Mt. Elbert

Yesterday I started the day early- around 4am- to have some breakfast and coffee and then headed out to the Mt. Elbert (14,433) trailhead. My parents were at our condo in Frisco for the week, so I was able to stay there and get an extra hour of sleep and a shorter drive in the morning. It was a little over an hour to the trailhead; I was there a little after 6. I knew Chris and Marni were already a ways ahead of me, but I knew I would see them somewhere along the trail. I got mine and Seranno’s packs ready, and we headed out a little before 6:30. It was a nice hike, the first few miles through dense trees and not too steep. There were lots of people on the trail, but I somehow managed to be very alone through this section, which was very peaceful, other than all the mosquitoes. I had never seen so many on a hike before. Pretty soon we were above tree line and the trail started to get steeper. I passed two couples at this point, and was then in the middle of a bunch of groups. I steadily climbed while Seranno ran up and down the trail. She was loving life! It continued to get steeper the further we climbed, but nothing that bad. Eventually, around 9:30, I reached the summit, where I saw Marni, Chris and Turbo. Seranno and Turbo were very happy to see each other. Chris and Marni had been at the summit for a while and were getting cold, so we chatted briefly, and then they started heading down. I took in the summit, enjoying the feeling of freedom and lack of thoughts of life back at home. It was amazing to stand on the highest peak in Colorado. In a way you feel invincible when you are above every other point you can seen. I have never gotten over, or used to the spectacular feelings, views and contentment I experience on the summit, as well as the trek to the summit, of mountain peaks.

I took some pictures of the spectacular views, ate some lunch, signed in, and headed down. I met back up with Chris, Marni and Turbo not too far down, and we continued the rest of the way together. It worked out perfectly. I had my serene time to myself to start the hike, and finished it with good company. Seranno and Turbo had a blast, wrestling and chasing each other almost the whole way down. We got back to the cars around noon, where Seranno jumped right into the car and didn’t move until we got home. It was a good morning to a good day.