d thought I’d have been able to see it
through the clouds, but I couldn’t. I
hit MM1 at 3:31am, MM2 at 3:53am, and MM3 at 4:14am. I’d hiked the first 3 miles in 61 minutes and
had taken several stops for pictures (none of which came out really well). That’s great time! These are the hardest miles of the hike, so I
consider hiking 3mph basically climbing up stairs a win!

At this point I began noticing the sound of crickets had
silenced. In fact, I couldn’t hear any
bugs or the sound of the creek I knew I was paralleling. I made a mental memo of it and kept hiking.

Side note:
headlamps are NOT useful when you hear a noise in the woods. Your head automatically turns towards the
sound, but you have to swivel it side to side to look for creatures (or beady
eyes). A flashlight is much better
suited for this purpose.

Around MM4 I saw a large reflective rectangle in the
distance and was intrigued. I wasn’t sure
exactly what it was until I was right upon it, when I realized it was a sign
noting miles to the top. This is not a
permanent fixture, and was probably put there for the race this past weekend. I saw them every mile to the top, and
seriously hope the person responsible for putting them there ensures they are
properly disposed of.

MM4 came at 4:36am, MM5 at 4:57am, and MM6 at 5:21am. Even though the trail was evening out and
getting easier to hike I was gradually hiking a bit slower. Totally ok, but funny to note.

All along the hike I kept waiting for the sun to rise and for
it to get lighter outside but it just wasn’t happening. I thought to myself I was glad I’d hiked this
trail many times before. It’s a very well-marked
trail, but in the dark with just a headlamp it’s easy to lose the trail when you
come upon a bare section not lined with some sort of foliage. I kept thinking “I could see how someone
could get lost here, and here, and here”.
I was also noting the lack of animal noises. Usually I hear a lot of rustling and chirping
from birds, run into spider or caterpillar webs, and hear small creatures
scurrying in the dark. I saw two rabbits
quietly sitting on the trail before me at different points, but that was
all. No other sounds.

Well, I did hear a bear once, or what I thought was a
bear. It startled me in the quiet. I didn’t stop, but kept on hiking. You see, I was actually really, really scared
to be hiking out there by myself. I wasn’t
afraid of anyone attacking me: there
were only two cars in the parking lot, and honestly, anyone who’d made it this
far out didn’t have the intention of hurting someone at 5 in the morning. They’d be sleeping. No one was crazy enough to be hiking in the
dark (ha-ha) so it wasn’t likely someone was ‘lying in wait’ for someone like
me to hike along.

No, I wasn’t worried about another human being, or even a
bear, but possibly a Mountain Lion. I
kept noting how unusually quiet it was, and figured I’d be able to hear just
about anything except a predator (meaning a Mountain Lion, as those would be
the only predators in this part of the forest).
I mentally prepared myself to use my hiking stick to defend myself and ‘go
for the eyes’ if attacked.

So I scanned my headlamp left and right as I hiked, looking
for eyes in the shadows. When I heard
the growl I was seriously scared. It
made me jump a bit, but I didn’t see anything.
I thought it had to be a bear, as it was a rather loud noise and a
Mountain Lion would have just attacked from behind. It happened again and you’ll
probably never believe me, but I realized it was my stomach! Honestly!
I didn’t feel hungry at all (my core was aching right about now), and in
fact I couldn’t actually feel my stomach.
The second time I heard the growl my tummy moved at the same time, and I
audibly noted the hilarity of the situation and sighed in relief. I kept
hiking.

Usually by MM3 or MM4 it’s fully light outside, but I passed MM6
and Barr Camp at 5:23am to an eerie darkness.
Apparently there aren’t any lights at Barr Camp, something I’d never had
the opportunity to notice until now. Through
my headlamp I saw the railings and porch swing by the river indicating the entrance
to the camp, but opted not to stop because it just felt wrong. The fog around the campsite added to my
unease. Everyone was obviously still
sleeping, and I felt like an intruder.

Just after reaching Barr Camp a very light snow began
falling. I could see it through my
headlamp. It was more of a light mist of
snow, but snow just the same. I reached
the yellow ‘summit sign’ that lets you choose between the Bottomless Pit and
Pikes Peak at 5:46am, and it wasn’t until 6:01am when I was able to turn off my
headlamp.

A realization hit me:
I had just hiked for 9 miles. In the dark.

Through the forest.

By myself. Scared.
There was no moon to guide me, as it was lost in the cloud cover
above. I’d survived one of the scariest
things I’ve ever done, and was seriously proud of myself for sticking to it and
continuing to hike in the dark! Rock on
sister! Let’s do this!

I reached the A-Frame at 6:22am and took my first ‘rest’ of
the hike. Kind of. You see, I call my kids to wake them up in
the mornings for school between 6:20 and 6:25am, so now seemed like the perfect
time. Yes, I had cell service (I have it
at just about every point on the trail, even at the summit, although I can’t
usually post to facebook or Instagram while on the trail). I called Emily, wished her a wonderful day,
and took a look around. The tarp was
pulled closed over the A-frame, and when I peeked through the gap in the
curtains I thought I saw a jacket hanging from the window, so I quietly turned
around and started hiking again.

There were a couple of squirrels chattering, so I took a
video (I say chipmunk in the video, but knew they were squirrels: It wasn’t worth a second video).

Before reaching the trail I saw two bucks! They stood there and let me get a picture.

It was then I realized the squirrels weren’t chattering at
me, but at the deer:

I’d turned off my headlamp about 20 minutes ago, but it was
now that the sun actually began to rise. There is no way to describe or take a
photo of the sunrise from Barr Trail to do it justice, but here are a few
attempts:

It was about now the snow began falling harder, the wind
began to pick up and the temperature began to drop. I was now hiking into the clouds.

I switched my cotton gloves for my ski gloves and trekked
on. I reached the ‘2 miles to the summit’
sign at 7:05am, and the Cirque (about a mile from the summit) at 7:32am. I was above treeline, and still hiking at
about 2 mph! That’s entirely amazing, as
it often times takes an hour to go a mile on this part of the trek.

