wildwanderer – Page 55 – Wild Wanderer

Mt Herman (9,063)

Distance: 2.2 miles (out and back), Elevation Gain 898
feet

Mount Herman Trail is a 2.2 mile
moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Monument, Colorado that is
rated as moderate. It’s pretty much on my way to work so I decided to get in a
quick hike before my team landed from North Carolina and came in this
morning.

I didn’t have a map of the area (ok,
I did, but I didn’t look at it) just directions written on paper. I’d take the actual map out at a last
resort. The directions got me to where I
needed to go: Exit 161 head west, make a
left on Mitchell and a right on Mt Herman Rd.
That was all pretty simple, but it didn’t tell me how far to drive on Mt
Herman road. I didn’t know exactly where
the trailhead was (in front of back of the ridge?) There were several places
that could have been the trailhead, but the actual one ended up being about 3.5
miles up a dirt road. The only
indication I was in the right place was this sign indicating it was trial
#716.

This was the only sign I’d see all
morning, except for this one telling directly behind it indicating “no shooting”.

Here’s a picture of the “parking lot”
at the base of the trail. Mine was the
only vehicle there (woot! I shouldn’t
run into anyone!)

My directions said after about a
half mile of hiking I’d reach a meadow, and to turn abruptly right to head up
the trail. Well, after a while it became
apparent I wasn’t on the correct trail.
The trial I was on was following a small stream, and wasn’t gaining in
elevation. That couldn’t be right with
the numbers I’d seen (almost 900 feet in a mile means a lot of uphill climbing)
so I turned back. Check out what the
author considered a “meadow”.

To me this isn’t a meadow, but a
campsite/fire pit. In no way would I
call this a meadow, and in fact it was only about 1/8 of a mile from the
trailhead, not the half mile that was indicated, and the turnoff was BEFORE
this meadow, not after it (there was another trail after that led nowhere, as
many do in this area). Who writes these
instructions anyway? In any event, I
found the correct trail (I assumed, as it abruptly climbed uphill) and hiked
on. Here I am taking a picture of where
the turn is while standing on the correct trail.

The trail indeed went straight up
the rest of the way. I was surprised to
see bike tire tracks, as it was a very difficult trail upwards. At several points on the trail there was no
trail, just about 50 feet of rocks in either direction, so I had to guess which
way to go. Luckily it was kind of like a
ski run in that I knew I just had to keep going up and eventually I’d find a
trail again to follow. The bad part
about this is trail maintenance. There
is no easy trail to follow so everyone makes their own trail, stamping down small
plants (etc) as they hike. That gives
way to erosion and is dangerous.

I was pretty proud of myself for
making it to the summit, as there were several times I questioned if I was even
on a trail. I took a few pictures…

And then turned around and gasped. What a BEAUTIFUL view of Pikes Peak! Pictures just don’t do it justice! I was in awe.
This was by far the best view I’ve ever had of the peak from any hike I’ve
taken thus far.

I wanted to stay there forever, but
I did need to make it into work this morning, so I took a selfie

And a summit shadow selfie and made
my way back down.

This time I took a different trail
(indeed, it would have been almost impossible to take the same one as there
wasn’t a clear path) and saw two small cairns I hadn’t seen on the way up. They were a nice gesture but didn’t indicate
much. I’m not sure they were indeed very
helpful either since they were at the very top of the trail.

Just as I reached the campsite/fire
pit from earlier I met up with 4 hikers who all looked like they were in high
school (maybe they’d just graduated?). Two
girls and two guys. I asked them if they
were going to the summit to watch the flyover, and apparently that hadn’t occurred
to them. It would be a wonderful
idea: They’d have the best seat in the
house! I’d have stayed if it weren’t for
the whole work thing. They had taken the
hike before though, so I wished them well and headed back to the truck.

I liked the challenge of this
hike. While it’s no fun not to know
where the trail is, I never felt as if I was actually lost. I was actually pretty proud of myself for
finding my way when I had no idea which mountain I was actually on (I knew
where Mt Herman was, but didn’t know which mountain it actually was, as it’s on
a ridge).

