Breakfast, filter water, pack warm clothes. Start heading up a little before 7am.
Sleeping at 10,000ft did not help much with adjustment to elevation. This trail is kicking my butt again.
About 2 miles in I took a break. After sitting for about ten minutes I decided to take my resting heart rate. almost 25 beats above my normal. Damn!
Right below the tree-line there were a lot of bristlecone pines (some of the oldest trees in the world). Not much wildlife around. Saw a couple of marmots in the rock piles above timberline. Kept looking up for mountain goats or bighorn sheep, but no luck.
Funny thing about hiking up to peaks is that you don't see them until the very end. Pike's Peak was out of sight until the last 2.5 miles, once I got above the trees. Around there I saw first hikers of the day. They caught up with me pretty quickly, those champs. they were from Dallas (ha!) and this was their first "real hike". They started at the bottom at 4.30am. Telling you, these two were CHAMPS!
The girl was out of water(minus 10 points from Champ status) so I gave her almost a liter of mine. We spent the remainder of the hike together, passing each other after breaks, encouraging each other. The temperature was now close to 30 degrees with strong winds. Big clouds were catching on the peak and sticking around. It was clear that I wouldn't see any of Colorado from the top.
Another set of soul-crushing switchbacks to get to the top. 70 steps, 20 breaths. 700 steps, 20 breaths and on and on and on.
Finally I was at the top! First hiker at the summit that day I think. The couple fell behind on the switchbacks. It was definitely below 30 degrees with the windchill. My hands were cold and mind was slow. Damn.
The thing about this peak is that its a tourist heaven. You can drive up there or take the cog railway train up. Some people (like the Dallas couple) hike up and then take the train or hitchhike back. Some people take the train and then hike down. Some just take the train there and back. There is a restaurant at the top, serving "world famous" donuts, hot chocolate, beef stew, burgers and other comfort foods. Souvenir galore.
My wilderness experience was ruined, but at the same time I really appreciated being able to sit down in warmth and have food. Pretzel(the big, soft kind) and a Twix candy bar for us vegetarians.
Cell phone service, so I could update facebook and text Tyler. Such a bummer he couldn't make it for this adventure with me, being a responsible leader and all. I would have loved to experience it all with him as a celebration of our season. Although, our season was WAY easier than this hike.
I waved goodbye to the Dallas couple as they boarded the cog railway train and started back down. So much easier! Except for the nagging headache that didn't leave me for the whole 2.5 hour descent. On the way down I chatted with a few hikers, making their way from the very bottom. You're almost there! You got it!
Back in camp stretching out my legs felt like heaven. Little chipmunk stole a couple of my nuts while I wasn't paying attention to my food bag. That jerk! I went over to the cabin again to get some Advil and chatted with the lady there some more. She's doing an independent botany study on some of the less known/visited areas of the mountain. That day she went out to collect some wildflowers and was in the process of pressing them. AWESOME.
Asleep before sunset AGAIN.
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