04/22/2022
Where there's a will, there's a way. EMBRACE the SUCK and KEEP GOING โ ๏ธ๐ค
April 16th Summit #4 - Pikes Peak โข 14,115' aka Americas Mountain ๐บ๐ธ
This was by far the longest distance hiked and most time spent on mountain thus far...just over 16 miles, 5.5k elevation gain and 11 hours total round trip! ๐ฃ I'd be lying if I said these 14ers don't suck at times, because they do; but damn are they worth it!
A lot changed over the course of the week leading up to this hike. This is the most dangerous time of year to be in the mountains and the avalance warnings across the Rockies have been considerable. Luckily I had Mike Michael Scelsi to help research and check routes and we finally made up our minds on Pikes the night before. A 4:30am start meant I had to be up at 1:50 and on the road by 2:30. We were fortunate to have a full moon to help navigate through the darkness of the initial ascent and as things got lighter we were greeted by the wind...a lot of wind! We battled it for quite awhile but once we got into Devil's Playground things settled down (swipe to see what this is โก๏ธ)
Pikes isn't your typical 14er, its quite commercialized now and has a paved road to the summit that you can drive up...if you're even more lazy you can take a train ๐๐ผ At the peak there is a nice, cozy summit house cafe and museum. I honestly couldn't wait to get here. Once we went inside all of the tourist looked at us like we were from another planet...Full gear, goggles on, snowshoes strapped to back, ice axes lol. I chatted with some folks and spread the word about the fundraiser (even got some donations!) but the highlight was the hot coffee and donuts...simply amazing.
With belly's full, we started our descent down and kept a really good pace. Things softened up in the afternoon so we had a little postholing and sloshing around. We got back to the trucks around 3:40pm and cracked a cold beer....Embracing the suck...totally worth๐ป
PLEASE SUPPORT US โข GOFUNDME LINK IN BIO โข DO IT FOR THE KIDS ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