We climbed two 14ers this time. The first one, Grays Peak, was the first one Ryan and I have ever climbed alone, and it somehow managed to be the hardest climb we have done yet. Not because of difficulty, but because of how badly things went. Being from Texas, we are not familiar with all the properties of snow and greatly underestimated the amount of snow that would still be on the mountain in JUNE. We took microspikes up through the miles of snow fields, 70 mph freezing winds and somehow made it to the top- wind and sun burned. During a mountain climb there are numerous times when you think, if I just stop now and go back down it will stop hurting, but then you look up and see (or maybe not see) the peak in the distance and think about how all that you have struggled will be in vain if you turn back now. Hours later you have the same thought as it seems you have not gotten any closer to the summit. At any time if you do not push passed these thoughts you will not make the summit. Then, the summit is upon you and all thoughts of despair are forgotten and you are willing to do it over and over again. Kind of like giving birth I would imagine…

This summit reward was by far one of the most exhausting. We decided not to cross the saddle to the other 14er, Torreys and headed down after a short stop at the top only to find that the afternoon sun had melted the snow and turned the previously solid snow fields into miles of mushy quick sand. Every step we took we fell in up to our waists. At some points we were crawling on hands and knees in an attempt to keep moving without falling through. We also weren’t wearing gaitors so our feet got soaked. The situation went from annoying, to deliriously hilarious, and quickly went to, OMG, we have miles of this to go, are we going to make it out? We began to count the few people we had seen on the mountain as they snow shoed or skied down to determine at which point we would be left completely alone out there.  9 hours later we made it out, and immediately swore off snow climbs ever again.

Above is Rory, our travel sized dog. She hiked halfway up Grays before we had to carry her because she was too cold in the snow. Our first dog to summit a 14er! Poor thing toughed it out and seemed un-phased and ready to go again the next day.

Grays Peak Summit – 14,270 feet

The next day we were convinced by our friends to attempt Quandary Peak, the mountain we had attempted to summit during a blizzard last December and failed. This was also the mountain where we had met Horton the rescue dog. We changed our tactics and decided to wake up at 2:30 am to avoid the snow melt and be down from the mountain before noon. The plan worked. We only post holed a few times on the way down, but it was much more enjoyable. We did not see Horton, but we watched the sunrise over the mountains around 5am and ran into a herd of mountain goats.

Quandary Peak Summit – 14,265 feet

Sunrise on Quandary Peak and mountain goat – worth it!

Next adventure: Traveling the country via Casita? Move to Colorado?

In my dream I was going into this store that was selling religious experiences. I went in several times and I kept talking to the old man working at the front desk. The  last time I went in, he gave me a pamphlet of all the religious experiences you could purchase. There were different rooms in the store, and each was the religion you chose. In the pamphlet there were all kinds of false religions, from the common ones most people have heard of to ancient Baal-type sex worshiping religions I had never heard of. I looked through the pamphlet and then asked him where the Christian one was. He laughed at me and said “Why would we have that? There are real churches for that.” All of a sudden it was like I realized “oh wow, duh….” I left the store intent on stopping anyone from going inside. I started yelling for people not to go in and some of them started turning into demons and chasing me. Then the dream ended.

What does it mean? I don’t know. But it was unnerving and I have been thinking about it ever since. Some false religions do seem to be sold like a service, advertised to cure this, meet this need or that, solve something, answer something, oppress or indulge something. Even some Christian churches sell themselves like a commodity, falling in line with our increasingly consumer driven society. But, Christ doesn’t need to be sold, can’t be sold.  Thats what makes Him different from other religious experiences. Its not an experience, its a relationship and a lifestyle, and it cant be bought, sold or imitated. Yet many Christian churches have been trying to package it nicely and sell it like candy, shaping and changing Christ to be what the masses approve of. Are they any different than the churches of false religions? We cant pick and choose what religion works best for us, what denomination agrees with our own self image, what we think lines up best with our own self worshiping religions, because in doing that religion become what we make it to be, from inside our own tiny minds, instead of from something apart from us, bigger than us, something from God. The words of that creepy old man from my dream ring in my head “Why would we offer Christ? There are real churches for that.”

The differences are startling. We summited Guadalupe Peak at 8,751 ft.  (with elevation gain of 3,000 ft.) in November and failed to summit Quandary Peak at 14,265 ft. (with the same elevation gain) in December.

As you can see from the pictures below, the highest peak in Texas was cold, but there was no snow, no danger, it was still sunny during the day, and we summited the peak in 4 hours. At Quandary Peak, a storm blew through Breckenridge, dropping more snow than was already there. There were avalanches warnings and the temperatures were below 0, but we decided to make our summit bid anyways. We made it 1.5 miles up but then started hearing avalanches. It was bitterly cold and windy, and we decided to turn back. We hiked for 4 hours in snow shoes and only made it halfway. The Texas mountains have nothing on the dangers of the Colorado 14ers, but they do offer some very different scenery.

