Tag: mountains

PT 13022 and Window Peak – 13,158’

RT Length (from basecamp): 1471’

Elevation Gain (from basecamp): 6.88 miles

Note: there’s a long approach for these peaks, so I decided to make this a backpacking trip.  I found a great basecamp for the Rio Grande Pyramid 13ers (and others).  The approach is about 10 miles and 3100’ of elevation gain, coming from Thirtymile Campground.  The approach can be found here.

I’d hiked up to 12210’ the day before, summited some peaks, and spent the night at my camping spot, so I was able to get up early and refreshed the next morning to hit the trail at 5:30am. 

This time, I was heading southwest on the Continental Divide Trail. 

This trail was easy to follow, and well established.  I followed it for just under 2.5 miles to the saddle of 13022 and Window Peak.

From the saddle I turned left and headed towards PT 13022.  I did not follow the saddle, but instead cut across to the rocky basin.

There wasn’t a trail here to the summit, and it looks like a viable route changes from season to season due to rockslides, etc.  This is the basic route I took to the summit, and back down.  The solid line is the route I took up, the dotted line is the route I took down.  I’d recommend taking the route I took down both ways.  The climbing here was class 4.  In fact, I saw a (very old) anchor set up along my route, so people at one point at least used ropes to descend.

First, I made my way up the rocky basin.

Then I headed towards and up this rocky ramp

At the top of the ramp is where it really got interesting.  There were a few cairns here, but as I said earlier, it looks as if the route changes.  I scrambled my way up to the ridge, had about 20 feet of ridge climbing, then had to descend to find a viable route east.

Ahead of me there was a rock perched atop a spire that looked like a cairn, and I assumed this was the summit.  Here is where I was aiming. 

I did my best to follow game trails and cairns where I could find them, staying below the ridge, doing my best not to fall down the loose gullies, making my way east.  Yes, there were times I had to crawl around rocks with serious exposure to avoid climbing the ridge.  I did not feel the ridge ‘went’.

Here’s that anchor I was talking about

I kept aiming for the cairn

I made it to the cairn, scrambling up some class 4 rock to get there, sat and took a video. 

I turned and looked to the west, and it seemed as if the point just a few yards away was higher, so I scrambled my way over there as well. 

When I got there, I found a summit register (which I couldn’t open) so I’m guessing it’s the true summit, although both points looked to be of equal height.

I summited PT 13022 at 7:30am

PT 13022:

Now to make my way down. On my climb up I had a better view of the mountain, and found a gully I thought looked safer to descend.  I downclimbed from my perch and started out by heading back the same way I’d summited, west.

Hey look!  A cairn!

Just for perspective, here’s a photo of where I left my trekking pole.  I scrambled around this rock to get back there.  If you look closely, you can see a cairn on the rock to the left of the trekking pole.  This was the crux of the route for me, both in and out.

I continued west, found a gully that looked stable-adjacent, and headed down.

Here’s looking back up at the gully I descended

And now to head back down the rocky basin and make my way back to the saddle with Window Peak.

Window Peak isn’t ranked, but I needed an easy win, so I headed north, and followed the grassy slopes, which changed to rocky slopes, to the summit of Window Peak

There was a bit of a false summit here, so I just kept following the ridge

There were also some pretty cool rock formations along the way

I summited Window Peak at 8:50am

Window Peak:

I wanted to hike to the actual window, so I continued north along the ridge, descended a grassy gully until I was at 12900’, and then traversed north to The Window.

Now to head back to my campsite.  This was actually fairly easy.  There was a solid trail that descended from The Window, which eventually went away.  I followed the trail as far as I could, then just aimed east for the Continental Divide Trail, which I could see located by the pond in the distance.

Here’s a view of Window Peak

And my route back to the trail

Back on the Continental Divide Trail, I followed it northeast back to my campsite.

I made it back to my campsite at 9:45am.  This was a 6.88 mile hike with 1471’ of elevation gain from my campsite at 12210’.

