5280 to 14,420 { part 3 }

Who would have ever thought that 24 hours would add up to 3 blog posts...but I guess that's what you get when Long Winded Beth gets behind the keyboard!

After Hunter says to me

You know tonight is a full moon......right?

He finishes it with "Wouldn't it be cool if we got up at 3am and finished the hike in moonlight?!"

Umm...CHYEAHELLSYEAH it would!  Sooooooooooo.  That's what we did.  Crawled into the tent around 7:15pm for bed to get up at 3am.  What were YOU doing at 7:15pm the Saturday of a long weekend?  Not going to bed?  Oh okay, kewl.  ;p  { You are welcome for that, Mart. }

Anyway, back to sleeping.  { Gosh, I run a THRILLING blog, don't I?! }  The winds did pick up an awful lot during the evening, so Hunter and I were both worried that it would be too windy to finish our summit that early, but as quickly as the alarm went off, those winds died down.  We layered up, packed up { thankfully with our smaller packs this time, so we didn't have 50lbs on our backs. } and headed off!  Though I wasn't totally convinced we could do the entire hike without the assistance of our headlamps, the moonlight really was enough to keep the path lit for us.

We were about 30 minutes into the hike, when the both of us kept hearing rustling, tree branches cracking - things like that.  Hunter first said "Well, it could be a moose.  If it is, just keep talking to me because our voices will scare it away."  What is a girl to do about THAT?!  I did just like he said, and kept talking about absolutely nothing { I'm sure you are SHOCKED to hear that I actually succeeded in that quite well. } for some time.  Well, it wasn't a moose, or any wild animal for that matter.  It was a group of about 15 people!  LadaGagasaywhaaaaa?  Yes.  A group of about 15 people were also out at 4am, trying to hike a freaking mountain.  They were looking to get to Columbia, and mistakenly got on the trail for Harvard.  Hunter set them straight and they were on their merry way.  We kept hiking and I continued the attempt to keep my mind busy and not focus on the chill, thin air or tired legs.  After we made it above treeline, Hunter warned me that this is where it will begin to get really challenging.  I guess what I didn't realize going into this was that you would have to essentially walk from loose boulder to loose boulder hoping that it didn't slip out from underneath you!  Believe it or not, I actually preferred hiking through the billions of loose rock versus the steep trail.  I think constantly finding good rocks to step on kept my mind busy enough that I forgot what I was doing { read: so I wouldn't be bitching as much }.

I feel like I need not to save this til the very end and make sure to highlight what an amazing guide Hunter was.  Through the whole thing he was SO patient with me, stopped whenever I asked him for a break.  Hugged me whenever I was cold/needy/scared.  Constantly told me what I good job I was doing.  Reassured me when I told him that I was scared and didn't think I could do it.  Stopped to take photos with me when I'm certain all he wanted to do was keep hiking our way up. I'll rent him out for any of you reading this who would like a guide for their next 14'er.  But his rate is very, very high.

Speaking of stopping to take pictures, allow me to share one of my favorite outtakes.  H was in the middle of saying he thought we had the camera on the wrong setting right as the picture took.

You can kind of see the dew on my hair from the wackadoodle early morning weather.  Another cool thing about hiking at 4am?  You don't give a shizzzz what your hair looks like because it's too dark to see!!  Though once Hunter did get a glimpse of it and announced it was Crazy Hair Time.  At least he spoke the truth.

Where was I?  Talking about absolutely nothing again.  Check.

There we were.  Hiking boulders.  Me: Planning recipes for the week do distract from my burning lungs.  Him: Rocking at life.  What do we start to hear again?  More rustling, more rocks falling, more big, big shapes headed our way.  Though deep down I knew { hoped } they were people, their shapes looked what I would picture a pack of moose to look like. But again, it was a group of about forty people making their way down from the summit.  Let's review.  If it was 5am, and they were coming DOWN from the mountain, that means A) they are crazy, B) they had to head UP the mountain like....super freaking early, C) there were SO MANY of them, I can't fathom how it could be safe, effective, quick, safe, quick...you get the idea.  Anyway, they were all nice enough, warned us of the cold weather up top { duh } and told us how pretty the views were { er...how much did you see while it was dark out, sir? }.  Pretty much right after we ran into them, we saw a light from the summit of a neighboring 14'er to which I finally cried out "HUNTER PEOPLE ARE CRAZY.  PEOPLE ARE CRAZY!!!"  and in return he reminded me that we were in fact one of those crazy people too, and had the 3am alarm to prove it.

Touche, sir.  Touche.