Check out the reflection of Pikes Peak in my camera lens…

Mt Cutler (7,200), Mt Cutler Overlook (7,050), Mt Muscoco (8,020)

To be honest, none of these summits is really a big
deal. I mean, I live at about 7000 feet
(traveled down in elevation to get to this trailhead) but I’m sure they sound pretty neat to my out
of Colorado friends. So why am I posting
the elevations? Basically I’ve done this
because it’s noted on the map and I just want to keep good records. I’m not trying to impress anyone. Although Mt Muscoco was a pretty good
training hike. It started to kick my
butt by the end…

Once again this morning, after hitting the gym I drove down
to Cheyenne Park. I made it to the trailhead at 7:20am and took a quick picture
of the trail. This hike didn’t look all that difficult,
but most people I know who hike and live in Colorado Springs have done Mt
Cutler several times. It’s kind of a “thing”. However, no one I’ve talked to has ever done
Mt Muscoco.

There was one other car in the parking lot, an old Subaru
hatchback. Cool. The vehicle told me it was probably someone
who liked to hike and probably wanted to be left alone. I can work with that.

This entire hike is uphill.
Mt Cutler has an elevation gain of 415 feet in a mile, which wasn’t much
of a challenge. After turning the first
ridge I heard a waterfall. I assumed it
was Helen Hunt Falls, which is a bit further up the same road I’d drove in on. But as I looked closer I noticed it was much
bigger and had different structures at its base. I
quickly realized it was Seven Falls, not Helen Hunt Falls. So cool!
I was getting a free look at the falls!

Around the next bend I saw the Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun
above the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Here is
where the path got tricky. The trail
branched off into several smaller trails, but they all seemed to head in the
same direction. I noticed this problem
on my hike yesterday too, and can only figure it’s due to people hiking in the
winter snow and kind of making their own trail. This happened several other times today, but luckily all trails ended up catching up with the original trail.

Mt Cutler wasn’t very impressive. It only took me about 15 minutes to hike
there, so I decided to take a quick hike to the Mt Cutler Overlook. That ended up being totally worth it! The views from here were 360 degrees of all the
Pikes Peak Region.

I spent quite a bit of time just enjoying the view. As I was getting ready to leave I heard the
chimes from the Will Rogers Shrine. So
cool and unexpected!

Now it was time to tackle Mt Muscoco. I actually went down quite a bit in elevation
as I was hiking to the turnoff, so I took my traditional “hiker selfie” that really only works with morning light.

The rest
of the hike was uphill, and while it wasn’t as steep as the incline, I’d
compare it to the first 2 miles of the Barr Trail. It also had some pretty cool stairs, but they
were all paced at about 1 and a half steps, making them useless (so it looks
like everyone just hiked on the trail beside them).

Here’s a picture of the summit.

The last ¼ mile was just like a 14er: Really close but a bugger to get there! This part of the hike was indeed a bit
challenging, but mainly because it just went straight up. It was at this point I saw three girls in
their 20s hiking above me. I quickly
passed them, and learned they were the owners of the Subaru below. This part of the hike had a bunch of trail
markers, which were needed and appreciated.

The view from Mt Muscoco was the best one of the day
(probably because it was highest in elevation).

As I stood there I saw airplanes flying into the Air Force Academy for
the graduation. Two days in a row! Awesome!

The trail didn’t end at the summit, but kept going for about
another third of a mile. I hiked it to
the end, turned around, and hiked back down.
Down was a bit challenging as it had been steep hiking up. It was definitely not a running trail.

About halfway down I met a man who’d just returned from
Poland (he was stationed at Ft Carson).
He was having a difficult time adjusting to the altitude but preparing
for Pikes Peak. I wished him luck and
told him to pace himself. He looked like
he’d already been sitting there for a while…

We had a late frost, so most of the trees and bushes had
dead new growth on them, but some were just beginning to emerge.

I also saw a few asters along the trail.

All in all, it was a really nice hike, and a little
challenging. In fact, the sign at the
trailhead says “advanced” for the Mt Muscoco trail, which I’d agree with. I was back to my car by 9am after hiking
about 4 miles in just over an hour and a half, elevation gain (estimated because it was multiple trails up and down) was just over 1300 feet .

