Thursday morning Anna, Clint, Bob & I took an 8:30am flight from Phoenix to Denver. We rented a 4 wheel drive, drove 2 hours to Alma, CO and then another 6 miles on dirt road to the trailhead. Here we set up our tents to make our 4:30am hike start a little easier in the morning.
We had a great view out our front door! :-) We drove into Alma for supper at the South Park Saloon; the highest bar in North America at 10,578 ft! After some yummy food it was back to our tents to hit the hay.
The 4am alarm came quickly & at 4:45am we were on the trail hiking UP. We started with headlamps on but soon turned them off when we realized the moon was bright enough to light our trail.
Anna & I throw'n the moon around. :-)
Holding a waning gibbous. I just learned that moon term.
Reaching peak #1 by sunrise was our goal. We made it!
Mt. Democrat.
Anna & Clint were happy to see a sunrise on a 14er too (a 1st for all of us).
Our day was off to a GREAT start but we had 3 more peaks to go...
Onward to Mt. Lincoln. That's Mt. Democrat behind us.
It was a cold day so we stayed bundled up with wind jackets, hoods & warm gloves.
The top of Mt. Cameron! 14er #2.
"Brrrrrr....say cheese."
A quick group selfie & we kept moving.
We felt like we were walking on the surface of the moon (without the weightlessness & space suits). But otherwise, just like the moon. :-0
Summit #3...Mt. Lincoln.
Bob couldn't contain his excitement of reaching our 3rd peak.
Nice handstand!
We grabbed our PB&J's and took in the amazing view on top of Mt. Lincoln.
Not too long after we reached our final 14er of the day!
Mt. Bross.
Four 14ers in 1 day is kiss worthy. :-)
On this windy day we appreciated the rock wall shelter.
The descent wasn't too bad & soon we were back to the trailhead at Kite Lake. We were all thrilled with the 4 peak loop which took us 5 hrs & 25 minutes. We packed up our tents & drove to Breckenridge for a celebratory lunch. Then to Denver to catch the 6:30pm flight back to Phoenix.
This shows a good view of Mt. Democrat (L), Mt. Cameron (flat summit in the middle), Mt. Bross (R) and Mt. Lincoln (hidden behind Mt. Bross).
We called ourselves Moonlight FOUR-tality.
Congratulations to us! :-)
Mt. Democrat - 14,148 ft
Mt. Cameron - 14,238 ft
Mt. Lincoln - 14,286 ft
Mt. Bross - 14,172 ft.
September 8, 2017
Thanks for taking us along on this adventure...all I can say is CONGRATS!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Karen! This was a nutty trip but when it all worked so well it was worth it!
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