After Mike left, I had a week before I flew back home. I spent it doing a fair amount of riding. To end it, though, Jacob, Chris, and I decided to go climb two 14,000 foot peaks ("fourteeners") west of Denver. The two peaks we attempted to climb were Grays Peak and Torreys Peak, which happen to be right next to each other. This is nice because it makes it easy to climb both in the same day. We drove up to the trailhead on a Tuesday afternoon, and prepared to hike part-way up and then find a campsite for the night. Unfortunately when we got there, the trailhead was already at treeline, and it wouldn't have been safe to hike and camp higher than treeline, so we just camped in a nice grove of pine trees at the trailhead. We spent the afternoon exploring the area and soaking in the amazing scenery. We cooked dinner, then went to bed early in preparation for the next day. We woke up the next morning at 4:30 a.m. and ate a quick breakfast before setting out on the trail. The first part of the hike was still pitch black, so it was nice and cool. It was neat because we got to see the sun rise over the mountains, and the lighting of the early morning was beautiful. We climbed up Grays Peak first, which is 14,270 feet high. We had to stop multiple times on the way up to snap pictures of the amazing views. It seemed like every new angle just had to be captured. After about 3 hours, we finally summited Grays Peak, my first fourteener! It was probably between 45 and 50 degrees at the summit and it was kind of windy, which made for a cold wind chill. I was glad I brought layers. After taking some more pictures and signing the summit log, we descended to the saddle between Grays and Torreys, and continued our trek to Torreys Peak, 14,267 feet. The climb up Torreys was steeper and more challenging than Grays, and I became much more tired than I had anticipated. But it was worth it because the views from the summit were incredible and we got to summit our second fourteener of the day. On the descent, we saw an awesome mountain goat that seemed to just climb up over the cliff that dropped off the side of the trail. We made it back to our campsite by about 11:00, and then packed everything in my Jeep and 4-wheeled out on the same gnarly road we drove in on. It was a cool way to top off a great couple of days.
After my mountaineering experience, I flew back home for two weeks. While I was there, I seemed to be continuously doing things. I got to go visit Lesley and Jim and the boys a couple times, see some friends, go to Gettysburg to visit family, go to VA Beach to see a Dave Matthews concert, go to Wintergreen multiple times to play golf, and I got to go on a great hike up Old Rag Mountain with Dad and Mom and Mike. All-in-all, it was a pretty packed trip. I didn't really want to leave, but Boulder was calling. Now I'm back in the 303 and school starts soon. I guess I'm excited for it, but I'm also not really ready for my wonderful summer to end. I did get to do a lot of cool stuff this summer, so I guess I can't really complain. That's all for now. Enjoy the pictures.