Oh, and I saw a couple on the trail who looked like they
hated each other, hiking about 20 feet apart.
I see this a lot on trails and it makes me wonder why they hike together
if they don’t like each other? Either
that or the difficulty of the trail does funny things to our facial features as
we hike…

Stanley Canyon

Please don’t mind the hot mess that is my hair in these photos: I came straight from my shower at the gym and forgot my hairbrush on the hike.

I’ve been trying to do this hike for a while now, but the
directions I’ve been finding on the web have been wrong (imagine that). The two sites with directions state the
trailhead is 3.9 miles from the initial checkpoint. So I’ve done that several times, even driing
as much as a mile in either direction, and I’ve been unsuccessful in finding
the trailhead. But after purchasing the
Pikes Peak Atlas earlier this week, and talking with a friend at the Humane Society
who’s done the hike, today I was able to successfully find the trailhead!

OK, so it’s not 3.9 miles from the checkpoint as indicated,
but more like 5.5. In any event, if you
take the USAFA southgate entrance and make a left on Stadium drive, the turnoff
will be before the next checkpoint. In
fact, it will be about 20 feet before the next checkpoint, on your left. Follow the dirt road and the trailhead will
be clearly marked. My advice is to
bring with you a sturdy hiking pole, water, waterproof hiking boots, and a
sense of adventure.

I saw some wild turkeys on the drive up…

To be honest, there isn’t much information about this hike
online, so I’ll detail it here. Please note these are “early season” conditions, and it had snowed/rained for the past 3 or 4 days, so I’m sure the water levels were higher than normal.

Yes, the trailhead is clearly marked, in multiple
areas.

It’s hard to get lost for the
first half mile or so, but after that it’s anyone’s game. I saw
two other vehicles in the parking lot when I got there, so I surmised I’d end
up meeting two different hiking parties. I also forgot my map in the car. Well, I didn’t really forget it, as I remembered when I was about 10 yards from my truck, but I didn’t feel like going back to get it. In any event, I’d taken a picture of the trail at the trailhead. How difficult could this be?

I saw several scruffy looking rabbits along the trail.

The trail goes straight up for about 90% of the hike.

Here’s the indication you’ve left the USAFA

And as soon as you get to the top of this hill there’s a
great view, and this is where you’re leaving the easily marked area of the trail.

Check out this really cool water collection pool in the side
of the mountain! I’m sure it’s a
waterfall of it’s own earlier in the season.

The first ¾ of the hike is up through a lot of loose
granite, over creeks and yes, up waterfalls.

The trail actually goes up the waterfall. For anyone who’s ever climbed up granite, you
know it’s very slippery when wet. This
was indeed the case here.

The trail is difficult to find in places, but I reasoned
since I was hiking towards a reservoir, as long as I followed the water I’d
eventually find it, right? That ended up
being a good assumption. Also a friend
of mine told me she’d recently done this hike and kept thinking it couldn’t be
right to keep crossing the waterfalls, but that was indeed how it was done
(Thanks Paige for the advice!). I was
lucky it was still early in the season and the leaves hadn’t emerged yet. Otherwise it would have been really difficult
to see through the brush to find the eventual trail.

The trail went back and forth over a steady stream of
water. I was really glad I’d brought my
waterproof hiking shoes, and wondered how I was going to hike down these slopes
(up wasn’t easy, but I had footholds).

Where there were crossings over the stream they weren’t very
elaborate: Just a couple of
strategically placed logs. This is where
a hiking pole comes in handy!

Check out these baby aspens!
I love the intense green color of the trunks.

Most of the trail us rocky granite. You can tell it’s covered in snow during the
wintertime, and I’m assuming well traveled.
Because of this there are multiple trails to the same destination, all
paralleling each other. All are
difficult.

As soon as I made it to the top of the waterfalls it was as
if I was in a different world! The
temperature dropped 20 degrees and there was snow everywhere. Water was dripping like rain from the trees
as the snow melted in the morning sun. This is where I saw my first group of
hikers. They looked like cadets, and there
were 5 of them, so I figured they could indeed have been the owners of both
vehicles, but at least one.

And there were tons of animal tracks…

After about ¼ of a mile hiking through the cold I came upon
a clearing that still had snow, but it was much warmer and quickly melting.

The reservoir was beautiful!
As I approached I saw a fisherman, and surmised he was the owner of the
second vehicle. We exchanged greetings
and I snapped a few pictures.

