I decided on Bierstadt for the first 14er this past Saturday. It seemed like a good reasonable mountain to start with. Its summit is at 14,060ft. I went with my friend Sara and since her condo is off 285 we took that route to Guanella Pass.
I was trying to go slow to control my breathing the whole time while Sara’s style was to go a little faster and take little breaks, it worked out perfectly!
I felt a little out of breath once we hit about 13000 ft but my body got used to it within a few minutes. I did however feel the altitude. I felt a little out of balance, my poles helped me a ton and my depth of perception was a bit off as well.
I didn’t realize the last 45 minutes of the summit area were just rocks and big boulders and some parts of it were pretty sketchy. However the sensation of making it to the top was amazing. It was exhilarating. I’m pretty much set on doing one 14er every weekend until Kili.
It was very windy for most of the day and much colder than I thought it was going to be. I wished I had taken my balaclava, mittens and hand warmers, I only had thin gloves. I definitely got a bit of a wind burn on my face. My feet were perfect though, through the mud on the bottom, the water run offs all over, rocks and some snow...the boots are really good, warm and by now pretty much broken into.
I loved doing Bierstadt and thanks to Sara for coming! You did an awesome job girl and you had no poles! Due to an unfortunate Safeway truck accident the road to Bailey was blocked and we were sitting on the highway for 2 ½ hours on the way back but found a great restaurant once we got to Bailey and had time to commemorate our 14er victory. It was a great day!
The rocky photo is of the last 35-45 mins of the trek, all rocks! Then there is one of me at the summit, it was very very windy! All 14ers in Colorado are market by the US Gov so we got a photo as proof we made it there :-)
Live, laugh, love!
Live, laugh, love!
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