First 14'er!

After much debate, I decided to take the plunge this weekend and hike my first 14'er (mountain with a summit over 14,000 feet).  I was a little hesitant to do this hike so close to the triathlon but didn't want to pass up on a great opportunity to do this with some good girl friends.  Mount Bierstadt is northwest of Colorado Springs, near Georgetown, and sits at 14,060 feet above sea level.  The trail is a little under 7 miles round trip (perfect since I should have been running 6 miles today) and has an elevation gain of around 2,500 feet.

In order to get on the mountain early and beat summer heat/storms, we left Colorado Springs around 3:30am.  A 2-hour drive put us at the parking lot and on the mountain by 6:15am.  Nothing better than watching the sun rise over mountains!  Thankfully the sun was just high enough where we didn't need head lamps.

The beginning of the trail was through some marshland and over a creek - definitely mild.  Upon hitting the base of the mountain, we were faced with a pretty significant incline over some switchbacks but nothing the group couldn't handle with some persistence.  As the trail continued, it became a bit rockier so we started walking up rocks that formed steps, definitely making things a bit easier than walking on dirt.  The views along the way were the same as we stayed on the east side of the mountain but that didn't stop us from taking some photos at our rest points (even the windy ones!)

The total trail was about 3.5 miles one way and about 2.5 miles in, we were greeted by tree line (the point where oxygen diminishes and trees struggle to grow).  At this point, our trail came to an end and we were faced with the following pile of rocks that we would need to climb to get to the top, significantly adding to the difficulty and slowing our pace.

A total of 3 hours and 45 minutes after we started the hike, we make it to the summit!  The weather was thankfully very warm and not terribly windy.  We spent about 45 minutes on the peak, enjoying each others company and the views, and refueling with lunch!  I seriously couldn't get enough of the views we had.

The hike down the mountain was significantly faster.  It was definitely harder to climb down the rock pile but with some careful maneuvering, we all made it down that portion.  I've always been a huge fan of running down trails after hiking up so Sarah and I picked up the pace for most of the way down.  I could definitely feel the legs shake every time we stopped but I didn't have any pain.  Two hours after leaving the top, we made it back to the base of the trail, the whole group in one piece and feeling very satisfied with our accomplishment!

I'm definitely glad that I decided to say "yes" to Sarah and do this hike.  It definitely wiped me out and I'm looking forward to relaxing on the couch for the rest of the day, but it was so worth it.  Nothing better than tackling a challenge to give you a boost of motivation!