I could hear the sounds of gunfire (expected on base) and
the drumming of woodpeckers. I saw
several fish jumping in the reservoir. I
didn’t stay long as I actually had quite a bit of work to do today. And I was getting cold. My Raynauds was really kicking in (and
unexpectedly). My finders were red and
beginning to turn white. I knew I needed
to get to a lower elevation to arm up.

The way back down was indeed more challenging than up, as I
was hiking down slippery slopes with little footing. When hiking up it’s much easier to find a
place to put your foot, but when going back down everything just slips.

And much of the trail was covered with small creeks of
water.

Just as I made it to my truck I heard a very loud rumbling
and saw the Thunderbirds soar by! So
cool! This was totally unexpected and
awesome, so instead of taking the second hike I’d planned for today I stood
there at the trailhead for half an hour just watching them practice.

I had a very unique view of their flight, as
everyone else in the Springs was watching them looking west, and because of the
hike I’d just completed I was watching from the east. I love living in Colorado
Springs!

One of my favorite parts about this experience was seeing the cadets watch the flyover from on top of the buildings.

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.

Flat 14ers?

Um. No. No, no, no, no, no. No.

While hiking Castle Rock yesterday I saw this sign at the
base of the trail, indicating if you hiked the trail 4 times you’d have hiked
the equivalent of a 14er.

So much is wrong with this photo! Who’s idea was this, and how did it make it
this far? Flat 14ers? What? My
MBA is screaming “False advertising!”

In what way does this involve climbing?

I get someone out there is trying to encourage people to
exercise, and that’s great, but a sign like this is an outright lie. It’s giving people a false sense of achievement. I’ve hiked 14ers, and they are in no way equivalent
to walking around a park 5 times. In distance
yes. Technically distance wise they’re
the same. Comparing climbing a 14er to
walking on a flat trail in a circle? No. That’s like comparing someone who’s walked in
a straight line for an hour or climbing stairs for an hour. Or someone watching
a doctor give an operation and saying you’ve performed one. Comparing someone who’s flown a plane from
Los Angeles to Miami to someone who’s done it on a simulator. Can the person who used the simulator seriously
say they’ve flown? That it’s the same
thing? Yes, they went through the same
motions, but they aren’t the same!

This sign doesn’t take into account all the factors in
addition to distance that go into climbing a 14er. Things like elevation gain, the effects of
altitude, exposure, danger, route finding, fatigue, weight of necessary gear, obstacles
on the trail, etc.

This sign needs to be changed to: You CAN hike the distance.

Hiking Castle Rock

I was alone today at work after 11:30am. I looked out the window, and noticed that while it was supposed to be cold and raining, the clouds had not yet moved in to the point where they were causing a problem. In fact, it actually looked a bit warm outside.

So I decided to hike Castle Rock. I’ve worked just outside the trail for over 5 years and I haven’t once hiked the rock. This is a shame, and something I intended to correct.

I’d done my research a while ago, and already knew the trail difficulty, directions, etc. The city page labeled it a difficult 1.4 mile loop, and strongly encouraged only fit hikers to attempt the trail.

So I drove to the trailhead and decided to take my lunch break hiking the rock. It was only 1.5 miles, so I should have plenty of time.

The trail was really well marked. Some of it even looked like a service road. It was all uphill to the top (obviously), but it was in no way a “hard” trail. So I ran.

The base of the rock looks pretty cool…

From the top I had a pretty good view of the entire front range, but it was really windy and the clouds were coming in for an afternoon storm, so the pictures aren’t too clear. Pikes Peak is in the middle/left of the photo below.

On the way down I took another part of the loop, and encountered a lot of railroad tie type stairs. I ran down those too.

At the bottom I noticed some of the trees were beginning to bloom, so I tried to get a cool shot of the rock. This was the best I could get.

As soon as I got to my truck is started snowing pretty hard, so I’d made the hike just in time.

Final thoughts: This trail was NOT difficult. It was really, really easy. So easy I ran. I was back at work less than half an hour after I’d left, including travel time and picture time. The rock is only 6224 feet, not that much of an achievement. But I climbed to the top, which was my goal, so I considered it a win!