I was now hiking in snow, and saw prints I’d never seen
before. They were really small rodent
footprints, bigger than a mouse but much smaller than a marmot. Then I saw one! I’d never seen one before, but I was pretty
sure this was a Pika and the owner of the paw prints. I
tried to get my camera out for a picture, but by this time my fingers were
frozen and I wasn’t quick enough: The
Pika ran away before I could get a picture of him, so I took a picture of his
prints.

I kept the camera in my hand, and kept looking for another
Pika for a ‘Pika-ture’ (yes, I actually said this out loud).

That last mile was grueling only because it was so cold and
the wind whipped the ice and snow into my face.
It wasn’t bad enough to take refuge or turn around, but it was seriously
annoying. I saw this cairn about 50 feet
from the summit and thought it looked cool.
I still had the camera in my hand so I snapped a quick photo.

I reached the summit of Pikes Peak at 8:05am. It had taken me 5 hours and 7 minutes to
reach the top! That was absolutely
amazing! I was hiking at an average
speed of over 2.5mph: UPHILL! I knew
from reading Backpacker Magazine the
average hiking speed of any trek usually sits around 2mph, so I considered this
a serious win!

I reached the summit at the exact same time a cog pulled
up. Several workers jumped out of the
cog as it stopped, dressed in working overalls, shovels in their hands. They quickly began clearing the walkway.

The men were exceedingly nice, and asked about my hike up
and if I’d seen any animals? We
discussed what I’d seen and the animals they’d seen on their way up (mainly
deer as well). I (sadly) noticed the
Summit House was closed, so I asked one of the men shoveling when it would
open. He didn’t know. “Maybe in half an hour, maybe not at all
today because of the snow”.

Great. I was quickly turning
into a popsicle and decided to just head back down immediately. This ended up being a very wise choice.

I waved goodbye to the men shoveling, and as soon as I began
hiking back down they jumped back into the cog and were on their way back down
themselves. It was cold.
I mean VERY COLD. The wind didn’t
help. I was guessing it was about 20
degrees before wind chill. Hiking kept
me warm; stopping froze my sweat and my muscles.

About 50 yards into the descent I saw another Pika, and
luckily still had my camera in my hand.
Here’s what they look like: Bigger than a mouse, but smaller than a
chinchilla.

I didn’t see any hikers until I was just about at the
A-frame, and surmised by the color of the jacket the man was wearing he was the
one who’d spent the night. I tried to
warn him of the rapidly deteriorating conditions after treeline, but he didn’t
seem to think I was serious. When I
reached the A-frame again the tarp was pulled back and no one was inside, so I
was pretty sure he was in fact the overnight occupant.

Between the A-frame and Barr Camp I saw about 10 other
hikers and stopped to talk with them all.
They all wanted to know about the conditions ahead, as they couldn’t see
the mountain from that point of the trail.
Once again I told them it was snowing, cold, the wind was howling, and
it just kept getting worse. I advised
them all to head back, but every single one of them “had a ticket back down on
the train” and needed to be there to catch a ride back down. I told them all the summit house might not
open, so if they were relying on it for warmth/shelter be advised it might not
be there. The cog might also not be
operating. They continued their hike
anyway, one of them in shorts and a t-shirt.
He told me it was a “good thing he’d brought a jacket”. I did a face palm and told myself I’d warned
them. I honestly don’t believe any of
them made it up to the top. It did
indeed get much worse as the day kept on, and they were at least 4 hours behind
my summit when I saw them (they had 4 hours at best until they reached the
summit). When I told my kids this after
arriving home they said it was probably because I don’t look like a “hiker” and
that I make hiking look easy. I’m
guessing they probably thought if I could do it so could they. Hmmmm…. I digress.

I was back at Barr Camp at 10:28am and saw my last set of
hikers: 6 women in their early 60s, very
fit, with a LOT of makeup on (maybe it was permanent?). They seemed to listen to me, and while they
continued ahead, verbally made a pact to turn around if at any time one of them
didn’t feel safe. They also regretted
not beginning their hike at 4am like they’d originally intended. High five to them for keeping their options
open!

I was back at my car at 12:18pm. I’d hiked 26 miles in 9 hours 6 minutes, and
felt absolutely amazing! I didn’t take
any breaks besides 3 minutes to call my kids and what was probably 3 minutes at
the summit, and it was at this point I realized I hadn’t eaten anything all day
either. I’d brought a lot of snacks, but
hadn’t opened any of them. All I’d had
to eat today had been the coffee I’d sipped on the way to the trail. Now I was starving, and ready to eat. But first I needed to head to work for a few
hours, pick up Thomas from school, search for a gyroscope, pick up Emily from
softball…

Trail Log:

3:12amTrailhead

3:31am MM1

3:53am MM2

4:14am MM3

4:36am MM 4

4:57am MM5

5:21am MM6

5:23am Barr Camp

5:46am Summit sign/ Bottomless Pit

6:22am A-Frame

7:05am 2 Miles to go

7:32am Cirque (1 mile to go)

8:05am Summit

10:28am Barr Camp

Trailhead at 12:18pm

Cahill Pond and Rule Creek Pond Hike

We started at the trailhead at 12:40pm, intending to take a 4.75 mile loop hike to visit the two remaining ponds at Mueller State Park I’d yet to visit: Cahill and Rule Creek Ponds. As you can see from the photo of the route we took above, we got a little off tack, but only for about 1/3 of a mile. The trails at Mueller are wonderfully market with numbers. Unfortunately the post for the switch off said Trail 17 went left and right. Since we were looking for 34 we were confused (until we came to 32 and noticed our mistake). The positive part of this blunder was I got an extra 2/3 of a mile in (making it over a 5 mile hike), and the way back was all uphill! Woot!

I don’t know much about the history of Mueller except it was Homesteaded in 1870, then passed through several families (cattle ranchers) until the Mueller Family bought it as a game preserve. It became a Colorado State Park in 1990. There were no clear signs indicating who this home belonged to, but it couldn’t have been that old as it had a concrete foundation and evidence of glass windows.

The building was dilapidated and had a “keep out” sign. It was obvious the roof had caved in some time ago (and was littering the floor, along with barbed wire. I didn’t go inside.

It was pretty close to Cahill Pond, so I’m assuming maybe it belonged to the Cahill Family?

