Mt. Bierstadt is a Front Range Colorado 14er. It’s elevation is 14,060 feet. It is considered one of the easier Colorado 14ers because of its gradual and well built trail. I was fortunate to be able to return to Colorado this month and hike Mt. Bierstadt with my friend, Steve Garufi.

In 2008, I had put on my Bucket List the hope of hiking a 14er or two again. A Colorado 14er, for those wondering, is a mountain whose elevation is 14 thousand feet or higher. Colorado has 56 of these peaks … more than any other area in North America.

Hiking mountains in general takes some effort, all the more so those reaching elevations above timberline (11,400+ feet). It had been over 30 years since I had last climbed one. Back then I was able to scale Pikes Peak, 14,110 feet, the longest base to summit 14er in Colorado at 26+ miles round trip. I would normally do that in a day … a LONG day.

On Sunday I had driven to Buena Vista, to spend the night so that we could get an early start and head to the trail head early. I have developed a custom of taking pictures of my coffee cup from various locales. It is kind of my moniker … here is the one from Mt. Bierstadt:

Mt. Bierstadt is on the right with Saw Tooth saddle in crossing left to Mt. Evans, another 14er that is behind the saddle. I picked up this coffee from a crappy gas station brew. Not what I would normally drink. (I am collecting my coffee shots at www.perfectcoffeeshots.com.)

The hike begins. (about 8 A.M.)

The sun is still shaded on the western slope. This boardwalk has been built to help protect the marsh.

The west views are stunning as the morning progresses. Steve keeps pointing out Mt. Torres and Grays and saying those will be our next possible climbs next summer. The parking lot is just above that alpine lake and to the left. I was feeling pretty good here as the trail begins to gain elevation. Having hiked Arizona’s highest mountain, Humphreys Peak (12,633 feet) twice in the previous three weeks seemed to help.

Here is the same shot of Grays and Torres from about 13, 000 feet. They look like twins. It is also about this elevation that I have to put on gloves and a jacket. We estimated the wind chill to be in the 20s, quite a change from the 108 degree temp we had in Phoenix the day I left. My left hand confirmed the temp was below freezing as the west to east gusts numbed it!

Here I am as I approach Mt. Bierstadt’s summit … Steve yells for me to say or do something. All I can think of is raising my hand like in victory. Lame. But at 14 thousand feet I am oxygen deprived as well as a bit exhausted. It is a good feeling.

I sent a tweet on Twitter that stated all 14ers have unexplainable views. The awe and wow factors are evident.

Steve Garufi and myself feeling pretty good. This was Steve’s 20th 14ner, my 4th. As a side, his prompting my return this fall to climb this 14er was sprurred on by the events that we both had celebrated birthdays in the previous days. Steve had turned 39 and I 29 — for the 23rd time.

As we made our way down, I snapped a final shot of the Sawtooth saddle. It turned out to be a perfect fall day for a hike of a Colorado 14er.

I am motivated to continue to hike in the coming months as we in the Valley of the Sun enter into our nicest weather months of the year. November to April! The winter months for the most of you. Enjoy.

July 28, 2009 I got up early to take a hike I had done numerous times as a teenager, only this time, at 50, I would only be going one way … descending Pikes Peak, Colorado Springs’ most famous landmark and America’s mountain. Katherine Lee Bates was inspired on her trip up the Peak to write America the Beautiful. I knew that I was in no shape to hike up it, but I had no idea I really wasn’t in shape to hike DOWN it either!

Pikes Peak is a 13.5 mile hike, one way, and the longest base to summit 14ner of the 56 peaks in Colorado that exceed 14 thousand feet. I had hiked it up and down in a day numerous times 30+ years ago. I knew that the hike down is tough on the body. But I thought I could do this.

It was a great day. I have some video I will put together and post later. Here are the pictures from this day.

Here is a picture of a snow-capped Pikes Peak from Pikes Peak Avenue, downtown Colorado Springs. I took this March 14, 2004.

Entering Manitou Springs that morning. 6:35 A.M.

The Cog Railway depot. Hoping at this point to get on as I had to go standby.

Didn’t take too long before we were above timberline, approximately 11,000 feet.

Arrival Summit Pikes Peak, 14,110 feet. It was just after 9 A.M. Cold. Upper thirties and with the wind chill it had to be in the twenties. My teeth started chattering! Hadn’t experienced that since moving from Colorado over 2 years prior.

The photo op. In the backpack was 4 bottles of Smart water, warm-up pants (which I threw on shortly after this), power bars, blueberries, rain gear.

The trail head.

Clouds forming. Just starting.

Read on ….

At 13,300. Starting to feel better. Summit in background.

Met a number of nice people this day. This guy had an unbelievable story. Something about doing this for his parents who had passed. He was not prepared. Had survived the night at the A-frame after getting drenched in a thunderstorm. Notice shoes! He was out of water and food. I gave him one of my Smart Water liters and the rest of the blueberries. He was very appreciative.

12,700 ft. 4 miles from the summit. It has taken me almost an hour and a half to this point. I started to realize I had really underestimated how long this was going to take me. Although, it was at this elevation I started feeling a lot better. Only 9.5 miles to go.

Really awesome to be literally in the clouds as they started to form.

Looking back up the trail.

By the time I got to timberline (about 11 thousand feet), the clouds were moving in. The concern for hikers of 14ners is lightening. I was relieved to be below timberline.

The A-Frame.

Peaceful trail. Approx 10,800 ft.

