Colorado Weekend

[randell]

I had a Southwest Airlines ticket that was about to expire and I had to use it fast. As I could not miss any work, my original idea was to fly to Denver on Saturday, drive 1.5 hours to the Stevens Gulch (11,200') trailhead and hike Grays Peak (14,270') and Torrey's Peak (14,267').  The 8.7 mile trail ascends to the top of Grays Peak, drops 600' into a saddle, then climbs to the summit of Torreys Peak, then drops back into the saddle and back to Stevens Gulch. When I told my wife of my plans she inquired as to why I did not just leave on Friday night. This got my imagination rolling and my plan expanded to completing the above hike on Saturday morning and then driving to the Kite Lake campground (12,000') and hiking a seven mile circuit that summitted Mount Democrat (14,148'), Mount Lincoln (14,286'), and Mount Bross (14,172). I thought this was pretty ambitious, especially for someone who lives at sea level. However, it sounded fun if I could pull it off without my lungs exploding. I figured I would play it by ear.

As luck would have it, my flight on Friday night was late departing. As a result, I did not get to Denver until 9:30pm and did not get to Stevens Gulch until midnight. The trail head area was pretty full of tents and I was low on time so I slept in my rented Jeep Liberty. I actually fit pretty comfortably for it being a small SUV and me being 6'2". A group of noisy hikers started hiking at 2:30am and woke me. I thought about starting my hike at that time but I knew I needed more sleep and more time to acclimate. I did not sleep much more as I was so excited and probably got no more than 2 hours of sleep. More hikers woke me at 5am and I finally got up and hit the trail at 5:30am.

Beginning of hike:




Grays is on the left and Torreys is on the right


Torreys Peak


Mountain goat


Torreys Peak from the side of Grays Peak


Torreys Peak on left and Kelso Mountain (13,176) in middle.  Stevens Gulch to the right of Kelso.


View from Grays Peak




I descended Grays Peak and started to really feel beat. As I climbed up the very, very steep side of Torreys Peak I started feeling awful. At one point I felt like I was suffocating. I was breathing really hard and still not getting enough oxygen. I had to stop and take some deep breaths and hold them. I finally made it to the summit. I was too exhausted to set up the tripod. Thankfully, someone volunteered to take my photo. Two guys on the summit took pizza out of their packs and started munching. I thought this was a brilliant idea as I poured half a pound of GORP into my mouth. Pizza would have been tastier.



The views were amazing. Last August I had gone to Colorado for the first time and had summitted Mount Sherman and been in a cloud with no view whatsoever. The next day I had summitted Mount Elbert and had seen only brief breaks in clouds for some views. Today, however, the skies were clear and I was presented with the views I had dreamed of last year. I was ecstatic, but exhausted. My lack of sleep was hurting me in a real bad way.

I worked my way back to the saddle and felt somewhat better as I crossed some snow, which is always fun to do in July. I was surprised at how late some hikers were starting up the peak, since the general rule is to be back to treeline as close to noon as possible. I was also surprised at the people. Someone had puked by the trail. Contrasting this, there was a very fit pregnant woman hiking up. Then there was a guy with no legs. He had mechanical legs from mid-thigh down and was slowly working his way up with a very determined look on his face and the motivation of his hiking companion. I was inspired and awestruck. Then there was the uber-elite athletes who were jogging up the trail. Then there was the 85 year old man who had hiked all 53 over 14,000 ft peaks in Colorado and was doing them a second time.



I looked up at Torreys Peak as I descended and thought there was no way I was doing any peak tomorrow.



I was beat. I had developed two blisters, one on each foot. In my tired state I wrenched my ankle twice on the hike down. The first time I had tried to catch myself with one of my hiking poles and snapped it. I was happy with completing the two peaks and figured I would do some small hike on Sunday that did not involve any steep ascents. I reached the car after hiking eight hours. I had burned 4,300 calories according to my heart rate monitor. I limped to the car and ate an enormous amount of food in an attempt to make those calories up. I staggered to the stream of snowmelt water to soak my feet. The water was too cold so I just swished my feet in the water to rinse them. I finally go the energy to drive. I could not decide what to do next but finally decided to go to Alma and have a beer at the highest bar in America. I had two beers but my legs ached so badly form the knees down I was having no fun. So I picked up a few beers at the only store in town (Al-Mart in Alma...catchy name) and decided to drive to Kite Lake, the trailhead for Mount Democrat/Lincoln/Bross to sleep. I had no plans for hiking the peaks but I needed to sleep somewhere. I was surprised to find out that the road to Kite Lake was right next to the store. I followed the dirt road to the campground and pitched my tent by the road next to a stream where I set up my chair and set about cooking not one, but two Mountain House dinners, which I devoured. I tossed my beer in the stream to keep it cold and sat for about two hours relaxing and pondering my options in my current state of exhaustion.

to be continued...