Directly to the East of Cahill Pond is a large meadow. I couldn’t help but stop and take a picture of the grass and rolling hills.

There was another building located inside an Aspen grove just before the Cheesman Ranch trail. It looked to be an old hay loft and root cellar.

Rule Creek Pond lined Highway 67, and we came upon it almost accidentally. I’ve seen it from the road frequently, but never realized it was a Mueller State Park Pond.

The rest of the trail followed a service road. The trail was pretty to look at, but I noticed some of the leaves were already starting to change color! It’s only August 20th: way too early for the leaves to change!

Completing this hike means I’ve now visited all the ponds in Mueller State Park, most of which you need to hike at least 3 miles round trip to see:

Rule Creek Pond
Cahill Pond
Peak View Pond
Geer Pond
Lost Pond
Dragonfly Pond
Rock Pond
Brook Pond
Never/Never Pond
School Pond

Afternoon Storms

This right here is why I insist when hiking Pikes Peak to be back below the treeline before 1pm. Pikes Peak tends to create its own weather, and afternoon storms during the summer are very common.

You can see where the treeline begins. From there it’s about 3 miles to the peak. The first mile or so provides minimal shelter in the form of caves, but unless you’ve hiked the trail before and know where to look you won’t be able to find them in a storm.

Those 3 miles can take 3 hours to hike, so for those of you who think after you hit the treeline it’s only an hour or so to the top, think again. I talk to so many people hiking for their first time up Pikes Peak who seriously misjudge the hiking time (difficulty, necessity for water, etc.) and are astonished to learn this.

Good Luck Hikers! I love giving hiking/backpacking advice for Pikes Peak. Feel free to ask questions about Barr Trail!

Why I Love to Hike

This
picture right here I think explains it all, but I’ll try to put it into
words.

To
be honest, I’m not really sure of all the reasons why I hike. However, I do know that when I’m not hiking,
I find myself wishing I were. I find
myself scrolling through the outdoor and
backpacking sections of Pinterest,
and I’m hard pressed to leave a Walmart without browsing through the camping
section. My internet searches include “best
hikes in Colorado” and “bucket list hikes”.

Every
time I return home from a hike I become that much more of an enthusiast. When
you get serious about long distance hiking it becomes a lifestyle. I’m always
thinking about that next trip, no matter how far off it may be. I’ll be planning: what do I need, what the hike itself will be
like, how will I get there, what’s the best route, what time should I leave, etc.,
no matter how far off the trip may be.

One
of my favorite hikes is a 26 mile trek up Pikes Peak, 13 of which are uphill. My next adventure is hiking Rim to Rim of the
Grand Canyon this fall. For some people the
idea of facing such obstacles, especially voluntarily, seems crazy, but to me
it’s exhilarating.

I really like hiking. There are lots of
reasons why, but I think the most important is mental. My life is stressful. I have a lot of responsibilities at work and
home, and it’s hard to find the time to do everything I need to do. Hiking provides a sort of relief. For as long as the hike takes I can’t be
bogged down by the other challenges I face. I don’t see this as “running away”,
but more like mandatory “relaxing” time because I don’t get any other way.

When I hike I’m actually able to relax.
My
life is loud, busy, crazy, chaotic and amazing. I don’t have time to soak
in the bathtub sipping on a glass of wine.
In any event, I’d rather “relax” next to a babbling brook anyway.

Hiking is meditative. When you’re hiking the only things you
really need to worry about are your destination, water, and when to eat, so it
allows your mind to focus on other things.
When I hike I have time to think and problem solve. I
tend to fall into a trance where I explore topics from the past, present, and
future. Most days I have a million ideas and
thoughts that go through my head and not enough time to fully explore all of
them. When I’m hiking I’m able to think through solutions to problems. I’m able
to come up with creative ideas and I’m able to think through new ideas.

Hiking’s
an excellent time for self reflection. I’m
always trying to be a better person than I was yesterday, and time on the trail
gives me the opportunity to analyze myself as a person, mom, leader, etc., and
find room for improvement.

I
also hike to get extra exercise and to push myself. While I work out on a
treadmill 7 days a week, I
just can’t push myself on a treadmill. I’m already at the steepest incline, and
watching television as I work out bores me.

A
mountain trail requires real commitment.
Maybe it has to do with the time investment or maybe it’s just a matter
of pride. It doesn’t really matter, when I have the desire to climb a big
mountain I’m going to do it. The more
challenging the more exhilaration I feel when it’s accomplished. And think about it, what other exercise can
you do for 10-12 hours continuously?

That being said, it goes beyond exercise. I
don’t get the same satisfaction from my daily 5-10 mile morning workout than I
do when I put on the serious boots and a pack. I think it is a feeling of
self-reliance. There is nothing like checking your watch one last time at the
trailhead and letting your eyes take in the adventure that you are about to
plunge yourself into. Whatever’s currently going on in your life can be pushed
aside (or explored) once you’re on the trail.

I
also like the sleep that occurs after the exhausting myself on the trail. I’ve
always had a difficult time getting to sleep, but I find it’s a bit easier once
you’ve physically exhausted yourself.

No
matter how many times I hike a path, I’m never the same person at the end of
the trail I was when I started. There’s
always something new I find that wasn’t there before or something I learn about
myself through my musings. Different
flowers bloom in the different weeks of summer, and I’ve discovered “new” caves
and creeks on trails I’ve travelled dozens of times. The opportunity to see wildlife is a
spontaneous and ever changing gift.

I
love what my body can do and what hiking does to my body. A few weeks ago I was hiking and saw some
Bighorn Sheep traversing the ridge next to me.
They were truly amazing to look at: robust creatures using their toned
and defined muscles to jump from rock to rock.
After a long hike I notice muscles I never knew I had, and that gives me
a sense of satisfaction. In other words,
hiking time = toning time.

I’ve learned if you can climb a mountain, you
can do anything. Reaching the top of a mountain is an impressive physical,
mental, and emotional accomplishment. And it’s motivating. There’s a challenge to it all, and in the end
you can travel farther and accomplish more than you think.

