Me: My 7th summit of the summer!
Pike's Peak - 14,110 ft.
And I had a big crew with me! :-)
Danielle, Dana, Anna, Clint, Me, Rich
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Our Pikes Peak day…
(click to enlarge any photo)
After a 90 minute drive from Denver we started out hiking in pine trees.
Fun that Anna & her boyfriend, Clint could join us! They fly out of Denver to Cancun tomorrow & just happened to have today free.
It's also Clint's first 14'er. I'm not worried - he's already leading the pack up the mountain!
Dana hiking with a pretty backdrop.
That's some of our crew reaching the grassy saddle.
One of my favorite shots! Clint & Danielle standing by a large cairn. Dana is in the distance with her hands up. She looks like she's miniature & standing on top of the cairn. Kinda cool. :-)
The terrain we walked through was different - more like Arizona.
Thrilled that my niece, Dana took the day off to do this hike! It's so nice to catch up while we spend hours walking & enjoying the scenery (and gasp for air!) ;-)
Had great fun with my niece, Danielle! The kids are back in school so she had the day to play as well.
Once to this point we could see the top of Pikes Peak. Steep & rocky but a clear trail all the way.
Also at this point, Danielle was getting symptoms of altitude sickness. A pressure headache, dizziness and some nausea. Ugh. :-(
Danielle still pushed for the top and WE ALL MADE IT! Here's the official Pikes Peak Summit monument. The building behind is a restaurant and souvenir shop PACKED with tourists. Not only can you drive your car to the top of Pike's Peak but you can also take a tram.
We took many summit pictures and then went inside for French fries & hot chocolate. We could have had freshly made fudge but none of us felt like having any (not even me). :-/ We were all craving salt so the French fries were a huge hit for our group.
Danielle: 3rd 14'er. She & Dana did Torreys & Grays with us last Sept.
Dana: 3rd 14er! Torreys, Grays & now Pikes.
Anna: 5th 14'er. Last year Torreys & Grays with us, yesterday Bierstadt & Evans and today Pikes Peak!
Rich: His 53rd 14'er!! He has just ONE peak left to hit all official Colorado 14,000 ft peaks. He is scheduled to hike that one (Culebra Peak) on Friday.
Clint: Today was his 1st 14'er! Me: It was my Sweet 16!
Pikes Peak was a GREAT summit to complete our Colorado vacation.
We definitely ended on a high note!!
Wahoo!!
We gathered our things and walked the same 7 miles back down.
It was a 7.5 hour hike round trip (including the 45 minutes at the summit eating fries).
Girl Power ;-)
Thankfully Danielle's headache & other altitude symptoms subsided at the lower elevations.
Back to Denver we all went. Dana, Danielle, Rich & I had a great time celebrating at the house (we were all too tired to go out for dinner). Clint & Anna headed to their airport hotel to clean up and get ready for their Cancun trip.
It was a wonderful day with family & friends!
Remember Charlie and I did "Pikes Peak"....OK it was by car, but we did have our pictures taken, and went into the souvenir shop....I bought a Pikes Peak sweater...still have it! Thanks again for sharing your pics!
ReplyDeleteYes, that's awesome! It was really crowded up there - but in a cool way. I think the tram had just unloaded about 300 folks or so. Very unique to be able to drive above 14,000 ft. And for those hiking it's really crazy to sit down at a restaurant and eat "real" food. It felt like we were in a ski resort chalet between runs.
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