I did not have a map with me. First, I had been on this mountain and trail many times before. And with directions such as these, who needs a map! Notice the arrow to the Springs.

Barr Camp! Half way point. 10,200 ft. Nice accommodations for overnight stays.

Finally, the first site of the end. Below you can make out the Cog Railway station. Unfortunately, I still had about 4 miles to go, with the final 3 miles coming down Manitou Mountain, a steep final part of the trail. Lots of switchbacks that took me forever.

Two major thunderstorms with hail and over 7 hours later, I got back to the car. I didn’t take any pictures of the last part as I was exhausted! And I had to book it to Denver to catch my return flight that night back to Phoenix. I had less than 3 hours to get there. I took a shower, 800 mg of ibuprofen, and threw my drenched clothes and shoes in my bag.

I am so glad I made time to do this hike. It brought back so many memories. On another post, I will talk about my unsuccessful attempt to find the Penny Tree, the stump I used to place coins in on every climb. The last time I saw it was back in the early 1980s. That forest has seriously changed since then!

I hope to someday and return to ascend the Peak. That will take some training.

For now, my descent provided me the opportunity to see America’s mountain once again.

The perfect bachelor pad.

I had the fortunate opportunity to receive an invite to today’s Arizona Diamondback’s baseball game against the Colorado Rockies played at the very cool Chase Field in downtown Phoenix. The seats were special, located in the Deloitte corporate suite which sits directly behind home plate. (Thanks to friend Cathy for this invite!) While the temps outside rose to 107 degrees, we enjoyed the air conditioned altered 80 degrees inside environs.

For three years I owned a share in a season ticket package in Colorado so this was a fun game to see. While the D-Backs have been awful this season, the game was well-played as D-Back’s center fielder Young made a nice catch and first baseman LaRoche had a great diving save. The game went down to the third out of the 9th inning with the Rockies pulling it out 3-2.

I showed my loyalty by rooting for both teams, alternating every inning. I experienced mixed emotions on the outcome.

Rockies win!

D-Backs lose!

Well, it was one of those games.

Deloitte had a nice spread of food and drink for us. There were ten of us that enjoyed the catering. For the record, I consumed ONE ballpark hot dog, ONE Corona Light, ONE Heineken barrel, ONE plate of veggies, ONE Aquafina bottle of water, and ONE chicken strip … times four. It was enjoyed in that order too. On a side note, there was no beer or bottled water left after the 9th inning … and the dessert tray was hardly touched leaving a full array of cookies and brownies. I guess you could conclude it was a health conscious group.

This was a picture of the kids being allowed to run the bases after the game. I guess this is a tradition and you could really see how excited the kids (and parents) were. A bystander told me that they let the adults do it too once in awhile. THAT would have been fun … I wondered if they had a stop at 2nd base for oxygen and water.

It was a fun day at Chase Field ballpark. Watching a major league baseball game anywhere and anytime is a good thing. Enjoying it from a suite is even a little better. Now, if only the D-Backs can return to championship form … that could be awhile.

According to the Ft. Collins Coloradoan, the contest fell short by 750 essays of the original goal of 2000. When I wrote about the content in March, there were about 500 entries. I predicted then that I thought it would fall short and the $100 entry fees returned. The owners announced this past week that they were closing the contest, returning the fees, and putting the home back on the market.

I am impressed that they came so close. I am sure it was no easy task to market the contest. Actually, with all the attention the contest brought to the property, I wouldn’t be surprised if a buyer was found this time around. People from all over the country now know about it.

What to do with the essays has not been determined. I have a cool idea about them and maybe I’ll contact the owners about it. It would be interesting.

Despite this contest falling short, I found there are plenty of creative offers by others trying to sell their homes in today’s market. One is offering to make the buyer of his home the beneficiary of a 10-year, $500,000 life insurance policy. Another offers a free vacation. Very interesting is a woman in her 40s that with the purchase of her home gives you a shot at marrying her. What?!

I now am interested in seeing if and when the Red Feather Lakes finally sells. Let me know if you hear about it.

There was nothing like the impending approach of a winter storm, promising 20 to 30 inches! Those were typically what on the Front Range of Colorado would be known as Albuquerque lows. They were to live for. For those that have lived it, you know that it was quite common that the forecast of these big storms were often mis-forecast. I’ll always remember the night prior to one of these big storms approaching and warnings being broadcast by radio, television, and emails! It seemed like a sure thing.

I was at Old Chicago that evening. I was with fellow teachers and we felt sure we would have a snow day for school the next day. It was cloudy and the storm seemed to be surely approaching. It started coming down! Needless to say, we stayed late. And then the inevitable happened. It stopped snowing!

And the next morning, the sun was shining and school was on. Bad decision that night before. So was the reality of a Colorado snow storm. There were many times I went to bed totally unaware that any snow was in the forecast, only to wake up with a foot or more on the ground. That is such a cool feeling. I have often thought the past year of planning a future trip back to Colorado arriving the day before a predicted winter storm.

Here’s my friend Steve rubbing it in after a recent snowfall for us in SUNNY and WARM Arizona. Note how COLD he looks!!!

I miss Colorado!

I once lived at an elevation of almost 6800 feet elevation. That’s a good snow making environment. Now I am at just over 1400 feet above sea level in the beautiful desert. In his unique style and perspective, Steve has humorously created a web page for his friends relative to their elevation. Everything in Colorado is relative to your elevation. He creatively has called it Alititude Snob.com.

I now regretfully now live at an altitude that all my friends in Colorado now look down on me.

Colorado snow and altitude — there is no other place on Earth.