Cheating my way up two 14ers

Canyon Dweller · Joined: 06 Jan 2003 Posts: 712 Location: Denver, CO

This past 2 months has been real hell for my wife and I. She had undergone a surgery removing a tumer and one of her overies. This on top of prgnancy has really wiped her out. Since the surgery she has not gone anywhere. She could only stay home bored. One day I came home from work and she was crying because she was so bored. So I promised to take her to the mountains. On that paticular weekend we went to visit some ghost towns near Nederland.

August 5th I took her out and we went up Mt. Evans. Our friend Andre went with us. We got up early on Sunday morning and headed out by 8:30am. We got to Summit lake (12,800 feet) by 9:30. We decided to eat brakefast there and enjoy the lake. We soon continued on to the parking lot just below the summit. Last time we were here she was too cold and did not want to take the small walk to the peak. Now that she is 7 months pregnant she decided to make it to the top. The walk is about 1/4th mile long and 137 verticle feet to the top. Being pregnant this took her quite some time, but she was glad to be on top. Unfortunaly the day was very hazy and there were clouds everywhere, so the views were limited.

August 12th we decided to take her younger brother up Pikes Peak for a graduation and going away presant. He just graduated high school and is going into the military. Since he is leaving this week somtime, Sunday was the only day we had to do it. We planned on taking the train up. We planned on the 10:40 trip. He needed to be at our place by 9:00 to get down to Colorado Springs on time. He ended up oversleeping and got to our place an hour late. I decided to make the drive to the top since we missed the train. I was suprised that the road to the top was mainly paved. There was 2 sections that were not paved. The second being the last few miles getting to the top. On top we checked out the gift shop, got a few items, ate a little, and checked out the views. This weekend the views were much better. I was amazed how much I could see up there. The views are completly unobstructed. There are no mountians in the area blocking the view. The view of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains were amazing. There were alot of storms in the Front Range which made it difficult to see those mountains. I did manage to see Mt. Evans and Bierstadt, which was neet.

After being up there for over an hour, my wife was getting really tired and was sick of not being able to breath, so we headed down. I was proud of my wife willing to be at 14,000 feet pregnant. TJ has never been that high before and he loved it up there.

I had posted some pics of both trips in the photo gallery.
http://www.arizonahikers.com/forum/modules.php?set_albumName=albvl97&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php
_________________
Mountains are there to be climbed!

"Meaningless! Meaningless," says the teacher, "Utterly Meaningless, Everything is meaningless."-Ecclesiastes 1:2

desertgirl · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 3350 Location: Chandler, AZ

Glad she was able to get out and enjoy the mountains -- Best wishes for everything works out fine in the next few months.
_________________
Photos: http://www.pbase.com/desertgirl/galleries
Life is but a dream ...there is no end to what you can dream!

sbkelley · Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 284 Location: Tempe, AZ

Congrats on the two 14ers! Kudos to your wife, too, that would be hard

Matt Hoffman · Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 701 Location: Grantham, NH

I envy you people in Colorado. I was in Colorado Springs on Saturday, but did not have time to get out to Pikes Peak or even Garden of the Gods. Bummer.
I visited RMNP for the first time on Sunday. What a tease that was! I hiked to Mills Lake just northwest of Long's Peak. My parents were with me, we got a late start and we had to drive to Cheyenne, WY, so that was all I had time for there. RMNP is spectacular! I am already plotting and scheming my return trip. Some summits via technical routes are definitely in order!
_________________
"Your day-glo ballet days are over." Ancient chinese proverb.
http://web.mac.com/climbingsponge/Matt_Hoffman_Images/Welcome.html

Canyon Dweller · Joined: 06 Jan 2003 Posts: 712 Location: Denver, CO

sbkelley · Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 284 Location: Tempe, AZ

Matt Hoffman · Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 701 Location: Grantham, NH

I was thinking about something like Ypsilon Mountain - Blitzen Ridge (5.4) or maybe Spearhead - North Ridge (5.6). I've never done any alpine climbing, so something kinda moderate would be good to get my feet wet.
Funny thing is, the current issue of Climbing Magazine has an article about these climbs and some others in RMNP. I was reading it in the plane on my way back to Phx. Turns out I was hiking really close to a couple of these climbs.
_________________
"Your day-glo ballet days are over." Ancient chinese proverb.
http://web.mac.com/climbingsponge/Matt_Hoffman_Images/Welcome.html

sbkelley · Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 284 Location: Tempe, AZ

Nice! I'd been eying that Ridge for awhile when I lived in Laramie. RMNP gets a bad rap for being crowded, but like any popular place, go 1/4 mile away from a road and you're all of the sudden all alone...

Chiefs Head is also a classic if you get a chance