Fourteener Day
This week, I had the opportunity to cross an item off my "bucket list" that has been there for 10 years. I got up at the ungodly time of 2:30 AM (yes, you heard that right), and rode to the trailhead at Gray's Peak in Colorado for an 8 mile round trip and a 3,000+ feet vertical climb to the Gray's Summit at 14,278 feet. This is my second 14er to stand on the top of, it's the first that I hiked from the peak base to the top from. Here we are at 5:05am, at dusk at the trailhead. Ready to go. The sunrise was really amazing as we climbed. We took drinks from the mountain spring-fed stream (It tasted cleaner than the bottled water I brought) We saw this rockpile formations all along the trail. I think it has some kind of spiritual significance for people, or perhaps it's just a "you're on the right path" trail marker. I thought that Craig's air purchase was kind of dumb, that was until we were climbing at 13,000+ feet. It's rosemary ...