Stretch of boulders/loose rock.  More trail steep, steep climbing, then final stretch of more loose boulders and rock.  Right about this time I started feeling the altitude sickness and I started feeling it hard.  Between the anxiety of getting to the summit { it looked SO FAR UPPPPPPPPPPPP }, mixed with the high high highhighhighhigh elevation, mixed with that pesky little annoying voice in my head trying to tell me mean ugly things about how I wasn't going to be able to finish it, Beth was in a bad way.  I'm so grateful that Mary shared her story of her first 14'er, and also my roommate/landlord/friend Sara had done her first just the weekend before - so I had them heavy on the brain and all the positive things they had to say about their experiences.  I knew ultimately it was going to be worth it, I just wasn't sure if I would feel that pride because, again, it was SO FAR UPPPPPPPP.  But just like Hunter continued reminding me "One step at a time.  We aren't trying to break any records here.  Just set your own pace."

He's so good.

The coolest part about the entire hike, was getting about 300 feet from summit and being able to sit for a few minutes and enjoy the sunrise!  I only managed to snap one photo of it, which of course doesn't do it even a seconds worth of justice.  Between the sick stomach and freezing hands, we really wanted to soak that moment up and enjoy it as that was a huge reason for why we had gotten up so early.  And let me tell you - it was incredibly stunning.  The way the sun peeking out hit on the sides of the mountains, casting shadows from the other mountains, it was really a sight to see!

The sun was refreshing to see, and it was amazing to look around us and really breathe in what we were doing, and where we were doing it at.  Just as we were getting to the top, we saw a man behind us { Of course I said to H "Man alive, that man is crazy!" to which I was reminded we were actually AHEAD of him, which makes us...you guessed it.  Equally as crazy. }.  We paused to let him pass, and as he approached us he pulled out his watch and said "According to my watch we are above 14,000 feet!  Can't we just turn around and say we've done it?!"  Shortly after that statement he said something that for whatever reason gave me a huge burst of energy "I climbed Massive yesterday, in half the time, but this one is kicking my ASS!"

Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.

You are telling me you are an experienced mountain hiker { he has a goal set to climb all 54 of the 14'ers, and Harvard was his 21st! }, and this particular 14'er is kicking your ass?  So it's not just me?!  It isn't only in my head????  ROCK ON BUDDY!

That gave me a huge kick to finish up that sumbitch and conquer the heck out of it.  Seconds after we picked back up hiking again, Hunter made it to the top of a pile of rocks { not summit }, and I hear him go "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh wowwwww.....!"  I made my way up next to him, and sure enough....wowwwwww!  Though we hadn't made it to the tippy top yet, we were at a place where you could see mountains as far left as you could look, as far in front of you as you could look, and as far right as you could look.  It was truly incredible.  After letting those views soak in, we did what the bitchy voice in my head said we couldn't do.

We summited Mt. Harvard!!!

It was an incredible feat, and an even bigger one looking back on it.  I learned a lot of lessons on this 14'er like: always pack gloves, remember to charge your camera battery, and never, ever let your head tell you something that your body can't do...because it can go a LOT farther than you might think it can!

The hike down was filled with a few scary moments after getting a little off track on our way down { google "rock scrambling" and picture us doing that, but it was also filled with huge rewards of taking in the sights we missed while hiking in the moonlight, reliving some of the funny and not so funny moments of our morning, but ultimately checking off another adventure with my favorite adventure partner.

The rest of the day was filled with a 2 hour nap, repacking our backpacks, and a 2+ hike back to the car.  Once we made it to the truck, the whole experience really hit me and I was so very proud of what we had accomplished as a team.

So there you have it fine readers; a 3 post series of our 14'er.  What did youuuuuuu do for your Labor Day weekend?

5280 to 14,420 { part 2 }

Hunter was the first out of bed on Saturday morning, which meant that I had breakfast and coffee waiting for me when I pulled my sleepy butt out of bed.  We got our things packed up, delayered from the night before { I had on wool socks, 2 pairs of pants, a tank top, 2 long sleeved shirts, a Patagonia pullover and scarf, while Hunter, King of Mastering Cold, was wearing just shorts, a long sleeved shirt and a pullover. } We secured the items we needed in our packs, and headed onward and upward!

I really didn't know what to expect, as I've never backpacked before.  All I knew was I wanted a hiking stick...and I wanted a hiking stick FAST.  Hunter spotted this one above in a ditch when we first started our hike, and it was absolutely perfect!  I may or may not I have an affinity for naming inadament objects and spent the first while coming up with a name for my hiking stick.  I first started referring to him as Squiggles, which Hunter said in a kind, yet firm way, that no bad ass stick could be called Squiggles.  I tried Mr, Dr and Homie G Squiggles, but each got vetoed quicker than the next.  H threw out "Knots" which I loved right away, so off Hunter, Knots and I went!  

It took us about 3.5 hours to do the first 4 miles.  Some parts were most certainly more challenging than others, but we took two breaks where we snacked on an orange and Cliff bars.  Hunter had an idea of where to set up camp, and oh me oh my, did we pick a BEAUtiful spot!  

