Mission Accomplished

At about 10:40 am on Saturday, James, Zac, Andrew (aka Gumby) & I reached the summit of Mt. Princeton! Words are hard to come by when trying to describe climbing a 14er. Exhilarating...exhausting...amazing...exhausting...thrilling...exhausting...you get the point. I can truly say, I've never experienced hiking like this before. The mileage? Not a problem. The unending, rocky terrain? Not a big deal. The crack of dawn wake-up? Still no concern there. The thin air above 10K feet? Yup, that was the major challenge for me. I've never had to concentrate on each breath before. To give you an example, I popped a handful of sunflower seeds in my mouth at the trailhead (a favorite thing of mine on a hike), only to spit them all out a minute later because I couldn't breath and eat at the same time!

The day was beautiful with crisp, fall-like air and cool, wispy clouds flying by. The beginning and first half of the ascent was light-hearted and full of conversation. The second was all about concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. The only conversation was about when we were going to take the next break.

When we reached the summit, we found about 20 people. I love hikers. When James announced to everyone that this was the first 14er for Gumby & I, everyone cheered! Several other people shouted out it was their first and the crowd gave them the same props.

So why the nickname Gumby?? Well, on our descent, Andrew (second from the left) must have rolled his ankles 50 times. After each roll, he'd pop right back and keep walking while the rest of us stared in amazement. You see, if any one of the rolls happened to us, we surely would have needed a stretcher. But somehow Andrew's rubber ankles bounced right back into place.

For those of you who haven't climbed a 14er (and maybe don't ever plan to), come on a photo journey with us up Mt. Princeton. On our slideshow page is a tribute to my first 14er!