On to the next trailhead!

Pikes Peak – Sunrise and Fall Foliage

I woke up at 2am a bit confused.  Why was I getting up this early on my first
day off in over a week?  Oh yeah,
hiking!  I rolled out of bed and looked
out my front window at Pikes Peak.  As
usual, the weather forecast for the peak was wrong.  It was supposed to be a clear day, but I
couldn’t see the summit house light, which meant the peak was covered in clouds.
 Drat.  

I went online to check my favorite Pikes
Peak weather forecast (because it’s the most accurate).  It was last updated at 1:30am and said it
would be windy after 10 am with a 20% chance of snow before 10am. 

I gave it some serious thought. I don’t
function well in the cold, but it’s almost October: this might be my last
chance to summit all year.  And it wasn’t
really supposed to be cold, just windy.  Whenever
I can’t decide I decide to go.  I’ve
never regretted this decision, and always give myself the authority to turn
around if it becomes too dangerous to continue the hike.

My camelback was already packed with
water, sunscreen, gloves, and snacks.  I made
some coffee, skipped on breakfast, and drove the 35 minutes to the
trailhead.  There weren’t any other cars in
the parking lot.  This made sense:
Manitou City Council just announced they were raising the fee to park at the
Barr Trailhead to $20 per day, effective immediately.  Obviously people got the message and are
staying away.  I feel sorry for the
caretakers at Barr Camp:  They’re going
to lose out on a lot of revenue.  But I
digress. 

I began at 3:04am.  While I couldn’t see the peak, I could see
the crescent moon and several constellations in the night sky.  The air was crisp and the stars
twinkling.  I’m not a huge fan of hiking
at night without a full moon.  My
headlamp works wonders, but it doesn’t do much for depth perception.  The first few miles of the trial are always
visually stunning at night on Barr Trail. 
The lights of Manitou and Colorado Springs are mesmerizing.  Crickets sang as my mind wandered.

This will be my 9th summit of
Pikes Peak (7th this year alone). 
I’ve always wanted to see a bear while hiking the Barr trail.  I know they’re out here, as I’ve seen pictures
of bears on the Incline.  I also know
they’re a nuisance in the city, so at some point I should come across one.  Around MM2 I turned the corner and was
shocked to see two eyes looking at me from about 6 feet in the air.  I immediately thought that was strange
because the parking lot was empty.  No
one else should be on the mountain.  I
shook my head and looked again.  This
time the eyes were on the ground, shifting back and forth. 

Yes! 
I was finally seeing a bear!  I
reached for my camera and thought sarcastically:  “Great, the first time I see a bear on the
trail and it’s too dark to take a picture! 
Oh well, I’ll just enjoy the experience.”  I moved my head again, and as I watched a
large pair of antlers came into focus.   It wasn’t a bear but a very large buck
standing about 12 feet away from me.  His
head came up again and he stared me right in the eyes.  He was much larger than me, so I decided to
just wait him out.  He tilted his head down
and forward and I thought “OMG!  He’s
going to charge me!”  He honestly looked
like he was contemplating the action. 
Then he slowly walked a few steps into the brush.  As soon as I couldn’t see him anymore I heard
him rushing through the underbrush, quickly bounding away. 

Well, that was a fun experience!  From that point on for the rest of the hike
in the dark the shadows played tricks on me. 
Each shadow I saw was another creature lurking.  I didn’t see any more glowing eyes, but there
was a lot of rustling.

Did I mention the wind?  It was fantastic!  It felt like I was living an experience out
of Sleepy Hollow.  There I was, the first night of fall, hiking
miles away from civilization, in the dark, with just my headlamp to guide
me.  I could hear the wind snaking its
way through the canyons for miles before it reached the nearby trees and I
could feel it encircle me.  Aspen leaves
fell and swirled like snow in the glow of my headlamp.   

