Last Sunday, October 1st was the day of 14,000 footers. My friend, Adelene, who is attending seminary in Denver, came out to Breck to visit and do a little hiking. Adelene brought along her friend, Peter, who may never want to come back and visit after the day we had! JT and I decided we would take our company out for a little hike - summitting three 14,000 foot peaks in one afternoon. The mountains, Democrat, Cameron, and Bross are literally in our backyard. We live on the west slope of the massive mountains...so all four of us hopped in our Wrangler and drove about five miles to the other side of the range where we began our trek upward. The weather began pleasant, cool but not unbearable. Due to the 2 feet of snow we had a couple weeks ago, the hike was more of snow-shoeing expedition at times. The first peak we reached was Democrat. It stands, towering above a beautiful shot of a snow covered range out to the west. The solo shots of JT and I below are at the summit. It was absolutely gorgeous. After enjoying the sun peaking through the clouds, we began our next descent and ascent of our second mountain: Mount Cameron. By the time we reached the ridge to make the push to the top, 40 mph winds whipped across our small and fragile frames as we tried to keep the pace. With an outdoor air temp just above zero, and 40 mph winds, you can imagine that things got pretty cold really fast. When we reached the summit we were in a full blown wind blowout and were starting to suffer from exposure. We were dressed warm, but not fully prepared for the wind factor. After hour five of climbing, the only way we could get down was to head toward the third peak, Mount Bross, hit the peak and find the trail down. So, through several feet of snow, blistering winds, and no sunlight for warmth, we pushed down as quickly as possible. It was a humbling and challenging experience. Humbling because all four of us realized how quickly we were and always are at the mercy of the mountains and nature itself. The sheer power of those mountains and fragile state of the human life had never been more evident. Yet the challenge remained to be fullfilling as we finally made it down the steep snow ridge and warmed up in our jeep. It was an experience never to be forgotten.
Last Sunday, October 1st was the day of 14,000 footers. My friend, Adelene, who is attending seminary in Denver, came out to Breck to visit and do a little hiking. Adelene brought along her friend, Peter, who may never want to come back and visit after the day we had! JT and I decided we would take our company out for a little hike - summitting three 14,000 foot peaks in one afternoon. The mountains, Democrat, Cameron, and Bross are literally in our backyard. We live on the west slope of the massive mountains...so all four of us hopped in our Wrangler and drove about five miles to the other side of the range where we began our trek upward. The weather began pleasant, cool but not unbearable. Due to the 2 feet of snow we had a couple weeks ago, the hike was more of snow-shoeing expedition at times. The first peak we reached was Democrat. It stands, towering above a beautiful shot of a snow covered range out to the west. The solo shots of JT and I below are at the summit. It was absolutely gorgeous. After enjoying the sun peaking through the clouds, we began our next descent and ascent of our second mountain: Mount Cameron. By the time we reached the ridge to make the push to the top, 40 mph winds whipped across our small and fragile frames as we tried to keep the pace. With an outdoor air temp just above zero, and 40 mph winds, you can imagine that things got pretty cold really fast. When we reached the summit we were in a full blown wind blowout and were starting to suffer from exposure. We were dressed warm, but not fully prepared for the wind factor. After hour five of climbing, the only way we could get down was to head toward the third peak, Mount Bross, hit the peak and find the trail down. So, through several feet of snow, blistering winds, and no sunlight for warmth, we pushed down as quickly as possible. It was a humbling and challenging experience. Humbling because all four of us realized how quickly we were and always are at the mercy of the mountains and nature itself. The sheer power of those mountains and fragile state of the human life had never been more evident. Yet the challenge remained to be fullfilling as we finally made it down the steep snow ridge and warmed up in our jeep. It was an experience never to be forgotten.
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