Five years ago we attempted to summit Mt. Elbert. We couldn’t. (Blog post from that day.) Today, five years later, we did.
We woke up at 5 with chattering teeth and frozen toes. We had slept in our hiking clothes with the hope of saving as much time as possible in the morning. We quickly brushed teeth, laced boots, peeled off sweatshirts and replaced them with wind breakers. I found enough time to chug a can of cold coffee. We were on the trail by 5:30.
The last mile of the road to the trailhead is closed this season, so we started with a nice warm up. It usually takes me a mile to get my body acclimated to the terrain, air, and expectations, so this was perfect. Miles 2 and 3 had a nice, manageable incline, but it got real for miles 4-6. This section went through the last of the pine before treeline, and then just up a mountain. It was steep, it was hard, but it was beautiful. We stopped every quarter mile or so for a quick break, 30-90 seconds, then kept on moving forward. The air got thinner and thinner as we ascended, we needed to focus of filling out lungs. There were three false summits, but I had read about them each ahead of time. A false summit can be heartbreaking and the ultimate letdown. Knowing what we were getting into helped a lot.
I cried when we reached the summit. I had been hoping and wanting this for so long and it was even more beautiful than I could have imagined. There were a couple dozen other hikers (and two mountain bikers) at the summit, many of whom we had encouraged or received courage from on the way up. There is nothing like cheers of “You did it!” at the top. Not many people know all the work that went into the accomplishment, but these hikers know every step. The hiker community is wonderful and I’m happy to be part of it.
We spent a long time at the summit, way longer than we have at any other one. We drank our summit beers, refueled on trail mix for the way down, snapped plenty of pictures, and tried to take it all in.
The hike down was good. Challenging, but good. Descending takes so much concentration, it was hard to not let the adrenaline take over. The last mile on the road, although mostly flat, seemed to drag on and on. As much as I appreciated the warm up this morning, I didn’t want a cool down that long.
So, we did it. Summitted Mount Elbert, the tallest mountain in Colorado at 14,440 feet. We ascended and descended 5,211 feet (a mile) over 12.61 miles. We did it together, after not being able to five years ago.
The Knotts rock!
Congratulations Knott family! How inspiring!
I told the girls that writing about the whole Mt. Elbert experience will be perfect for college application essays.