Uphill treks like Pikes Peak only leave two
choices: reach the top or turn around. Reaching the top only requires the
perseverance to keep putting one foot in front of the other. At the end of a
long hike with the scouts I remind them of all they’ve accomplished that
day: How far they’ve come since they set
out that morning. It’s a life
lesson: When life gets tough put one
foot in front of the other and just keep going.
As long as you don’t stop, eventually you’ll make it to your
destination. And feel amazing once you
get there!

The Salomon’s worked perfectly! First trip up Pikes Peak and down. Here I am resting at Barr Camp before finishing the trail. Notice I have a new hiking pole as well?

2 weeks later…

My favorite view, with an unfavorable injury.

Take that Pikes Peak! Woot! Even an injury didn’t slow me down. Two weeks later I conquered you again, if a little slower. I’ll be back.

Sixth Summit of Pikes Peak

Last night Nathan came over to spend the night before our
big hike the next morning. Sure, he
could have just met us at the trailhead, but he’d of had to pay for parking ($10
per vehicle) and besides, I wanted to be sure he was prepared for the
hike. He seemed truly confused when he arrived at
7:30pm and Liam, Lana, and Mr. Rasmussen were there. His look was quite comical. We had
to explain a Girl Scout meeting had just ended.

I had a bunch of food out for the boys to make snacks (trail
mix, peanuts, popcorn, cheese-its, beef jerky, etc.), and asked them to each
make a snack bag to take with them. I
packed as light as I could. I took into
account exactly how much food/water I’d consumed on the last hike and tried to
bring the bare minimum to reduce pack weight.
I debated back and forth on whether or not to bring my windbreaker and
decided I’d never been upset I’d brought a jacket, and set it out with my pole.

I prepped them on the hike, asked them what they wanted for
breakfast (Thomas wanted to get up early to make eggs), and when they wanted to
leave. I set out all my gear and went to
bed around 9pm with the boys chatting in the living room watching movies. We
decided on waking up at 2:15am and getting to the trail as soon as
possible. That ended up being a really
good idea.

We began our hike at 3:20am.
The parking lot already had quite a few cars, which we assumed were from
people staying at Barr Camp. I was wearing a headlamp and took the
lead. Thomas had forgotten his
flashlight (well, he said Nathan forgot it, but it was really Thomas’
responsibility to make sure he had it). Nathan had a small flashlight so he took up
the rear.

There were more bugs than normal on this hike, all flying
into my headlamp (which means my face).
My mind started to wander and I came up with a new theory. I’ll summarize: You know how many of the
people who saw bats a long time ago were miners in caves? Well, those miners probably wore headlamps,
which attracted bugs. Bats are attracted
to bugs as a food source, so maybe the old wives tale about bats being
attracted to your hair comes from early miners’ experiences with bats trying to
catch bugs by the light of their headlamps.
I may research this theory at some point…

About a mile into the trail I saw someone hiking towards us
with a green and red headlamp. As he got
closer I noticed he was wearing bear bells.
I wondered to myself if he had just done the Incline or if he’d been a
night hiker when he said “you’ve got a lot of hikers ahead of you” and passed
us. Hmmmm. I guess those cars were from early birds who
got an earlier start than we did.
Unusual because we’re usually one of the first ones on the trail at 4am,
and it wasn’t even 3:30 when we’d started.

Small tangent: The hiker was wearing bear bells, but I saw
him before I heard him. Well before I heard him, and it was dark and
night. I’m not sure how effective they
actually are in practice. Maybe they
give off a sound bears can hear better than humans? At any rate, it’s the first time I’ve seen a
hiker in our area hike with bells.

As we hiked in the dark the summit light was quite
bright: more intense than I’ve ever seen
it before. At times I mistook it for the
moon, but I noticed there was no moon.
It must have set early or have been hidden behind the trees.

We took off our jackets about 15 minutes into the hike
because it was warm. Every now and then
we’d get a current of air that would pass us.
Sometimes it was cold air, others it was warm. With it came a change in scents as well. We could smell the pine trees, the scent of
vanilla, and smoke from the Hayden Pass Fire in Fremont.

As the sun began to rise we could see Pikes Peak (and the
summit house). There was a dusting of
snow on the mountain from a storm the day before.

Around MM4 it got briskly cold and we all put on our jackets
again. I wished I’d brought gloves, and
by Barr Camp I’d lost all feeling in my fingers. We made it there at 6:20am, which meant it’d
taken us 3 hours to hike a little over 6 miles.
2mph is an average hiking speed.
Not great, but not bad either.

I told the boys to make sure they ate something to keep up
their energy. Nathan informed me he hadn’t
brought along any food. I groaned
inwardly and offered him my trail mix.
He could have anything but the mangoes… they’re a vice of mine.

We set out again to hike towards the A-frame. We met a lot of hikers along the trail. One man told us this was his 4^th
14ner in the past week! Wow! That’s commitment! We stopped and talked with a few hikers who
said they were from Canada. Apparently
they were with a group of 75 hikers, all from Canada. Their post is in Colorado Springs and they
make this a yearly activity. For most of
them it was their first time, but a few had summited before.

I talked to every single person we passed (or who passed us),
and made sure to tell them this was my 4^th time hiking Pikes Peak
this month. Thomas corrected me and said
in the past 5 weeks (apparently month sounded like July only, and since it was
the 15^th that statement wasn’t true). He then asked me why I was bragging so
much. I admitted that yes, I was
bragging, but that wasn’t the only reason I mentioned my hiking success: I wanted to give the hikers something to
remember me by. If something happened to
us and we got lost or hurt, etc. they would remember our group by my statement just
as I remember the hiker who’d hiked 4-14ners was wearing a blue shirt and
orange hiking shoes. He’d given me something
to remember him by, and if asked, I’d be able to recall where I saw him on the
trail and at what time. It’s a survival
technique for hikers. The boys didn’t
seem too impressed with my reasoning.

At about mile 8 we saw a really cool Sphinx Moth. It was very big, and looked like it’d just
emerged because it was fanning its wings as if it were drying them out. It was also walking up the trunk of the tree
while doing so. Very cool!