Here’s a video from the top!

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.

14er Challenge Poster

Woohoo! Look what arrived this week!

I’ve actually had the poster for a few days, but I didn’t have a frame, so this afternoon I went out and bought one. The poster looks much better inside a frame, even if it is a cheap one. I bought a simple frame at Walmart because I plan on opening and closing it several times over the next few years and don’t want to invest too much on something that will most likely break with overuse. Once it’s complete I’ll get a nicer frame for the poster. I hung it outside my bedroom door. Rebecca noticed it when she got home: “Oh, I see you already have your poster hung up.”

This 18 x 24 inch poster was designed as a kind of log of your 14er hikes. 54 of Colorado’s 14ers are represented from original paintings of the summits by Robert L. Wogrin. There’s a small rectangle below each peak for you to write the date you successfully summited each 14er. I plan to write the summit number in the boxes instead of the date, and I also plan to put a picture of me at the summit over each image as I progress. In the photo I’ll most likely be holding a cardboard sign indicating the name of the summit, elevation, and date. Yes, I know that’s a predictable and sort of following the crowd type of thing, but it’s what I intend to do. I’m open to other suggestions?

Another idea: Collecting a small rock (maybe 1.5 inches?) from each summit, then writing the name of the summit and elevation in Sharpee on the rock. If I’m successful, I’ll have 54 rocks from the highest points of Colorado.

Hiking Goals: The List

I
actually made this decision a few weeks ago but I’ve been so busy I haven’t had
time to write it out.

I’ve
never had the goal of hiking The List. I know a few people who’ve done all 54, and a
few others who are currently attempting them, but I’ve never felt the pull. Until
recently.

The
increased parking fee I incurred last month at Barr Trail did it: I came to the realization I could either
spend $20 to hike Pikes Peak over and over again, or I could spend that $20 on
gas and add to my knowledge of 14ers.

So
I did some research. OK, quite a bit of
research. I pulled up an interactive map
of all 54 14ers in Colorado (yes, I know that number’s debatable) and seriously
looked into their complexity ratings. I
put together a spreadsheet, detailing elevations, round trip route lengths,
technical difficulty and drive distance from my house.

Over
75% of 14ers in Colorado are listed as “easy” or “moderate”, and all are within
a 6 hour drive. Most are under 10 miles
round trip, and attainable in a day, even with the drive. There are a few that
require technical training, and a couple of weekend backpacking trips are
necessary to accomplish some in the southwestern part of the state due to their
remoteness. But they’re actually quite
doable, and I’m in pretty good shape, so I don’t need to prep to get started. There
are a few where I could actually bag 2, 3, or 4 in a single day!

In
the beginning I was thinking I’d just do a couple this summer, but the more I
researched the more excited I got about actually making a goal out of The List.

I
bought the book 14er Disasters. I love these types of books because I can
learn from others mistakes. Hiking a
14er is no joke. There are many
obstacles to hiking at such an elevation, not to mention the distance you are
from help/rescue if something were to go seriously wrong. Which it does, even to the most prepared of
hikers.

The
first few pages of 14er Disasters mentioned
The List was first completed in 1923.
Hmmmm. 2023 is just a few years
away. I did the math, and I could
realistically conquer all 14ers by the 100^th Anniversary of the
first duo to complete them. I love
goals, and this actually sounds exciting.

So
I registered on 14ers.com and made a profile.
My accomplishments so far are actually quite respectable: I have
backpacking experience. I’ve summited all
the highest mountains in Southern California, as well as summiting Pikes Peak
12 times. Yes, I’ve only done one 14er, but I’ve hiked it 12 times. I think that gives me pretty good experience
with what a 14er has to offer in the way of weather, exposure, and the physical
toll the altitude takes on your body, not to mention the exhaustion from the hike
itself.

So
that’s my new goal. I’m currently
working out my summer hiking schedule, but I figure I’ll start with a few “easy”
ones just to get them out of the way and work my way up from there.

No,
I don’t plan on hiking alone. I will if
need be, but as soon as I get a schedule together I’m going to make the dates
available to all my Girl Scouts. I know
a bunch of them will be excited at the opportunity to hike multiple 14ers this
summer, in addition to Pikes Peak. Starting with “easy” ones will help me gauge
who’s serious enough to conquer some of the more difficult routes.