I made the decision on this hike not to
hike for time, but to just enjoy the experience.  It was still dark when I passed Barr Camp at
5:33am.  For the first time ever I saw
the kitchen light was on and was reminded I was hungry.  I’d skipped eating breakfast as I wasn’t
hungry at 2am, and I don’t get hungry while hiking, but at this point my
stomach was rumbling a bit.  Maybe I
should re-think the skipping breakfast thing. 

I passed in silence and continued my way
up the trail.  The wind was pretty
strong, so I kept my head down and just kept walking forward.  I’m really glad I’ve done this hike so many
times before: twice I walked off the trail by accident, but was able to realize
my mistake before walking more than 10 feet off the path. Once near the turnoff
for the bottomless pit, and another time about a mile from A-frame.  I don’t recommend taking this hike for the
first time in the dark.

At about this point I realized the sun
was going to come up soon. If I hurried I’d be able to see it from the A-frame!  I now regretted my decision not to hike at a quicker
pace.  I was going to have to book it to
make it before the sun came up!  So I
started hiking faster.  I made it to the
A-frame at 6:43am, about 5 minutes before sunrise.  No one else was there, so I sat on the ledge of
the structure and looked west.

The next 15 minutes were the most
visually stunning of my life.  I’ve seen
a sunrise before, but not like this.  I
sat alone with the knowledge I was the only person on that mountain and watched
the sun rise like a fireball in the sky, inch by glorious inch over Colorado
Springs. The colors were amazing.  I
tried in vain to get a good picture/movie/selfie, and in the end just sat back
and enjoyed the experience. 


This is why I hike!  This is why I got up at 2am to hike 26 miles
on a trial I’ve already conquered.  I was
so glad I made the decision to get out of bed and go experience the
mountain. 

The wind started picking up and the
temperature started to drop.  I put on my
heavy duty ski gloves and set out to tackle the summit.  As I made it above treeline I noticed the summit
was covered in roiling, fast moving clouds. 
The wind was intense, almost knocking me off my feet several times.  I was no longer in a hurry, but still anxious
to make it to the top. 


I summited at 8:22am, the first hiker up
the mountain.  The clouds were so thick I
couldn’t see much, let alone the view the summit is famous for.  The summit house was open and there were a
few workers getting ready for the first cog of the day (9am).  I felt like someone alone at a McDonalds at
4am, with just the workers there.  I didn’t
talk with anyone as I warmed up and quickly headed back down, as I wanted to
leave before the cog arrived:  I’m not a
fan of crowds.

About 5 minutes after I started my trek
down a large gust of wind blew all the clouds off the mountain.  It was warm and sunny on the peak for the
rest of the day, and I was only about ¼ of a mile from the top, but I wasn’t
interested in summiting again today.   The best part about that gust of wind was the
view it gave me of the mountains below. The aspen trees were changing from a
dark lime green to a bright mustard yellow, and from 13,000 feet up the view
was amazing!

I stopped at A-frame for a few minutes
to take some landscape photos, then was on my way again.  Here’s where it really got interesting:  the fall colors were amazing!  I’ve lived in Colorado since 2007, and have
never seen such vivid greens, yellows, oranges, and reds on the trees.  I took dozens of pictures/videos, intent on
sharing my experience with those who couldn’t make the 26 mile hike.

There’s a small bench outside of Barr
Camp, and this morning I realized what that bench is there for:  The view of Pikes Peak behind a grove of aspens
is something I could sit and enjoy for hours. 
I took a few pictures and continued on my way. 

Pikes Peak was only in view for a little bit, but beautiful.

Another sighting from along the trail:

I couldn’t help but think once again how
pleased I was with myself at taking this hike. 
It’s not like I HAD to take it, as I’ve hiked Pikes Peak many times
before.  But no matter how many times I
make the trek, it’s always different. 
Today I experienced the most visually stunning sunrise I’ve ever seen,
as well as the changing aspen leaves in all their glory. 

Life is good.   

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!