|
WhereAreJanetandRick Colorado, USA |
Three 14ers and 1 Hell Hole
Mount Bierstadt
Colorado has 54 peaks that exceed 14000 feet - that's the highest concentration in North America and more than in all of the rest of the United States.
Frisco, Summit County
We are staying in Frisco, Summit County, elevation 9070, and acclimatizing by hiking and just being here (can't you just feel those stem cells differentiating into hemoglobin!!).
Snow in August
We bagged our first 14er on Monday - Mount Bierstadt!! After a 3 mile and 3000 foot breathless ascent, we were greeted at the top by a snow grain shower - this is the sort of stuff that we flat landers don't usually see (it turns to rain or snow by the time it hits the ground), but it's quite commonplace in the clouds, as we've discovered as the week continues.
Mount Evans
The highest paved road in North America reaches to within 60 feet of the summit of Mount Evans - but did we drive it - NO!! We blazed our own trail from Summit Lake up rocks and scree through sleet, hail, and yes, mountain sheep.
Top of Mount Evans
The weather did clear, though, and here we are...
Forgot our lunch in the car
Janet, of course, got hungry and rushed down for some chow!
Mount Grey
Grey, on the other hand, was a different story. We drove on this road that Rick thought was fit for only 4WDs. Then we saw a Jetta and an Austin Mini!!! Go figure. What started out as a beautiful day, quickly deteriorated.
Half way up
Thankfully, we decided against the Class 3 scramble from the saddle between Mounts Torrey and Kelso, via Mount Torrey, as the weather rolled in...
Well, we busted
60 feet (by Rick's altimeter) and 2 VERY close lightening strikes from the top, 2 frantic women came flying down - the first said that her hair stood right up (& it wasn't short), and the second said that she left her trekking poles come lightening rods at the top. A few chioce words later and they were clear our of site - into the clouds. We quickly followed down the mountain and decided that fishing was in order!
Hell Hole
There really is a hike called Hell's Hole. This was supposed to be our easy day. Wrong. The hike was pleasant and for a change, we saw some sub-alpine scenery -pines (Colorado variety), aspen and vegetation that just doesn't grow above 11,000 ft. Janet found a mushroom that she sauteed for dinner.
And a day wouldn't be complete without rain!!
As usual, right around mid-day, it started to rain. Rather nice in the trees, until the lightening and thunder started...
Here's one of Hell's Hole's trees...
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