1
down, 53 more to go!

Manitou Incline – First Day of Spring

This whole week has been unseasonable gorgeous. I’ve been itching to get outside and hike, but we’ve been really busy with cookie sales, Girl Scout Meetings, etc. I could probably have gone this past weekend, but I’m not a fan of hiking on weekends (too many people). This week I’m working from home, which meant I could probably work really hard and get all my work done and still find time to hike. Today’s weather looked perfect, so I decided to hike today.

I got up at my normal time and went to the gym, ran 5 miles, lifted for about 10 minutes, then did half an hour of yoga. I came home, took Emily to school, and was off to the Incline. I’ve only hiked the incline once before (back in October of 2012), but I frequent the Barr trail to hike Pikes Peak. I figured I’ve got this.

I could actually feel the adrenaline start pumping as I neared the trail head. I was so excited to take this hike! It’s been way too long since I’ve been out (November 8, 2016 to be exact).

When I got there I was surprised to find the Barr Parking Lot had increased their fees, and required reservations through an app. NOT COOL. I was aware last year they were considering this, but didn’t think they were foolish enough to enact a $20 per day parking fee. They did however, and took it one step further by requiring you to plan in advance. Do they know anything about hikers?????

…I digress. There was a cop in the parking lot monitoring to make sure everyone had a pass (there were 2 cars in the parking lot at the time… not even paying for him to be there). So I drove around and looked for another place to park.

Yippee! I found one at $10 per day, only to discover it was limited to 4 hours. I’d need to be back at my car by 12:01pm. I inwardly cursed (this meant I’d ONLY be able to do the Incline, and not head to Barr Camp as intended because 4 hours wasn’t enough time for the hike. I once again asked myself “What is Manitou THINKING?????” and hurried because now my time was seriously limited.

It was 8am, so not many people were at the beginning of the trail when I got there. I started at a steady pace, and I’m proud to say not one person passed me on the way up, but I passed dozens of people. For a Monday, there were actually a lot of people on the trail.

I’ve only hiked the Incline once before, a long time ago before they “fixed” it. I remembered it being difficult, and cursing the fact I’d gone to the gym in the morning. This time it was challenging as well, but i knew what to expect. The only “bad” part was people blasting their music as they hiked. As if enjoying nature is too much to ask? News flash: no one else enjoys your music. Wear headphones please.

I didn’t stop until I was about ¾ of the way up, then I would hike 100 steps then stop to take 2 deep breaths and begin again. It seemed to work! I made it to the top in 33 minutes 39 seconds!

I stopped to take a few selfies (something I rarely do) and contemplated the rest of the hike. It seemed a shame to be here, pay $10 to park, and not get the most out of it I could (I did’t want to waste ANY of that $10). So I continued hiking, and instead of turning left to take the Barr Trail back to the parking lot I turned right and headed towards Pikes Peak.

Patches of snow started around MM3, right where I’d scattered the seeds for Granny. I didn’t expect to see any flowers this early in the season (I’m thinking late May-August they should bloom), but I looked anyway. I did see a butterfly, which was awesome and odd because there were no flowers. Really cool though because they symbolize someone from heaven is watching you.

I made it to MM4 before deciding to turn back. I would have LOVED to hike further, but I heard hikers further up the trail (I didn’t want to play leapfrog) and I was cutting it close on time. So I took another quick selfie with the snow on the peak and headed back down.

On my way back through Granny’s area I saw 2 more butterflies and smiled inwardly.

I did end up seeing one flower on the trail. I was at MM2 when I saw a Pasqueflower. They are the first flowers to bloom in Colorado Springs. There’s usually a contest to see who can snap a photo of the first one to bloom every year. I’m sure my photo isn’t the first, but it was my first sighting of the year!

The entire hike I felt elated. This is why I hike! I could feel the sunshine on my face and smell the Ponderosa Pines. The wind felt amazing. I made it back down the trail and snapped a quick photo of the Incline, for my out of state friends who haven’t had the pleasure of taking the hike.

I’ll probably be back soon, but not too soon: that $10-$20 is going to limit my hikes. I’m thinking Red Rock Open Space is where I’ll head next (no fees).