Introduction

In the summer of 2009, we are planning a trip to the beautiful mountains of Colorado. This Blog is intended to help us prepare for this adventure, by providing information, details, and some inspiration, and, in so doing, to make the experience even more enjoyable.

Let's Start At The Beginning

September, 2007: A co-worker of mine visited his brother in Breckenridge, Colorado. During his visit, they climbed Quandary Peak (Elevation: 14,265 feet). He spoke enthusiastically about the hike when he returned. I had never heard of Quandary, so I checked it out on the internet. I found a great website, http://www.14ers.com/ , that has great resources for hiking in Colorado. It turns out that there are 53 peaks in Colorado that are (officially) over 14,000 feet, called the "14-ers" by hikers. Quandary Peak happens to be in an area near where Cindy and I had hiked when we visited Colorado years ago. His experience and seeing the routes on the internet spurred my desire to return to Colorado (while still young enough) to attempt hiking a few more of these "14-ers".

After Cindy and I were married, we took a couple of trips out west, spending some time in Colorado on each of the trips. On one of the trips, we hiked up Mt. Democrat, Mt. Lincoln, and Mt. Sherman. On another trip, we climbed Mt. Elbert, elevation: 14,433 ft., the tallest peak in Colorado. I have also been up Pike's Peak, although I was only 6 at the time and my dad drove the car to the top. I have also summitted Longs Peak in 1971 with a college fraternity brother.

The "Plan"

Our plans changed recently when we decided to find lodging farther north, not in the San Juans, per our original design.

The initial plan we have is for a week-long trip to the mountains of Colorado. We will find a reasonable place for us to stay, in this case in the town of Fraser, Co. There are several 14,000 foot peaks in the area that are easily accessible and are reasonable day-hikes for "flat-landers". We will use this as a base camp, then drive to the trailhead each day for a hike, returning in the afternoon to pursue other activities (sleeping may be high on the list) . Mountains in the area include:

Grays Peak, Torrey's Peak, Mt. Bierstadt, Mt. Evans, Quandary Peak, Mt of the Holy Cross, plus others (see the map below)

(click on the map to enlarge)

Based on past experience and the information on the internet, these mountains are all within our ability to hike. I say 'hike' because no technical 'climbing' is required for any of them. The class of difficulty, in most cases, is based on the length of the hike along with the effects of altitude.

The areas around Denver and Colorado Springs tend to be crowded during the summer, with crowds of 100+ climbers / day on the mountains on the weekends. Therefore, we will plan to do most of our hiking during the week.

Preparation:

This is a trip I was not ready to undertake last year. However, given a year+ to get ready, I know that we can all be in shape to hike these 'hills' with success and have a great time. The greatest unknown will be how well all of us can acclimate to the altitude. We can condition our bodies (as best we can), be informed of the trails, be aware of the weather, have the proper clothing and equipment, and still be undone by the altitude. However, I believe, we can minimize its effects if we are prepared for it.

So I invite each of you (who are interested) to exercise, get your gear ready, and let's 'Do' some 14'ers in 2009!

Check back occasionally as I add posts with more photos, some history, and other updates.