Twin Peaks

Those who've known me a while would probably never guess what I did yesterday. I spent the day hiking in the Rocky Mountains. Yes, me, in all my not-particularly-outdoorsiness. My boyfriend wanted to get me to climb to the top of a 14er with him, did all the research and prep, and convinced me to go. (But the truth is, it didn't take that much convincing.)

Colorado has more 14ers (mountains that peak above 14,000 feet) than all the rest of the United States combined -- over 50 in all, give or take a few by how you measure the prominence of the summit. The target of our hike was Grays Peak, the 10th highest in the state, and the tallest mountain located directly on the Continental Divide. It's right next to the 12th highest in the sate, Torreys Peak, and both can be climbed by the same circular trail.

I didn't get a good picture of the two side by side, so I stole the following photo from the internet (Grays is on the left; Torreys on the right):


The hike is a roughly eight mile round trip, starting right around timberline and climbing 3,000 feet. It's considered fairly easy by 14er standards, but I certainly wasn't in it for a challenge. We set off a bit after 9:00 in the morning on a warm and virtually cloudless day, loaded up with water and Power Bars. It being my first climb, and neither of us caring what kind of time we made, we took our time climbing Grays. The view from the top was amazing. You could see Pikes Peak to the south, Rocky Mountain National Park to the north, a glimpse of the great plains to the east, and more impressive mountains to the west.

Being right there next to another 14er, we decided to hike the "saddle" between the mountains and visit the top of Torreys. It was a slightly steeper and rockier climb, but having done the one and basically being just an hour from the other, we couldn't pass it up. By the time we reached the top of Torreys, it was almost 3:00, and most people had already started the hike back to to the trailhead. My boyfriend and I had the top of Torreys all to ourselves.

The hike downhill was arguably tougher than the climb up. I suppose it's all a matter of what you can ignore better -- the need to catch a deep and even breath, or the throbbing in your knees. But it was obviously a much shorter hike. In less than an hour, we were already at a point where it was shocking to look back and think we'd actually been there; in a bit more than two hours total, we were back to the truck and driving back into Denver.

Today, I'm definitely feeling it. My legs scream at me whenever I get up from my chair, and stairs aren't fun at all. The sunburn I picked up on the back of my neck (from not stopping to reapply sunscreen during the day) is particularly painful -- though nothing compared to the angry red my boyfriend picked up on his legs. A lesson for the next 14er, I guess. Not that I can even think about the next 14er right now.

I have a handful of pictures from during the climb that I took on my phone, but the best images (including the summits and me proudly standing there) were taken on the camera and I haven't yet downloaded those pictures. I may add some of those snapshots to Facebook later this week. But for now, here are a few from during the climb:



It turns out there are some pretty amazing adventures to be had right here in my "backyard."