[steelfrog]

Nice.  Good hikes.  Couple things--You were showing signs of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) which is not at all unusual or a reflection on your fitness level for a drive-by 14er.  You might get some Diamox from your doctor to avoid these symptoms (possibly).  Also, consider using "pressure breaths" in higher altitude climbs.

Bizarre isn't it that the Colorado-ans consider Grays/Torreys to be "easy"?  Another nice one you might want to do is not far from there--Bierstadt.  There's also Huron down near Elbert, and then also one I haven't done yet but really want to, Humboldt, in the Sangre de Cristo range by the Crestones.

[randell]

Nice.  Good hikes.  Couple things--You were showing signs of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) which is not at all unusual or a reflection on your fitness level for a drive-by 14er.  You might get some Diamox from your doctor to avoid these symptoms (possibly).  Also, consider using "pressure breaths" in higher altitude climbs.

Bizarre isn't it that the Colorado-ans consider Grays/Torreys to be "easy"?  Another nice one you might want to do is not far from there--Bierstadt.  There's also Huron down near Elbert, and then also one I haven't done yet but really want to, Humboldt, in the Sangre de Cristo range by the Crestones.

It could have been a combination of AMS and not getting enough rest.  I think it was mostly the not getting enough rest part, though.  My heart rate was racing from working so hard, but once I stopped and rested while doing some pressure breathing and let my heart slow down, I was fine.  It is really a bizarre feeling to be breathing so hard and feel like you are suffocating. 

I definitely had AMS last year when I drove straight to the top of Mt Evans from the airport and stepped out of the car and got dizzy and nauseous.  Thankfully that only lasted a few seconds.  I was half-expecting that, though, and just wanted to see how I would react to the altitude while I had a car to retreat quickly in.  After a night at 12,000' I was fine.

Bierstadt, Quandary, and Huron are on my list for the future - all of the "easy" ones that do not require ropes.

[steelfrog]

There aren't too many of the 14ers that do require ropes.  I guess you are familiar with the www.14ers.com website?  Has great profiles of each mountain and all the routes.  Likewise 13ers.com as well, for the top 100 13ers.

I'm coming to BB this weekend for a little tromping around before heading in 3 weeks to the Palisades in California for 10 days.

[randell]

Rainclouds began to gather and I thought if it started raining I would be sleeping in the jeep again. We were actually above treeline and I was not going to risk sleeping in an exposed tent if a storm started. Fortunately it never did rain. At 7pm I packed up and retreated to my tent. I tried to read but was too tired so I passed out at 7:30pm. I did not set an alarm. I was completely playing it by ear, based on how I slept.





At 7:30am on Sunday I woke up. I had slept 12 hours straight. I crawled out of my tent and stood up. I walked in a little circle. I felt GREAT. My blisters were still there but not hurting much. My ankle only hurt slightly if I twisted it around. I broke camp thinking hard about what to do with my late start. I thought I might have time to summit Mount Domocrat before I had to leave for the airport. My legs were not sore at all. I made up my mind and hurredly packed. Unfortunately I did not have enough water so I filled an empty water bottle with water from the stream - it was crystal clear but I put some purification tabs in anyway. At 8am I started hiking. I wore my light hiking shoes as my heavy boots were ... heavy. They had provided me some ankle protection the day before but they were also clunky and I wanted to be light on my feet.

The backside of Mount Democrat is on the left with the saddle in the middle


I had to hike a third of a mile just to get to the trailhead where a sign said the Mount Bross summit was closed due to a property dispute. I worked my way up the side of Mount Democrat and felt stupendous. I looked back at Kite Lake and saw why it was named "Kite" lake. I reached the saddle between Mount Democrat and Mount Cameron (14,238') in an hour. Mount Cameron is a 14,000 ft peak but it is not considered an official peak because the saddle between it and Mount Lincoln is only something like 245' and it must be 300' or greater to be considered an official peak. You do, however, have to go over Cameron to get to Lincoln. I turned towards Mount Democrat and started hiking.

I reached the summit in an hour. Two guys popped open beers they had pulled from their pack on the summit. That was a good idea, I thought, as I once again chomped on GORP. Maybe next time. Since these peaks are farther from Denver, there were a lot less hikers, which was nice. I soaked in the amazing views.





