Day 29: Mount Bierstadt

We did it! We climbed our first 14er, Mount Bierstadt! I’m so glad it is something we all did together for the first time. There is nothing more magical than accomplishing such a huge feat with your children at your side. It is very humbling.

We started early. Like ridiculously early. 4:15 early. Adding salt to the wound, it was ridiculously cold and I was up all night long. In fact, at 2:17 it dawned on me that I should bring my hiking clothes into my sleeping bag to warm them up before the alarm went off. It was pitch black as we tried to get dressed and pack up camp. But thanks to the headlamps we were able to get everything done. I should note that the girls and I made a stop at the toilets to do that first thing in the morning business and brush teeth. Zoe noted that it was the nicest pit toilet she has ever seen. At least it was good enough to spit our toothpaste into.

We hit the trail head right at sunrise, 5:38 and were surprised by the number of other parties already on the mountain. We double tied our shoes and strapped on our packs and were ready to hit the trail. It was a great start, about 200 feet down in altitude over the first mile. The super clearly marked trails and boardwalks over little “swampy” areas surprised us, but I’ll take those amenities any day.

Our first big obstacle was the river we had to cross at about a mile into the hike. We were surprised that boardwalks were built over damp mud, but not the huge river. It didn’t go well for us. Zak thought we’d be able to walk across without the water getting into our boots. It worked great for him and Zoe, but the river flooded Ellie’s boot causing her to loose a hiking stick in the river (but thanks to my awesome fishing/hooking abilities I got it back!) and take off her boots and socks on a large boulder midstream. Once she got across, I flooded my boot causing not nice words to come flowing from my mouth. Don’t forget it was still freezing! I was not a happy camper.

But I grumpily got over it and we continued on our way. Once the uphill started, things got tough. I’m not sure I will ever be ok with the super steep inclines. I’m not going to pretend that we were all happy, go-lucky hikers. We were all trying really hard, but the elements were tough. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like more than one of us was ever in a really frustrated mood, so we were certainly there for each other.

Slowly, we made our way up the mountain. Many moments were just one foot in front of the other. But then we did have moments of 25 steps before the next break. I really can’t stress enough how slow it was. We averaged about one mile an hour and we can do a lot faster, just not uphill. Zoe actually started hyperventilating at one point because of the thin air and the nervousness. We calmed her down and really kept a crazy close eye on her, stopping every minute or so. She ended up doing great at the end!

Finally, we made it to the summit. Our first 14er! There just aren’t words to describe it. The wind was whipping, it was still freezing, but we were at the top. The girls celebrated with a Cliff bar and Zak and I shared an IPA. (We weren’t the only ones by any means, one group had a whole bottle of champagne.) We tried our hardest to spend our 45 minutes at the summit taking it all in. The views, the marmots skittering around, the feelings of accomplishment, pride, strength. It was remarkable. And I was able to share those moments with my family. The girls were so proud of themselves. I hope they always feel that accomplished in whatever they do, but they totally deserved it today.

Then we started making our way back down. It was also tough, lots of bouldering, thin air, exhausted legs, but we slowly made our way back down the mountain. The suckiest part of the hike was the last mile. For some incomprehensible reason, the last mile includes a 200 foot incline. Yeah, it was a great way to start, but an awful way to end. But we took our time and we all reached the end together. We ran the last several yards together as a family.

It was an emotional moment for me. Not only was it the end of our first 14er, but it was the end of the last hike of this trip. We hiked a couple hundred miles these last 29 day. Each one of those miles was together. We always put safety first, and fun second. I can’t even think of words to describe all that we learned, we experienced, we witnessed. Many of the miles were extraordinarily difficult, few were very easy, but each one was rewarding in some way. I know I grew as a hiker this summer, but I am more confident my girls grew as individuals. I am so, so proud of them. I hope they will take some of what they learned from our hikes with them forever.

OK, enough reflection. Sorry for the rampage.

After leaving the trail head, we stopped at one of our favorite spots from last year, the Lewis Sweet Shoppe. We indulged in carnitas and the most gigantic, delicious malts ever. We then headed to our last Kimpton of the west. We were, once again, shocked by their generosity with our welcome amenity. We took the best hot showers in the stunning bathroom and freshened up for wine hour. All of us were exhausted, so we opted to carry in Chipotle for dinner, a meal we haven’t had since the night before we left for this adventure. We took the long walk to the storefront to catch a glimpse of downtown Denver. I won’t go into details, but will just say is it the strangest city I have ever been in. There are some really odd things to witness here.

We are ending the night eating Chipotle in our gorgeous suite in our underwear. We are all just exhausted and ready for a good night’s sleep. We are a happy, fulfilled family who climbed our first 14er ever today! Go us!

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