14er or Bust

To go out with a "bang" on this Colorado vacation, and July 4th to boot, summiting a 14er was at the top of the list for the trip. This "list" also includes "the bucket list" too, since these types of hikes are quite hard to do, but I am thankful I was able to complete the 9 mile trek and climb an elevation of 3,000 ft. on Grays Peak (9th largest mountain of 14, 000 ft. or higher out of 53 total 14ers in the State of Colorado), along with my hiking companions; "The Best Daughter, Brian Phillips and Linda Misencik. I must admit, I was a little apprehensive in the magnitude of this hike, but was advised "slow and steady" with lots of water breaks will enable us to reach the tippy top! It worked! The hike was an unbelievably amazing trek in every step (a lot of slow ones) of the way, and I burst into tears when we all reached the top.

Interestingly, a  week ago in Crested Butte, the snow was too high still to climb a 14er in that neck of the woods. Today I/we learned from a mountain "scout" that up until last Tuesday, Grays Peak also had too much snow to hike through to the top.  Truth be told, there is a very slight window of time to get in that type of hike and elevation with such a short season of around four weeks. Snow will start flying in August. I can't even imagine the "gymnastics" needed to hike Mt. Everest...(seen the movie!)

This adventure was definitely a way to stretch the comfort zone since the wake up call came early at 4:30am, a departure time of 5:00am and on the trail by 7:30am (finished the hike at 2:00pm). It was a great double nickel tour experience for sure!

BSoleille! The bright side of hiking up to 14, 270ft. on Grays Peak (as listed)! And "The Best Daughter and Brian hiking two 14,000 peaks with the add on of Torreys Peak!

Terri

Photos from today's adventure