The state of Colorado is home to
American Rockies. Among them are 54
peaks that are more than 14,000 feet high.
They are called “Fourteeners”.
Then there are “Thirteeners” and so on.
Each year, thousands of hikers challenge themselves to one or more of
them. During summer, the mountains shed
their blanket of snow and ice. They
become very popular hiking destinations.
During winter, only the advanced mountaineers attempt them because the
mountains become formidable with snowmass.
In October of
1998, I had climbed the Pike’s peak, which is
14, 115 feet high. I did that alone,
which was borderline foolish, like many other things I have attempted in life,
anyway. It had taken me nine and a half hour
to climb it. I was so lucky to catch the
last cog train down.
An opportunity
arose on the past Fourth of July (2009) to climb another “Fourteener”. This was to be Mount Elbert, which is the
highest peak in Colorado
at 14,440 feet. It is the highest in the
American Rockies, second highest in the contiguous U.S. It is situated next to a massive mountain,
which is named oh so imaginatively Mount Massive. Mt. Massive is the second tallest peak in Colorado (14,421 feet).
I (Ron A Virmani) belong to the
Charlotte Outdoor Adventure Group (CHOA).
Four men and two women from CHOA planned this expedition to Mount Elbert.
Tito, an advanced and experienced hiker, became our leader. Anna, Susan, Joe, Carlton and me formed the rest of the
group. Our ages ranged from 30 to 66!
We flew to Denver on July 4th. We rented a van and drove to town of Leadville, which has an
altitude of 10,200 feet. It is a quaint old
mining town with majestic views of the Rockies. We checked into Delaware hotel, which is a very old and well
preserved hotel from the 19th century.
On July 5, we had
breakfast and checked out of the hotel with our backpacks. We chose to go up the La Plata trail for the purpose of
acclimatization. La Plata is Spanish for “silver”, its peak is
14,361 feet. We were only able to go a
couple of miles and about two thousand feet up when ominous clouds came on the
mountain and it started raining. We were
able to take in a four hour hike, then headed for Twin Lakes
campgrounds. We spotted a deer and a fox
on the way.
We pitched our
tents in this campground and marveled at the beautiful view of Twin Lakes. We went to the town of Twin Lakes and got something to eat. We joined in a luau in a bar.
We did another
small hike in the evening and admired the sunset. Not used to sleeping on hard campground and
also because the temperature was close to freezing at night, I did not get much
sleep.
We got up next day
(July 6) and had breakfast. We drove to South Mt.
Elbert trailhead (9560 feet). We parked
out van and started our ascent up the mountain around 10 AM. We were surrounded by a jungle of beautiful Aspen trees. Of
course, we had our backpacks since we had to carry tents, sleeping bags and
other necessities up the mountain. We
gingerly crossed a creek via a precarious footbridge.
We took the Colorado trail until it intersected with Mt. Elbert
trail, which is the way we went. As we
went up, the air got thinner and climb tougher.
Our lungs and other body parts complained. Like zombies, we pressed on for four hours with
gear on our backs. Tito brought us to a spot for campsite for the
night. This was chosen for its proximity
to a stream of water. We had gone four
miles and 2000 feet up. The altitude
here was 11,600 feet.
We pitched our
tents and fell to a nap in the afternoon.
The campground was sloping and uneven, did not offer nearly as many
comforts as a five star hotel. Some of
us played cards. Finally, some of us
decided to fetch water from the stream, which was about half a mile away. I hauled up twenty pounds of water in my
backpack for the group.
The campsite
offered beautiful views of the twin lakes down below. It also afforded grand views of Mt. Elbert
and Mt. Massive.
The temperatures plummeted sharply with sunset. We ate dinner and crawled into our tents for
sleep. Rolling around on the uneven
floor of the tent, I could not get much sleep.
Full moon was shining at night.
By design, we
awoke at 4 AM on July 7 and performed morning chores using flashlights. At 5 AM, we set off on the trail heading up
the mountain. This time, we did not have
backpacks, just the daypacks. We had
left our tents at the campsite. Susan started
getting altitude sickness so we slowed down a bit. We admired breathtaking views as we
climbed. We took pictures of sunrise.
The ascent was steep
and full of switchbacks. Some fast
hikers passed us by. We took frequent
breaks and ate our trail food. We saw
many chipmunks on the way. I did not
think I was going to make it to the top, but around 9 AM, as if by miracle, we
all reached the summit of Mt.
Elbert. It was partially covered with snow. This was our moment in history! Glory was upon us! All six of us stood together and took
pictures. We spotted a few quizzical
marmots checking us out, perhaps expecting an edible treat.
After taking in
the awe-inspiring panorama from the top of Colorado, we started to trek down and
reached the campsite around noon. We
were exhausted. But now we had to pack
our tents and carry them in our backpacks all the way down to our van.
This took a couple
of hours. The total time of hiking that
day was 8 hours. We drove to Leadville
for a quick bite and souvenir shopping. Then
we drove to Denver. We checked into the Red Lion Hotel around 6
PM. First time in my life, I had not
showered for two whole days!
After we cleaned
up, we went to a Mexican restaurant for drinks and a nice dinner. Pitchers of Fat Tire (beer) were ordered and
Margaritas were had. The food was
amazingly good. We toasted our climb to
the top of Colorado. This might as well have been Mt. Everest! Elbert, Everest, small difference!
Next day, we woke
up and flew back to Charlotte from Denver airport whose roof
architecture is like snow capped mountains.
I had done my second “Fourteener” in Colorado.
Thanks to Tito and wonderful fellow climbers, this was a very pleasant
and enjoyable experience. We are ready
for many more adventures in life.
