For several weeks, Jason and I split our time with kids: I hiked one weekend day with a friend while he watched the girls, then I watched them on another day while he ran.
1) Mt Princeton Sat Aug 2: My 6th "14er"
Our family stayed in Breckenridge with friends (Julie and Patch) Fri night and Ava didn't sleep much. Getting up at 3am was not a big deal, since I was still jet lagged. The drive up the road to the radio towers was almost a bit too much for my friend's old Subaru. We (Julie, Patch, Meggan) set out hiking at 5:30am, watching the sunrise over Buena Vista, and finding our way to the rocks. The rock talus was covered in ice and a fresh dusting of snow lay up high.
Despite threats of fog and a forecast for afternoon showers, we had a lovely blue sky up top and warm weather. We could see peaks all over the place from the top, just begging us to go check them out, too! We came down and had time for a burger at Kay's in town before making it back to family in Breckenridge Sat late afternoon.
2) South Arapahoe Peak (13er)
Jason and I had a random Monday off before school started, but the kids were already registered in daycare. So we dropped them off at 7am and drove past Nederland to 4th of July trailhead. We hiked up to the saddle before deciding that the clouds were too thick and dark. We turned around and ran back down to the car, still having a beautiful adventure.
3) Mt Shavano and Tabeguache Sat Aug 9: my 7th and 8th "14ers"
All week afternoon storms threatened, and we watched the weather closely. We had planned to go Sunday but the forecast was not good, so we pulled a last minute switch and went Friday night. My friend Johnnie and I started hiking at 5:20am and hiked quickly up to the top of Shavano. The approach was very windy, but I felt strong. Over to Tabegauche and back in 2 hours, then down past a family of mountain sheep. Home for dinner.
4) Mt Audobon (13er)
I hiked with my friend Amy on another Monday off while the kids were in care. We gabbed the whole way and took our time. We debated continuing on to Pauite peak, but decided it would take too long and it was too cloudy. We saw 2 huge bull moose on our way home from the car!
5) Pikes Peak Ascent: my 9th "14er"
I've never done a hill climb race before, so I had no idea what to expect. I estimated it would take me 5-6 hours to hike the 13.3miles from 6500ft to 14,110 feet.
Jason had a bad fever but came down with me and the girls anyway Friday night for the 2 hour drive to our hotel. He did a great job helping the girls on race day and cheering me on with them at the finish line.
It's a weird experience to race a hike. Normally I like to chat, look for animals, stop for snacks. But for such a long hike, with such unpredictable weather, it seems reasonable to rush along and get to the summit safely and quickly. So I signed up to get a 14er, and have people cheer and give me water along the way. I didn't really realize it was so LONG.
After 1 mile of running uphill through town, you come to trail and join the conga line of racers hiking along up, up, up. At about mile 4, you come to the "flat" section and can run some. Then you climb up some more, eventually leave the trees, and get some views.
Along the way, you can see a little of everything: old hikers, young triathlons and runners, military guys, etc. Some people do it year after year.
Person: 'you done this before?'
Me: 'Nope. You?'
Person: 'Yup. 4 times. It's a suckfest. You a runner?'
Me: 'Nope. I guess I'm kind of a 14ers person.'
Person: 'Ugh. I always die above 11,000feet. As soon as the trees go away, so does the oxygen.'
I made it past one cut off with time to spare, then the next. I felt strong and started passing more and more people. I started to feel competitive and enjoy passing people.
Back in 2006, when we were engaged, Jason did the 'Doubler'. On Sat, he did the ascent. I drove to the top and watched him. I could hardly breathe and it was freezing. I remember watching people run up 'the stairs' at the top, and thinking they were insane. Those stairs at that altitude seemed like a whole other breed of people. Somehow, at the time, I found Jason's ability to do something like that very attractive.
The next day, he did the marathon (up and down) in just over 5 hours.
I dreaded 'the stairs' as I hiked and wondered when I'd get to the impossible part. But at 13,000ft, I was still feeling decent. Slow and heavy in the legs, but way faster than people around me and smiling.
The stairs were only the last 0.5 miles, and way more hike-able than other stuff I've done lately. So I smiled my way up them, ran through the finish, and hugged my amazing family in 4:36.
I was really happy.
No comments:
Post a Comment