We made it the 3 miles to the A-frame at 7:50am, which meant
we were now hiking at 1.5mph. That’s not
a fast pace. As long as we kept moving
forward we’d be fine. The boys wanted a
break and I let them have one. Thomas
wanted a 2 hour break, to which I said that was unreasonable. We stayed at the A-frame for about 20 minutes
(way too long for me, not nearly enough time for him). You’d think Thomas would have wanted to sit
for his break, but instead he was throwing snowballs.

The area looked really cool.
Yesterday’s storm had brought hail mixed with snow and it had frozen
overnight. It was all very pretty.

This part of the hike took what felt like forever but I’d
told myself to be patient and let the boys have as many breaks as they
needed. We didn’t see as many marmots as
I’ve gotten used to seeing (maybe 2 or 3) and even though there was a dusting
of snow I couldn’t hear the usual running water below the rocks or see the
small streams that usually followed the trail.
We stopped for a bit at the Cirque and enjoyed the view. They also ate the rest of my trail mix
(Thomas had run out before making it to the A-frame and was now sharing with
Nathan).

Thomas and I summited at 10:40am, just as a train was
arriving. I gave Thomas money to run
ahead and buy donuts while I waited for Nathan.
He wasn’t far behind us (probably 30 steps or so), but once that train
unloaded the food line would be horrendous.
Thomas also bought a Gatorade, Nachos, and French fries.

As I waited for Nathan a man walked up to me and asked if I
was with the Canada group. He was giving
the hikers from Canada water and snacks when they summited.

“No, but I passed a bunch of them on the way up” I
replied. This seemed to tick him off
royally, and he walked away in a huff and proceeded to ignore me for the rest
of my wait. I honestly hadn’t meant to
offend him. Canadians. Eh.

We sat at a booth outside (they run the heaters inside the
summit house so hot it’s unbearable) and people watched for about 20
minutes. There are always a
disproportionate number of Mennonites at the summit. Pikes Peak must be on the “top 10 list of
things for Mennonites to do” because they always seem to be therein large
numbers. They never make eye contact or say much, and you can tell they make
their own clothes. They never look
happy.

I reminded the boys to fill up their water bottles at the
drinking fountain, used the restroom, and we were on our way. It’s not a good
idea to spend too much time at the summit:
It’s hard to breathe so your body is working very hard even if you’re
resting. We also needed to get down
before afternoon storms hit. So we took some pictures and began our
descent.

Unfathomably, Nathan was hiking slower down than he had on
the way up! It was maddening so I put
him at the front of the group. He walked
a little faster, but not much.

The miles had me thinking:
I get frustrated with hiking slow, and with slow hikers in general. I know it’s not a competition to get to the top,
but to me everything tends to be. I’m
trained for a hike like this, and not many people are. I don’t need to take breaks or slow
down. I just keep going. Whoever I hike with is going to be slower
than I am. I need to take this into consideration
and just be happy I’m on the trail. This
is what I’d told myself before even setting out today, yet here I was
internally grumbling because I was with a slow hiker(s). I understood at the time it wasn’t fair for
me to be upset with him, yet I was having a hard time letting go of the
frustration I was feeling at our hiking speed.

Once again my mind turned to thought: Was I burning as many calories hiking slow
as I was fast? I didn’t think so. Hiking
26 miles in 11 hours had to burn more calories than hiking 26 miles in 16
hours, even though it was the same distance.
I’d need to look it up and do the math problem when I got home. I was pretty sure the net calorie burn would
be more while hiking fast even though hiking slower would mean I’d be hiking for
a longer period of time. I felt I was
cheating myself out of burning calories and wasting time doing so.

I made it a point of talking to every group/person we saw
hiking up as we were hiking down. I didn’t
mention my previous summits, but did give them realistic expectations about timing
and difficulty of the hike to the peak, and made sure they all had enough
water. It’s an intense hike. That mountain kills people, and I wanted to
be sure they knew what they were in for.

We made it back down to the A-frame at 1pm. It had taken us over 2 hours to go 3 miles. Downhill.
I was used to practically jogging this part of the trail, and here we
were hiking slower down than we had up!
And now the boys wanted another break.

We took one and looked at the weather. There seemed to be a storm rolling in. The clouds were building quickly, and you
never quite know if it will storm or pass you by. After about 20 minutes I encouraged them to
get moving again, and against their wishes they did.

The pace didn’t improve.
I asked Nathan if he wanted pain killers, to which he replied “yes but I
just ran out of water so I can’t drink them down.”

Ugh! We still had 9
miles to go! He’d neglected to fill up
his water bottle at the top. So had
Thomas (he had enough to make it down on his own and didn’t refill). Once again I shared with Nathan. I mentioned it would take us 9 hours at this
pace to make it back to the car, and that seemed to get him hiking a little
faster.

At 3pm we made it to Barr Camp. The boys crashed by the creek.

They were hungry and ate the nachos Thomas
had bought at the summit. I hadn’t
packed more food because honestly I’d thought we’d have been back at the car by
now. Two weeks ago when I went hiking
with Tristina we’d started an hour later in the morning, and even with my
injury had made it back to the car by 3pm.

Here we were with over 6 miles still to hike and it was
already 3pm. When the boys asked me how
much longer it was going to take I told them it would depend on them. They were hiking slow and taking very long breaks. No one else on the trail was taking breaks,
let alone sitting down for 15-20 minutes at a time. I wondered what bad habits the Boy Scout
leaders had let them get into at Philmont, and told them they needed to start
really hiking in order to make it back at a reasonable hour. Besides, we couldn’t eat until we made it
back. Yes, I was hungry and cranky. I wasn’t mean, but I’d honestly expected with
our early start to have been much closer to home at this point

This seemed to get them going. Nathan picked up his pace, and besides Thomas
“crashing” at MM4 we made pretty good progress.
In fact, I’d wished we’d hiked this fast he entire trip! Food seemed to be an appropriate motivation
technique.

We found some wild strawberries along the way (I encouraged
the boys to try some), and lots of Pinedrops (which Thomas seemed to think were
mushrooms because of a book at Grammies house.
I assured them they were not).

I took a picture of the boys once we made it back to the
trailhead at 6pm. They were exhausted
but glad to have made it! They
immediately went to the back of the truck, looking for the cooler of
sodas. They apparently forgot to bring
that as well. It was sitting on the
counter when we got home.

