Catch Up Part 2: 14er Gray's Peak

Colby signed us up for a 14er trip with his company, Turner Construction, back in May. The 14er was for late June and I was involuntarily signed up...keep that in mind.

What is a 14er? In mountaineering terms in the U.S., a 14er is a mountain that exceeds 14,000 feet about sea level. What do you do on a 14er? You hike it all the way to the top. Easy right?! Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. It's not so much the mileage you hike that's hard. It's the elevation that gets to you.

We met up with his co-workers around 5:30 a.m. We woke up late, which is rare for us, but we made in it there just in time. We drove up to the trail head and started hiking around 7 a.m. Back track just a little bit. We were following this Honda Civic up to the trail head and they pulled over and parked so naturally we followed suit thinking there was no more parking at the trail head. Wrong. So not only did we have a 7 mile round-trip hike to complete with 3,000 feet in elevation gain but we also had to hike an extra mile with 1,000 feet elevation gain. I had blisters before we reached the trail head. KMN. Kill Me Now.

So we started the hike. The weather was gorgeous. I had a very light pack which was so nice compared to the 40 pound pack I carried Memorial weekend. Everything was going really well, minus the blister on my right foot, until about 13,000 feet. At this point breathing became really hard. Every few feet we had to stop and take a breather. But as soon as you catch your breath you legs tighten up. I started getting nauseous. Eating and drinking water helped. For those who know me really well, I hate drinking water. I didn't think I was going to make it...

 

Colby, the cheerleader

BUT we made it! Harry we've reached the top! It was really cold at the peak, absolutely and literally breath taking views. We ate lunch, regrouped and headed down.

 

If you take a picture with a Which Wich bag on top of the 14er you receive a free sandwhich from their sub shop.

 

The whole gang.

I thought going down would be easier. Wrong, again.  I had to pee every five minutes from drinking so much water.  At these high elevations trees don't grow.  Therefore, you're basically peeing in the wide-open.  We did come upon this amazing rock to climb-up.  After a little arm twisting, Colby and I climbed it.  Not all the way because Colby thought we were going to die. 

20 points if you can find Colby

About 1,500 feet left to hike. I. WAS. DONE. Stick a fork in me-DONE.  Again, Colby, the cheerleader, was like, "Babe, we're almost there!"  Liar.  We finally made it down. Swollen sausage-looking fingers, exhausted legs and blistered feet.  I had never been so happy to sit down in my life.  I also told Colby that I was going to involuntarily sign him up for a half-marathon to compare which is easier.  In my opinion, the 1/2 marathon. 

Poor Colby still had to walk another mile to the truck.  He came back and picked us up and we all went to lunch with the company. 

So about a week later we ran into Jesse and Meghan Moore, who had recently done a 14er, as well.  Meghan runs marathons.  Meghan and I had the exact same attitude about 14ers.  So I didn't feel soo bad about my whiny, bad attitude.  We told Jesse and Colby they could go hiking together and we would go run marathons together.  Fair enough.  Is another 14er in my future? Never again. Most likely, just not anytime soon. I've got to pace myself!