While in Guadalupe, we visited the Gypsum sand dunes – pure white sand in the middle of a desert. We also visited a 100 year old ranch house built along one of the original stagecoach mail routes of the old West. Colorado may be more geographically west, but Guadalupe definitely feels like the old West. Cacti, desert shrubs, sand and empty Texas horizon as far as the eye can see.

Even though we failed to summit Quandary Peak, we received one very nice surprise while in our Winder Wonderland. Horton – “The Quandary Dog” joined us on our quest for the summit. Horton is an 8 year old yellow lab who lives at the mountain’s base, climbs the peak daily and has saved several lives during snow storms. Horton chose us to journey with that day and never left our sides, even when the going got rough, really rough. We hope Horton chooses to join us again we try for the Quandary summit next time. More on Horton here-  http://climbing.about.com/b/2008/09/12/horton-the-quandary-dog.htm

Gaudalupe Peak

El Capitan

Me, Ryan and Horton climbing Quandary

Frisco, CO

My one word this year is Love.

Last year, my word was Risk, and I think I did indeed risk over the past year. I climbed a mountain that I had failed to summit the previous year and attempted a snow climb for the first time this winter. Less physically speaking, I asked my place of employment if I could go part time to pursue other things even though I was unsure of how they would react to this. I also made several new girl friends this year, which is normally not an easy thing for me.

Last year was a time for me to practice Risk, this year I need to practice Love.

What’s your one word for the year?

Distant views of mountains may speak of adventure, but they seldom more than hint at the joys and hardships that await. If you want to climb mountains, be prepared for the totality of nature – - storms as well as soft breezes, tangled brush as well as alpine flowers, biting insects as well as singing birds. Climbing mountains is a tough way to spend your spare time, and anyone who does it knows what Polish climber Voytec Kurtyka meant when he said that “Alpinism is the art of suffering.”  Mountaineering takes place in an environment indifferent to human needs, and not everyone is willing to pay the price in hardship for its rich physical and spiritual rewards.

-Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills, 6th edition

This just about sums up our trip to Snowmass Mountain in Colorado this August. Last year we tried for the peak, failed and had to turn back, hearts heavy. This time we defeated her, and made it to the summit and back after 22 miles of hiking, 3 nights of camping, and 10 hours on the mountain alone. The 30 minutes we were able to stay on the summit taking in the surreal views aren’t ever long enough, but the experience and the pictures I brought home were definitely worth the pain! Thanks Ryan, Justin and Briana for making this adventure with me!

The pictures do not do it justice….

Snowmass Mountain – 14,092 ft.

Genesis 8:5 And the water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.

For anyone who has ever been to the top of a high mountain, the thought of seeing the flood waters reach and envelope the highest peaks on Earth (including mountains as high as Everest!) is incredible. The fact that the ark was floating high enough to see the tops of the mountains resurface out of the resending waters must have been one of the greatest sights on Earth. Probably something akin to the scene in “2012” where the ark crashes into the north face of Everest while trying to escape the flood.

Psalm 95:3-5 For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.

The bible points out specifically that the mountain peaks belong to God. The great King above all gods, He owns the seas, the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks. These things are great and powerful, and call to the mind images of awe, hugeness and wonder, and they are all under the command of God. Maybe this is part of the reason the mountains call to me. Daring to go to a place that God created to be dangerous and breathtaking, a place with unmatched power and beauty that God calls his own. I think experiencing this also gives me a glimpse into a fraction of the power and mightiness of God himself.

Read (or watch or participate in) something that takes your breath away. A recent study found that people seek out newspaper articles that inspire awe–that hard-to-define feeling we get when we’re exposed to great beauty, power, or accomplishment. This pleasurable tickle is uniquely human and can be achieved in multiple ways: praying, watching nature programs, and reading stories of personal triumph, to name a few. Whatever gives you that lump-in-your-throat feeling, pursue it any way you can.

Look outside. Our species has spent almost all of its existence on the African savanna, surrounded by trees, water, and sky. The world in which most of us spend our time nowadays is unnatural and can corrode the spirit. Even a small dose of nature elevates our mood. But accept no substitutes! Psychologist Peter Kahn Jr. put 50-inch high-definition TVs into windowless offices of faculty and staff members at the University of Washington in Seattle, then streamed in a live view of a natural scene. It turned out that these HDTVs did nothing for the participants’ physiological stress response. What worked? A window with a view of real greenery. My guess is that even a view of a humdrum landscape, like the parking lot of an office building, is more emotionally satisfying than the most beautiful travel poster.

Copyright © 2010 Time Inc. All rights reserved

Location:

The first decision to be made when contemplating a Colorado 14er is the area of Colorado that you wish to travel to. There are seven mountain ranges in Colorado which contain 14ers:

• Front Range
• Tenmile Range
• Mosquito Range
• Sawatch Range
• Elk MountainsSan Juan Mountains
• Sangre de Cristo Range

These mountain ranges are widely spread out across Colorado and contain 58 of the country’s 14ers. Using a map or online resources to determine what mountain range you would like to travel to will work well. After you decide on the area, you should also research what skill level you want to attempt.