We saw an ambulance in the parking lot when we arrived at
the trailhead. It turns out two people
at Barr Camp had called in for help due to exhaustion. We must have passed them
at some point, but hadn’t recalled anyone who looked like they may be in need
of help anytime soon. One could walk out
but the other had to be carried out on a litter. Had they not read the sign?!?!?!? They were 6.5 miles in on a trail that wasn’t
passable by vehicle and wanted help because they were tired? Wow.

Both boys immediately fell asleep as soon as I started the
truck. Once we got home and for the next
few hours the boys sat on the couch and ate (watermelon, pizza, etc.). I ended up going to bed before Nathan left
(they and Rebecca were deep into band stories when I fell asleep).

Rock Pond Trail

One of my goals this year is to go on new hikes. I knew I wanted to take a new route on this camping trip, but I wasn’t sure which one to take. I ended up settling on the Rock Pond trail, mainly because it included destinations of two new ponds I’d yet to visit, and it had the option of looping around Geer Pond, a favorite of mine.

It was a couple of miles from the campsite, so I took the truck to the trailhead. While there I took a picture of the map to log my time and just so I’d be sure to have one while on the trail. As I was looking at it I realized the map wouldn’t be of much use: it was facing the wrong way! You’d think they’d have been smarter than that when posting a map. Luckily I know the area, but to someone who doesn’t, they’d get all turned around…

The hike was all downhill to the pond (about 2.5 miles one way) and followed a service road. I was the only one on the trail… except for a white tailed deer I saw walking slowly towards me from the opposite direction. She didn’t seem to notice me for a while, but once she did she bounded off the trail and was gone in a second.

I spent this part of the hike musing to myself as I followed the trail downward. I thought for some time about my love for hiking: which is considerably more enjoyable while alone.

Most thoughts centered around the kids, their lives, and how I fit into them. This may seem like a simple task, but honestly, it’s not. I’m questioning my role in Rebecca’s life specifically. She’s graduated High School, and is off to college next month (but still living at home). She doesn’t have a job, and I’ve been strongly pushing her to get one. She doesn’t seem interested in this. In fact, she doesn’t seem interested in much (therein lies the problem). I’m wondering how to motivate her, if that’s even something I should be doing (or should I just let her figure it out on her own), and how I’ll be able to “kick her out” when she turns 18 and doesn’t have a job (something that will happen if she’s not employed).

She’s begun complaining about everything that doesn’t have to do with guard (something she’s willing to drive hours away to participate in), and none of her hobbies have money earning potential. She feels distanced from former close friends, and honestly needs direction. However, I don’t feel she wants to take it from me. Personally I’m feeling as if I’ve lost my best friend, as now I actually have to play the “mom” part in our relationship. Neither of us is enjoying this much. I want my best friend back!

No one tells you the hardest part of parenting is letting them go to figure life out on their own.

I made it to the section of the trail that let me choose between going to Rock Pond or Brook Pond. I love to hike and the weather was hovering around a nice 90 degrees with no chance of thunderstorms, so this was an easy choice for me. I’d visit both.

I’m so glad I did! I only added less than half a mile to the hike, but some really cool experiences!

I found some wild strawberries on the trail. I’ve found strawberries while hiking before, but never quite so many! Usually I see one here and there… this time I saw small “fields” of strawberries in several spots along the hillside So cool!

They looked a bit overripe, so I tried a few. They tasted amazing! Warm from the sun they were hands down the best strawberries I’ve ever had (if a bit small…)

I grabbed a few to add flavor to my drink and some to bring back to the kids at the campsite, and headed down to Brook Pond.

The pond was small, but clear. I could see lots of trout swimming near the shore, and a few jumping in the middle. Most were only about the size of my hand, too small to “catch”, but knowing they were there gave hope to future fishing opportunities. This was a pond I’d swim in if I’d had the proper gear…

I circled the water and came to a small stream feeding the pond. I figure this was the perfect time to try out the water-proofness of my new hiking boots, and crossed in a mucky area. They passed the test!

Knowing I was close to Rock Pond I decided to continue on and take a break there. It only took about 10 minutes of walking to get there. This pond looked deeper than the previous, colder, and not quite as inviting. I didn’t see any fish.

I sat for a few minutes, enjoyed the cherries I’d brought for lunch, then was quickly on my way. It was 1pm and I wanted to get back to the kids before they worried.

I decided to take the trail that went by Geer Pond, mainly because I didn’t want to hike back up that service road. I’d much rather make it a loop than hike back from where I’d already been. Once again, another great choice!

Almost immediately the trail sloped upward at quite a steep angle. This made sense: I’d come down the entire way here, which meant I had to hike up at some point to make it back to the trailhead. I saw some Columbine flowers along the trail. I love seeing Columbines while hiking!

After about a mile (that passed quickly) I came across some small waterfalls, hidden inside small rock caves. They looked cool and inviting, and I wished I’d had a handkerchief to get wet in the water. Or a book. I needed to spend more time here, and I absolutely need to bring the kids here to “play” sometime soon!

These waterfalls lasted for about a quarter of a mile, then all of the sudden, I was at the back end of Geer Pond! I knew this because I’d played with the kids in this waterfall a few times before!

I found a few cool flowers: Alpine Kittentails

and then I was at Geer Pond. No one was at this pond either. All weird since it was about 1:30 in the afternoon on a Saturday in July. I kept thinking the entire time what fun it would be to snowshoe these trails!

Lost Pond was a bit of a disappointment. It seemed murkier than usual. There were some really large salamanders that were fun to watch however. And lots of flies. I didn’t stay long.

The hike out took about another half an hour. I made it to the trailhead at 2pm, which made it a 2 hour hike. I covered just over 5 miles, and stopped a bit to enjoy nature, so I considered it a success!

Summiting in the Clouds

I wasn’t sure I’d be hiking at all. I didn’t have a hiking buddy and the weather forecast wasn’t stellar, so I was debating back and forth on going. Then on Friday night Tristina text me and asked if I still wanted to go. I looked at the weather forecast (not great, but no thunderstorms), and said sure!

We woke up at 3am and were on the trail at 3:50am. We saw this Columbine growing out of a barrier at about MM2. I thought it was pretty cool, and at first didn’t think it was a real flower, but it was growing this way, and bloomed just at the opening.

