Summit!

In an ongoing effort to wear oursevles out completely before we move to Pittsburgh, my 12-year old daughter Laura and I ascended (and descended) Pike's Peak today.

We were up at 4:30 armed with breakfast courtesy of my lovely wife and our backpacks loaded with great snacks and headed out to a place called The Crags campground which is on the back of the mountain at an elevation of around 10,000 feet. We disembarked and were on the trail at 5:50AM.

After hiking a couple miles through the forest you come out just below the tree line and then after a series of switchbacks have to ascend almost straight up the bluff to reach the saddle at just below 13,000 feet. That stretch was particularly trying for us and we had to stop frequently and used up a good portion of our water.

Once we got to the saddle the hiking was easier and our spirits were better as evidenced by this photo where Laura shows the way to the summit:




However, after crossing the road used by a gazillion tourists on this day and paralleling the road for a long ways, we came to the final boulder field to ascend the last 500 feet to the summit. We got off the trail a little and although our route was shorter it was not easy and by the time we reached the summit just before 11AM we were both spent. But still, we had to stand in line for about 10 minutes to get the obligatory picture taken (the walking stick isn't just for show, I needed it to hold myself up :)

After the photo we had our lunch in the gift shop and hung around for about an hour drinking as much water as we could and digesting. We headed back at noon (kind of hoping someone in a truck or SUV would ask if we wanted a ride part way down to where the trail intersected the road) and although it was easier and faster going down, our calves and ankles got very sore from navigating the rocks and trying to avoid slipping (it rained starting about 3/4 of the way down). Anyway, we were back at the car at 4:30 and are now immovable in front of the TV and computer for the remainder of the evening. All told it was about a 12 mile hike and although we had gone on a few hikes in the preceding weeks, they were nowhere close to as long.

It was harder than we both thought and I was so proud of Laura for sticking it out when early on she was having some trouble. She was quite a trooper and of course just spending the time with her was a treat.