To the right is the ridge leading to Mount Cameron and farther back is Mount Lincoln


I had been lucky enough to get another day of great weather. I the sun it was warm and everyone on the trail shed their jackets. As a cloud passed over everyone would stop and pull their jackets out of their packs. Then the sun would come out again and once again the jackets came out. I just hiked faster when the sun was hidden.

I made it back to the saddle with 45 minutes to spare before the time I had designated as when I should turn back for the car. A marmot started calling from a nearby rock. It would peak up and regard me in a "give me your GORP" kind of way, then hide again, then peak up again. Sorry, but no people food for you.



I was feeling optimistic and energetic so I started up Mount Cameron. The the summit of Cameron, Lincoln came into view and there was a broad saddle at the bottom of a gentle slope. Lincoln looked imposing and sharp. As I approached the broad saddle I had the urge to run but thought better of it as it looked like an ankle sprain waiting to happen. As if ready my thoughts, two girls hiking near my broke into a run and kept running until they got to the end of the flat area. I restrained myself.



The final ascent up Lincoln was steep. A dull knife-edge before the final approach was interesting as I looked down the steep tallus slopes on either side.



I reached the summit of Lincoln at noon. The summit was small but the views were huge. A girl offered to take my photo and I accepted. I enjoyed the outstanding views for about five minutes and started back down. I had to move fast for I had a flight to catch. It was not the best idea, time-wise, to bag Lincoln, but it had been worth it.



I reached the car and hit the road 45 minutes after I had wanted to be on the road. As luck would have it, I ran into three traffic jams on the drive back to Denver. First an accident, then construction, then someone pulled over by the state troopers. Ugh. I caught a shuttle from the rental agency and sat next to a world champion slolom skateboarder. She was also a mom. We had some interesting chat. At the airport I was informed of the obvious - I was late. I dashed to the gate with 12 minutes to spare. The flight was full and a pilot had to be booted out of my seat to go sit in the cockpit with the pilots of my flight so I could sit down. Back in Houston, my bags had not made it on the plane, which I had expected. I was not upset. There was nothing in the bags I needed and it was no trouble to drive to the airport the next day to pick them up. I was just glad I had made the flight...and four peaks in a weekend.

The End.

[randell]

Incredible, and you hike alone, that makes it even more special, of course you know that. Congratulations
QS

Thanks. I went alone this time.  I asked several guys but they were either busy or, the most common excuse, they didn't think they could handle it without more conditioning.  I imagined they could as they were 10 years younger than I an not in bad shape at all but I could not talk them into it.  "Next year" they said.  I don't mind going alone at all, however.  With a 4 and 6 year old at home and zero time alonre..it is a nice break to take a solo trip.

[dkerr24]

Wow, what a great way to spend a weekend!   Bagging FOUR 14'ers!  Congrats! 

With all those outdoor opportunities and cooler weather, it's no wonder Colorado is home of the fittest folks in the country.

[Terlingua50337]

Randall this may be a dumb question but did you shoot any pics with the intent of stitching some 360 degree panoramics?

[randell]

Randall this may be a dumb question but did you shoot any pics with the intent of stitching some 360 degree panoramics?

No, I never shot a 360 pano. On Saturday I shot three panos made up of 7-8 photos each.  On Sunday I just took my wide angle lens and did not shoot any panos.

The ones I did shoot are here:

[steelfrog]

I had never experienced AMS until last year when were hiking up Latir Peak (just under 13,000 ft); as we past 12,000 ft I began to get dizzzy and nauseous, as you described, and had  difficulty breathing. In fact I stopped short of an easy summit. It happened again two days later going up Gold Hill (also close to 13,000 ft). I am older now, and not so fit; do you think Diamox would help when we return for a hike up Wheeler Peak next year (13,000 + ft)
Randell, I am loving your report, very envious.
QS

Everyone is different, but it could not hurt to try.  Just go to your doc and tell them your symptoms, etc.  Use it a couple days before you go and while you're there.  They give you 250 mg pills, but I have been told to use half that twice a day.  It is a diurhetic, so it will cause more urination and sometimes "tinny" taste is reported when drinking carbonated drinks.  The diurhetic effect counters the edema which is the cause of the AMS symptoms.

[Terlingua50337]

Nice

[bdann]

Awesome trip!

[chisos muse]

If I didn't like you so much, I'd hate you! 

Damn Superman!!!! 

[jeffblaylock]

Very nice trip Randell. Caught some dramatic clouds with those summit shots.

[badknees]

Randall,

Good job for a SE TX flatlander. Nice photos (D300?)