We made really good time. Tristina and I hike at a similar pace, and we both intended to hike quickly. We made it to Barr Camp at 6:30am (that’s about 6.5 uphill miles in 2h 40m).

We talked to a lady I’d seen the past couple of times on the hike. Her name’s Dana. She hikes to Barr Camp in the mornings before her grandkids wake up at 9am. After some chatting, she seems like a potential hiking partner in the future. She’s summited over 40 times, and always by herself. She asked me if I knew “Larry” (I didn’t, but apparently he’s a frequent hiker too).

We could tell it’d rained last night, which made hiking a bit easier. The dust on the trails wasn’t present, and there were dew drops on the Aspen leaves.

We made it to the A-frame at 8am. It was foggy and surprisingly “green” compared to my last visit 2 weeks ago.

Our usual view of Colorado Springs was lost in the clouds…

We took a break at A-frame and then headed out again. The clouds just got thicker, and at times it began to rain. It was surreal hiking with such limited visibility. We had a hard time gauging exactly where we were on the hike. At times we’d pass a landmark and be surprised we’d reached it so quickly! I’m not sure if it was the lack of beating sunshine, lack of visibility, or lack of stopping for slower hikers, but we hiked much faster than normal.

Here’s a picture of the Cirque, a 1500 foot drop you can’t tell it there with the fog… could be dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing!!!

Here’s a view of the hiking conditions:

Last time we hiked this rocky area was all under snow. It’s interesting to see what it looks like sans snow. You can also tell why we had difficulty finding our footing and experienced a lot of mini rockslides…

I had to get a video of this! It’s not great quality, and kind of hard to see due to the fog and poor visibility, but this is where we “glissaded” the first time we summited this year. I plan to get another video next time the weather’s better, but this gives you an idea of how far we went.

Here’s a picture of where we slid…

Here’s where the rain really picked up. I was so glad I’d brought my rain jacket with hood! We reached the summit at 9:57am: That’s our fastest time yet! Usually it takes about 3 hours from the A-frame to get to the summit, but it took us less than 2 hours! Total, that was over 13 miles uphill in under 6 hours. Awesome! We got there just as a train was pulling away.

When we went into the summit house it was deserted. This is the first time I’ve been there when it hasn’t been ridiculously full. We attributed it to the poor visibility at the peak, and the fact a train had just left. The only people at the Summit were those of us who’d hiked up. There were two men who’d run up (and were looking for a car-ride own), and a father son duo who’d hiked up the “easy” way (the backside, which starts at 10,000 ft elevation).

We stayed for about half an hour, then decided to hike back down. The fog was beginning to lift and while we couldn’t see Colorado Springs we were able to see further distances. I love how green it is!

We saw a few deer on the way down, right on the trail…

and one of my favorite mushrooms! They are so cool to see on the trail (no touching though)

I wasn’t sure how it would be going with just one other person, especially since she was one of my Girl Scouts and we have an adult/scout relationship, but it ended up being really enjoyable. We hike at similar speeds, and didn’t run out of things to talk about on our 11+ hour hike. I was thankful to have a hiking buddy, and to have been able to hike the peak again!

The only downside was my hiking shoes… due to lack of traction they kept slipping. They’ve lasted me 20 years, but I think it’s time to get a new pair.

Troop 2393 Backpacking Pikes Peak

I don’t care how old you are, or how great of shape you’re in, Pikes Peak is a difficult hike. Strenuous. Probably the most difficult thing you will ever do in your entire life. It’s 26 grueling miles, 13 of which are uphill, 6 of which are above the treeline, exposed to the elements. It’s difficult in any condition, but Troop 2393 did it with 30lb packs!

A week before the trek I talked with the girls to let them know what they were getting into. I told them it was difficult, explained what would happen at each point in the hike, and told them they would want to give up. In fact, they’d beg me to give up. They’d curse me as well for making them continue. Did they want to summit? If so, I’d do my best to make sure they all summited. They did.

Since this was their first big hike we started out earlier than usual. I woke them up at 2am, we had our traditional muffins for breakfast they’d cooked the night before, and we were on the trail at 3:17am. The girls were really excited! We wore our headlamps around our necks instead of on our heads, and moths were attracted to us like flames. We were batting them away until the sun rose.

I knew this hike was going to be difficult almost immediately. About half a mile in the girls started complaining this was harder than they’d thought, and one of the girls was having difficulty breathing. We took many more breaks than I would have liked and for much longer periods to compensate. It took us 2 hours to go the first 2 miles (it usually takes about 45 minutes).

After the 3 mile mark everyone was back to “normal” (breathing was fine, etc.) but we still took it very slow. I was glad we’d started extra early!

We made it to Barr Camp and the girls collapsed by the stream. They were already exhausted! I tried to remind them this was difficult, but I’m pretty sure they weren’t listening…

It was 3 more miles to the A-frame, and we were in a bit of a hurry to make sure we were able to “claim” it. Otherwise we’d be sleeping in caves tonight (one of which leaks due to snow). I told myself I’d adjust the hike depending on the next 3 miles. There was a big chance we wouldn’t be summiting at all. Even with all the prep work it was much harder than they’d anticipated. Around mile 7 I had a girl pretend to faint. Yes, I’m sure she was pretending and looking for sympathy. However, she’s relatively new to the troop and didn’t realize that was the wrong game to play with me. I totally understood she felt she’d bitten off more than she could chew, but as far as I’m concerned you don’t joke around with safety. I let her know how I felt. She didn’t have any more issues after that.

Every 30 seconds or so I’d look over my shoulder to see how the girls were doing, and around mile 8 I had a girl actually faint. Right in the middle of the trail! She had been in the back of the line and none of the other girls had heard. Luckily we’d only gone about 30 feet or so. I told the girls to sit down, and ran to the one who’d fainted. Her skin was clammy and she was a bit cold. After gently tapping and nudging her a few times she woke up very confused. She didn’t remember falling. She must have done so gracefully because she wasn’t hurt at all, just confused. I’d been “pushing” water on the girls, so I knew she was hydrated, so that wasn’t the issue. Her body was just really tired. We took a long break until I was sure she was feeling better and we set off at a slower pace. I like to lead (so I’m the one who runs into that snake or slips on something), but I figured at this point we’d all take turns leading and I’d be in the back so I could watch the girls better.