::this is my most favorite photo; totally unedited and BEAUtiful!::

Once we picked out our home for the next 24 hours, we were mildly rushed to set up camp only because the weather that high up is SO unpredictable!  When we first got there it was awfully overcast and slightly windy - so we busted butt to get the tent set up....and right when we did, the clouds broke and there were blue skies for miles.  I was only a little disappointed when the blue skies appeared because secretly I wanted an excuse to get in the tent and nap the next few hours away.  Hunter picked up on this rather quickly and sent me to bed to nap after our lunch even though the clouds had all disappeared and there wasn't a chance of rain in sight. 

::beck; recognize what we had for lunch saturday and sunday?::

Sidenote: I am not a good napper.  On the rare occasion that I know I need to nap to power through a busy weekend, or after work before a night out, I truely act like a 2 year old.  I suddenly get a surge of energy and start picking at whomever might be closest to me...either physically or via text.  I get super gitty and silly and fight sleep like you wouldn't believe.  Anyway, the second I hit the sleeping bag in the tent in the afternoon...I was O.U.T., which proved to me how much the backpacking and hiking had taken it out of me!!  Hunter crawled in with me after a while, but woke up before I was ready to be up and att'em again.  He went off on his own little exploring adventure, and captured the following photos, which I absolutely love.

Since we had set up camp so early, we had a good portion of the afternoon to kill so we did such activities as...

{ 1 } Play in the creek

::where's waldo...er...hunter?::

 { 2 } Monkey around with the self timer

{ 3 } .....take photos like.........this.

::i'm fully aware at how unflattering that photo paints my booty, but it makes me laugh too hard not to share::

We brought a dinner of mediterranean couscous with raisins and as we were cleaning up dinner Hunter says to me:

You know tonight is a full moon.....right? 

HELLO Cliffhanger.

I'll be back tomorrow with why that stroke of genius changed the course of the final leg of our 14'er!

5289 to 14,420 { part 1 }

Oh Labor Day weekend....you were oh'so good to us.  Just like I predicted, nothing but mountains, creeks, stretchy pants and my Hunter for miles and miles.  Safe to say we were both in wildlife bliss.

Here's a little { long winded & unnecessary } background leading up to our backpacking/camping trip.

::the hat which held our 2012 goal fates!::

This past New Years Eve was spent with Hunter's good friend's Ryan and Lindsey. { If you scroll through this post, you can see photos of our wild and crazy night in at Hunter's parents house. }  These two are the most sweet, down to earth, bad ass outdoorsy people I have ever met. Though they live in Utah, we've had the change to hang out with them just a few small handful of times, and I'm so proud to say they have also quickly became fast friends of my own, too!  During our New Years Eve bash, we played a variety of games reflecting on current events in 2011, and also set goals for 2012.  We each were to put a goal that could apply to the whole group in a hat, pull out a piece of paper, and accomplish that said goal in 2012.  Hunter and Lindsey both got ones that Lindsey and Ryan put in which were along the lines of daily meditation and reflection, Ryan picked mine which was take a 3 day vacation, and whose did I get you ask?  Hunter's.  And what was I to do?

Climb a frickin' mountain.

I give Hunter a hard time about it and pretend like it was the last thing in life I would ever want to do, but truthfully I was really excited about accomplishing this goal.  Of all the 5 years I've spent in Colorado, I've done my fair share of biking, skiing, and hiking, but never had I climbed a mountain, which is more well known in the CO as hiking a 14'er.

Mix this goal, with our summer long dream of taking a backpacking trip { It's equal parts depressing and awesome how darn quickly the summer weekends zoomed by and we didn't get to this until September! } and BAM.  You have our Labor Day weekend.

After much searching { and by "much searching" I mean "much of Hunter's time spent searching" }, we { he }decided on Mt. Harvard.  Hunt and I set out for Buena Vista Friday around 5p, and thankfully didn't get stuck in mountain traffic too much.  { Anyone who knows I-70 mountain traffic knows what a debbie downer drag it can be on your ENTIRE weekend. }  We got to Buena Vista after dark, and stopped at a local brewery for pizza and brewhaha's.  Though the beer fell short, the atmosphere and mood of a small mountain town pub was just what we were after to kick off the weekend.  A quick stop to the dollar store to pick up cards { we can't go anywhere without them }, and we were off to settle in at the trail-head for the night.  We picked an incredibly calm and beautiful spot along the river { a must when we are camping it seems! }, and quickly realized how beautiful it was with the full moon and zero breeze that we nixed the tent and set up our sleeping supplies in the bed of Hunter's truck!  After we had our beds ready, we found the packed bag of wine { most genius thing ever for backpacking.  Buy a box of wine, remove the bag, pack the bag, drink the bag, win at life. } and scampered through the river and used a  fallen tree as our date night hot spot.  Sipping wine, laughing, chatting and even sitting in silence enjoying the scenery was pretty top notch for a Friday night.  We made our way back to the truck to play cards in the moonlight which was also, you guessed it, a perfecto mundo Friday night date night activity.

Gosh, I have more to say about this weekend than I had expected, so I'll break this into two posts so you all don't go falling asleep on me.

WAKE UP AND CLOSE THE WINDOW.
jk