Skill Level:

The Yosemite Decimal System (YDS) for mountain class has been used in the United States for decades and ranks the technical difficulty of the hardest section of the mountain:

• Class 1: walking, usually on a well maintained trail.
• Class 2: steeper hiking, the possibility of going off trail, and crossing easy areas of snow and rock with occasional use of your hands.
• Class 3: called scrambling, this involves using your hands most of the time, route finding, and crossing extreme terrain with large boulders and steep snow.
• Class 4: considered climbing and requires a rope for safety in some areas because the terrain is often very steep and falls can be fatal.
• Class 5: considered technical climbing and involves the use of rope and belaying (none of the routes described on typical 14ers climbs are class 5).

Deciding on the skill level best for you should be based on your physical capabilities, experience, and gear. The next step should be researching 14ers that match your skill level or talking with someone who has made the climbs. These mountain ranges vary greatly in environment, skill level, and terrain.

Plan:

Once you have decided on the14er that you plan to attempt, you can narrow down the person or group of people that you want to construct this adventure with. It is advised that mountain treks such as these be attempted with at least one other person.  However, forming a group that is too large can have its own issues. Every person in the group must make sure to have adequate physical capabilities, appropriate gear, and a strong commitment to making it to the top of the mountain. The weakest person in the group can make or break the trip.  Once the group has been established, you can start making travel arrangements, planning approach routes by vehicle and on foot, mapping the trail, determining whether you will need to make a base camp, and determining what gear you will need to bring. The terrain view in Google Maps™ can be used to map travel routes and find roads. There are also several books about the Colorado 14ers and online resources which can be used to find trail heads and routes and plan for necessary gear and equipment.

Colorado 14ers, Colorado 14ers Class Ranking, Yosemite Decimal System

After those first initial weeks where I had trouble sleeping because the noise was so intrusive, I think I have grown somewhat accustomed to my ears, but will forever miss the silence. As one of my doctors told me, I will never experience “perfect silence” again. What a sad thought. I still have hope though. Anything is possible with God, and if He chooses to give me silence again, then He will. Now I think about how I used to take something as simple as silence for granted. Its all about the little things. My ears have gone from intrusively loud screeching in my right ear, and have started to settle out now with mild whirring that has never gone completely away since it started in my right, and intermittent high pitched frequency noises in my left that are there one day and gone the next. The left one worries me often, as I wonder if it will gradually become unrelenting like the right.  The noise doesn’t effect me much when sleeping now, but I hear it the most when I am laying in bed in silence. I hear it the least when I am in the shower, in the car with quiet music on, and outside in the wind or rain. I am trying to avoid white noise machines and adapt naturally. My goal and hope is to delay or prevent anymore worsening in my ears. Some days my ears seem improved, and some days they don’t, but the fact that I have felt improvement at all is hopeful. Working and studying in public health, I am a huge believer in environmental factors. Yes, my ears are easily damaged,  now what can I do to protect and save them from any more damage – avoid all loud  noises, wear ear plugs when in loud situations, avoid all ototoxic drugs and central nervous system stimulants (these excite ear cilia and can cause them to stay in a permanent state of excitement) – caffeine, anti-inflammatory pain killers (NSAIDS), anti-depressants, and most anti-biotics. These new lifestyle changes for me consisted mostly of giving up green tea, Aleve, wearing ear plugs when at movies and blow drying my hair, and the one I am currently working to solve – church worship. This has been one of the biggest things affected in my life. Particularly since we joined a new church in the past year that has louder than usual worship. At first, I tried using ear plugs, but I am a little paranoid (the worship is pretty close to rock band volume level) and now I cant be in the room with the worship at all. I am looking into custom molded ear plugs, as I cant go the rest of my life never attending another worship service and coming into church late. I think back at all the churches I have gone to, all non-denoms with pretty lively worship, some of them having pretty outrageous sound systems, and wonder if I was damaging my ears all that time without knowing. It makes me wonder if maybe those Church of Christ are on to something….lol. Perhaps God is challenging me to find other ways to worship. My whole life I have relied on churches to provide  me with riveting worship services, and maybe I have taken it for granted, or have come to expect it. A few weeks ago at Life Group we had worship with just one guitar and our voices, and it was marvelous. And I actually got to listen to it! As frustrating as this ear ailment is, I put my faith in God that He wont give me more than I can handle. A lesson to anyone who reads this – loud concerts damage your ears more than you know, and if your ears ring, they have already been damaged. It only takes 85 decibels to do damage. Something I wish I had known.

Snowmass Mountain – 14,092 ft    Colorado

Maroon Bells – 14,156 ft    Colorado

Pyramid Peak – 14,018     Colorado

Capitol Peak – 14,130 ft    Colorado

Mt. Rainier – 14,411 ft    Washington

Kilimanjaro – 19,341 ft    Tanzania

Aconcagua – 22,841 ft     Argentina

Denali – 20,320 ft     Alaska

Himalayas (hike)     Nepal

For other fellow adventurers and mountaineers, what are your summit goals?