It was a tough next mile, but the girls made it!!! Look at their excitement upon making it to the A-frame!

Here we took a REALLY long break. Over an hour. The girls relaxed, wrote their names on the walls to record their achievement, and consumed a lot of calories. Some girls refilled their water (filtered it), but everyone relaxed. We went over the journey so far, and the girls admitted it was harder than they’d anticipated, but (after their break) they all said they wanted to try to summit.

So we left all the gear we didn’t need in the A-frame, and set out with just the essentials to hike the remaining 3 miles to the peak.

I knew this was going to be challenging for them, so I tried to think of a game to keep their minds off the difficulty. Most of the girls had never seen a marmot before, so I asked them to count how many they saw. Some we may have counted twice and I’m sure there were some we missed, but we ended up counting between 40-50 marmots! They make a really annoying chirping sound…

After the first half mile the complaints began again. I had one girl adamant she no longer wanted to do this. She’d brought her cell phone, and wanted to call her mom to come get her (as if that were even a possibility at 12,500 feet 11 miles from the car). I’m 95% sure she was texting her mom at this time, telling her what an awful person I was. However, I’ve done this hike many times, and I know this behavior is “normal” at this point in the hike, so I encouraged her to continue. I knew there’d be more nasty comments to come, and I knew while only one (or two) girls would actually say they were tired, wanted to stop, couldn’t breathe, etc., everyone was thinking the same thing. This is the part of the hike where I get to be the “bad guy” in the nicest way possible, encouraging them to continue. Some of them said they really didn’t want to continue, but I knew how upset they’d be if they gave up, so I kept cheering them on. After all, if it was easy everyone would do it and there wouldn’t be bragging rights!

Since a lot of the trail was covered in snow and we had to get creative to continue climbing. We looked like we really knew what we were doing, and had several first timers follow us on the hike. It’s really cool to have things like this happen!

The changing point to the hike came about a mile and a half from the summit. At this point the “complainers” realized I wasn’t giving in, and this is also where a lot of the trail was covered in snow. The girls had to be very careful and work together to navigate the trail. I guess for them this is when it became fun!

Make no mistake, they were still sore and tired, but from here on out they trudged on without my constant encouragement and even seemed to enjoy the experience.

The small streams on the trail were fun to navigate as well. The girls asked me to take this picture for fun!

Once we made it to the Cirque (just under a mile from the summit) the trail became unnavigable. No worries: I did this hike last week. All we needed to do was head towards the “16 Golden Stairs” sign and then head straight up to the summit. It was difficult, but the girls seemed to have fun! We had another first timer follow us on this route as well.

The final push to the summit was really hard, but not one of the girls complained even once! It was as if a switch had been turned on, they all realized how close they were, and they WANTED to summit. It wasn’t easy: we had to scramble on the rocks and make our own trail.

About halfway to the top from where the rock scrambling started someone shouted “Look! Bighorn Sheep!” Indeed, there were 3 bighorn sheep traversing the ridge next to us! They were robust, confident animals. We watched them until they were out of sight (about 5 minutes). As an added bonus it was a nice break! The girls commented on how they made rock climbing look easy!

After about 20 more minutes of losing our footing, cheering each other on, and mini-rockslides we made it to the summit!

We tried to stay a good distance apart from each other to minimize rock slide injuries, so the girls who made it first waited for everyone to get to the top before all holding hands and crossing the cog tracks together. This was their idea: I love these ladies!!!

The girls were all smiles, enthusiastic, and PROUD of themselves! They were glad they’d continued on, and celebrating their personal and physical victories.

We immediately went inside the summit house and got donuts and fudge. The girls commented how only hikers who’d summited should be allowed such luxuries… They’d EARNED it!

After a break of about 15 minutes we went outside for pictures.

Emily truly wanted a picture with me to show she’d hiked Pikes Peak. Her smile was all the thanks I needed!

You expend a LOT of energy just breathing at 14,000+ feet, so it’s dangerous to spend too much time at the top. Adding to that it was starting to get cold and the girls wanted dinner.

After the fun of last week getting down the mountain we decided this time to go down the same way we’d gone up. I explained to the girls how to keep their center of gravity low while navigating, and we began our decent.

It was slow going the first half mile or so for safety reasons, but after that we practically skipped back to the A-frame, high fiving ourselves the entire way. The girls were a bit upset we hadn’t “glissaded” so we found a safe place to do so. On purpose.

Dinner was terrible. We had Mountain House backpacking meals, and I’m not sure if it was the altitude or how they were prepared, but the consistency was either way too watery or not watery enough. They tasted OK, so the girls with extra watery meals added their ramen and were fine with that. Apparently it was an improvement for the ramen!

Samantha and Olivia were in charge of the fire. Check out what an awesome job they did! One match!

I’m REALLY GLAD we were the first ones there because there was serious competition! At least three other groups were interested in sleeping in the frame that night, but luckily had brought back-up tents as well. We made several friends at the A-frame, and invited them to join us in our fire.

Although this was the warmest night I’ve ever spent at the A-frame the girls all said they had trouble sleeping because it was so cold. We all set our alarms to watch the sunrise, but due to the fires in the area it was difficult to appreciate, so we all went back to bed.

At 7:30am we got up and quickly dressed. We were running out of food and needed to get back down the mountain. We ate our cheerios as we descended. While better than the hike up, the hike down was still a challenge. It was hot, the girls were tired and very sore. We had blisters on top of blisters, and needed frequent breaks.

We stopped about 6 times each mile to rest, and every 3 miles we took an extended break and took off our packs. However, at the 1.5 mile mark the girls got their second wind, asked if we could stop taking breaks, and booked it the rest of the way down. They were exhausted and excited to be done with the hike! I told them to pose for this picture describing how their bodies were aching at this point… They have blisters on top of blisters, and I know every muscle in their bodies ache, but they should be proud!!!

Congratulations Ladies!

Pictures of the journey can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/Girl-Scout-Troop-2393-130509316441/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10153424760671442

Pikes Peak Summit Sticker can be bought here