What happens in a man's soul, a man's mind that enables him to wake up and have a new stirring? A kind of stirring that comes from nowhere. The kind that does not come from the thought earlier that day and not the kind that is just a fleeing thought. This stirring is never ending, and the only way to end it is either by swallowing it up by another stronger stirring, or just conquered the goal that this stirring is telling you that you must do.
I got this same stirring one morning. I woke up and realized that I must climb a 14er. I presented the idea to Desiree and she thought I was a bit crazy, but when does she think that I am not. Through the next few days I think I started to make sense to Desiree and we set up a date to do the hike. I took a look at a few 14ers to decide which one would be the right one to climb. Then I found it. If we were going to go and climb a 14er we mine as well climb the highest mountain in Colorado, Mt. Elbert. Mt. Elbert is not only the tallest in Colorado, but, excluding Alaska, it is the second tallest mountain in the United States. So my mind was set. I was going to adventure up this mountain whether I was by myself, or accompanied by others. Desiree and I had another couple to go with us at the time, but during the week before, they bailed. So it was just Desiree and I. I was feeling pretty confident, but Desiree was a bit nervous. The day before the climb, Friday, I planned our trip and we packed. The next day, Saturday morning, Desiree and I took off at 4:30am to drive almost 3 hours to the base of Mt. Elbert.
When we arrived the parking lot was already crowded. We found a little pull off in between some trees and geared up. After both visiting the outhouse, we were on our way up the mountain side. It was fun to have the camera with us. We were taking blind photos while we were hiking. I felt pretty great and was very confident in my physical ability, and was thinking to myself that this is going to be a piece of cake. Was I wrong? Of course I was. Climbing this 14er was one of the hardest things that I have done.
When Desiree and I exited the tree line I could not believe that we were not even half way yet. It is a wired thought to think that the trees stop growing somewhere about 12,000 feet because there is not enough carbon dioxide for the tees to service since the air thins out to that extent. So this must be the same for oxygen, and yet we still had to hike another 2,500 feet above the tree line.
When I was younger I loved those inflatable games that you see at carnivals. One of my favorites was the game where you are strapped into a harness connected to a bungee cord. Two people would race and try to stick their beanbag, to the Velcro strip, the furthest. With this game the further you ran the harder that it pulled you back. This is exactly how I felt on the mountain. The further I gained in altitude the harder it was to breath, walk, and keep my balance.
There we were on the bare side of the mountain hiking up the trail and looking to the peak ahead of us. We were getting so close, but when we arrived to the top of the peak we realized that it was false. What I mean is the peak we were seeing was a steeper section, so it came out and hide the real peak from us. It appeared that we were only 2/3 of the way up when we thought we were done. On we went one foot in the front of the other to the top.
It was a very weird feeling because when we were just standing on the trail you were not out of breath at all and felt great, but as soon as you started to walk again it felt like you were in the middle of a 5k. You could feel that your body was looking for more oxygen. The best way that I can describe it is to say that it felt like your legs were trying to suck air through your pores to get more oxygen.
So again there we were on the next peak that we saw, but it was another false peak. We saw another one in the distance, and were hoping that the next was the finish. I started to get light headed and was glad that we did not have to go up much further.
We finally arrived hand in hand, and it was amazing. The view was just wonderful. You could see mountains after mountains after mountains. Desiree and I had lay down, and rested. We ate some a sandwich at the top. There were a lot of people at the top, and I would say that half of them were sleeping.
Desiree and I decided to head back down. It was eye opening on the way down, and you really started to realize what you had accomplished. Every section of the mountain was steeper and longer that we had thought. Desiree and I have had problems with our hiking boots, and our toes jam into the front of the boot on down hills. This hike was way too long and steep to be having this issue. By the time that we got to tree line, Desiree had enough and changed into her sandals. I was not so lucky for I did not bring sandals up with us. I rested and took off my boots. My nails had white lines in the middle of them because they were bending back when my toes jammed up into the toe box of the boot. On top of the toes I had a head ache that was getting worse every step that I took.
Desiree and I continued, and I was trying to be a good sport about the pain. I just could not handle it anymore, and I started to jog down the mountain. My job got faster and faster. Again I was thinking in my head how much longer this hike was then I realized going up. The pain built up to be so bad that I almost started to cry. I sucked it up, and started to run even faster. Desiree was keeping up to me pretty well, and she was jogging in her sandals. We finally had reached the bottom at about 4:30pm that evening. It was time to head home. Desiree started the drive off home, and I slept for an hour. Then we traded and I drove the rest of the way. We finally got home about 7pm. What a long day.
Over all, the trip was amazing. I was not sure if I got slight altitude sickness, but it was still worth it when I look back on it. I want to do another 14er before it gets too cold. Desiree was a trooper, and I am so proud of her. When I first met Desiree she almost cried every time she was pushed physically, but now she hardly even complains and she finds that challenge fun. I love you Des.
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