7-12-13

Me: Did you know I went to Harvard? It was tough but I graduated. Above is the photo of me receiving my diploma. :-)

Mt. Harvard. 14,420 ft.

Mt. Harvard really was hard. This was day three so my legs were tired and the hike was long (7.5 hours) and steep. An altitude headache plus 2 hours of hiking in heavy rain, hail and cold didn't help.

Much of the route followed along a beautiful mountain stream.

Gorgeous approach to Mt. Harvard which is still far in the distance. We saw 12 marmots today! They seem to play around 13,000 to 14,000 ft.

This is where it got tougher. Rocks everywhere.

Nearing the summit with blue skies.

The last push for the top was a scrample over even larger boulders.

Made it and found a rock chair for lunch. We were the only two people at the summit.

When I looked down I found Billy Goat looking up at me and a marmot sitting on a rock.

Billy put on quite a show for us; climbing the rocks up towards us and right over the summit to the other side.

Pretty cool how he was in the middle of shedding his winter coat. 

And most amazing how he skipped, jumped and had no problem on these rocks when it was so difficult for us to climb in our treaded shoes. This really is a rare sighting but day two of being near one at 14,000 feet! 

Summit shots with the sign and time to head down. Clouds are rolling in (yikes)

Rich. His 42nd 14'er summit!

Rocky, steep descent.

Billy was leading the way for a while until he disappeared over the ledge on the right. Bye Billy! :-)

Yep, dark clouds ahead. We got down to tree line before the rain and hail hit but still had two hours of getting drenched before arriving at the car. Super happy we were able to summit this tough mountain. I guess it's true that it's hard at Harvard.

7-11-13

Me: Here is my summit photo from today:

Mt. Elbert. 14,433 ft. The highest mountain in Colorado!

Here is Bob's summit photo from today.

Miami causeway. 30 feet above sea level.

Funny contrast. :-)

__________________________

Photos from Mt. Elbert...

Mt. Elbert is located just outside Leadville and is along the Colorado Trail. That and because it's the tallest 14'er in all of Colorado makes it a popular trek.

View of Twin Lakes. Twin Lakes was one of the support locations for the Leadville 100 race we did last year.

Above tree line and the summit is in sight.

Wildflowers are plentiful. Colorado Columbine is one of my favorites!

 A lot of loose rock. The people off my right shoulder are at the top.

Summit view.

Success for Rich and I.
Notice the mountain goat on the ridge in the middle of photo...

He was just hanging out. It's very rare to see one.

And so close! I walked down a little further. What a cool animal.

Jumping photo for Bob. :-)

The weather was absolutely gorgeous. We hung out on top for 1 & 1/2 hours eating, admiring the view and making friends. It's always interesting to find out where others are from and what hikes they have done.

Mt. Elbert: 5 stars!

7-10-13

Me: Made it to Buena Vista last night and Rich and I set up our campsite here. Not bad.

 Got up early this morning and drove to Mt. Huron trailhead. We were welcomed by this darling deer. 

This 14'er is one of the easier ones (a good choice for me to begin with). 6 miles round trip and 3500' elevation gain. That is the Huron Peak in the distance.

First view of The 3 Apostles (the 3 peaks behind Rich). Ice Mountain is the middle one. All three are  13,000' plus high mountains but don't meet the 14,000' mark.

Beautiful green grass blanketed the mountain slopes.

As we got higher it turned to sheer rock.

 Almost there. That is the summit behind me.

We made it to the top! (& under 2 hrs). This was my 1st Colorado 14'er and Rich's 40th Colorado 14'er. Woot woot! BTW: There are 54 mountains in Colorado over 14,000 feet.

Found a comfy spot for lunch; a restaurant with a view!

A Marmot...One of my favorite critters!
Today's wildlife: 1 deer, 4 Marmots, 1 Pica, 1 squirrel, 1 ground squirrel.

Good view of The 3 Apostles behind me.

We stayed at the top for an hour and 1/2. The weather and views were just too perfect not to. It was really fun that I had cell service at the top and was able to talk to Bob from the summit (and texted him some photos). 

Back down the rocky steep descent. See the people below?

Can't hear me but I'm singing "The hills are alive with the sound of music"

Back at the start. 2 thumbs up for Mt. Huron.

Toured the silver mining ghost town of Winfield. 1870-1915. One room school house above.

Typical log cabin.

Spotted the cheese farm that Bob and I stopped at last year. Oh so good!! Cleaned up in town at the laundromat $3.00 showers. Ate pizza and back to camp to sleep. Up early tomorrow to hike Mt. Elbert, the highest mountain in Colorado!

Great day! :-)

7-9-13

 Me: Dean and I were having a great ride in Telluride this morning until... 

Dean got a flat. That wouldn't have been so bad but his spare tire had a hole and my bike pouch didn't have a spare in it. Oops! So Dean rode my bike an hour back to his place to get his truck.

 That gave me time to literally stop and smell the roses (or wild flowers). :-)

I'm now on my way to Buena Vista but stopped at a cute little coffee shop to have a muffin and tea (and post some pics). This cute doggie greeted me at the cafe' door. And bonus: two brown baby bears crossed the road right in front of me!

7-8-13

Me: I made it to Telluride! Some construction delays around Kayenta made the drive 10 hours (I'm tired). It's nice to be here in cooler temps. Short bike ride in the morning and then I'm off to hike some 14'ers Wednesday through Sunday.

Photo from this morning's walk with Harley. I miss her and Bob lots!