Living in DC is great! There is so much history, diversity, and experiences to be had, but for someone who loves the great outdoors, there are moments it leaves the soul wanting. This past July I joined some dear friends on a trip to Humboldt Peak in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Range. Climbing 14ers in Colorado has been a yearly tradition for the past several years, and this year’s trip was amazing.
Also, let me clarify upfront that by “climbing” I mean hiking, not rock climbing. We are not skilled in the sport of technical climbing, and would quickly fall to our demise if the attempt was made. There are moments on our climbs where you have to use “all fours”, but the majority of the time it’s just a hard hike.
Part of our Colorado experience has always included a road trip from Arkansas. I didn’t want it to be any different this time, so I flew into Little Rock to make the 15 hour journey with the boys. On Friday evening the four of us were on the road headed for Leadville…or so we thought.
We arrived to a town called Westcliffe, CO and stopped on the side of the road to shoot some drone footage. When we started the car back up, we noticed something seemed off. Soon after, we were listening to the local mechanic tell us that the alternator was going out and the new one wouldn’t arrive for a couple of days. At first it seemed that our trip was going down the drain and our mountain selfies were never going to happen…but a quick Uhaul rental later, we had swapped over our gear and were on our way to a new nearby destination: Humboldt Peak in the Sangre de Cristo Range.
This was not our first rodeo with this range. A few years ago we attempted to summit Crestone Needle, coming up short by around a couple hundred feet due to a hail storm.
Since we were in a 10 foot Uhaul, we parked at the 2 wheel drive trailhead. This tagged on an additional several miles to our climb, but we didn’t really have an option.
The climb up to camp was hard! Between our lack of acclimation to the altitude and our 40 pound packs, we were quite excited to reach camp. We set up our hammocks at a great campsite right on the edge of the water, nestled right at the feet of Humboldt and the Crestone mountains. This was by far the most spectacular view from camp I have experienced. The mosquitoes were horrendous, but the view and the company definitely made up for it.
The next morning we took our time getting out of bed, and spent the day lounging about at the campsite. We took pictures, napped, and sat around talking and catching up on each other’s lives…all the while allowing our bodies to acclimate to the high altitude. We forgot to bring a deck of cards, so Justin set up rock throwing games to pass the time and entertain our child-like minds.
Early the next morning, we set out for summit. There were moments when we weren’t sure if we were going to reach the top, but we kept pushing.
Any time we past climbers who were already on their way down, we’d ask, “How much farther to summit?”. This question can be maddening because it is so challenging to gauge distance out there. One group would say “It’s only an hour to summit”, then 45 minutes later another group would say the same thing. Nonetheless, by around 11am, we had reached the summit. This was one of the easier mountains I have climbed, but had the most spectacular view from a summit I have ever seen. For Joseph and Blake, this was their first time summiting a 14er, and what a great first!
We rested for about 15 minutes, took a mess-ton of “boyband” selfies, and headed back towards camp. One great part about summiting is the climb back down. The reason for this is, when you meet climbers on their way up, you wipe the sweat off your brow, try to mask the fact that you’re about to keel over, and say “You got this…you only have an hour till you reach summit”.
We decided that we were going to reach camp, pack up, and hike down to the parking lot where we started. Climbing up to summit that morning made for a long and painful climbing down for my rickety old man knees. Once we reached the Uhaul, we cleaned our stinky man-bits with our overpriced biodegradable wipes, and headed for Westcliffe.
We picked up Justin’s car from the shop and headed for the local steakhouse. After gorging ourselves, we filled up the tank, swung by a local herbal dispensary, and headed for Little Rock…all of that except the dispensary.
We made some lasting memories that I wouldn’t trade for anything. I’m so thankful for these guys in my life, and miss them dearly. Until next the trip…
Photo cred: Joseph, Blake, Justin, & myself.
Check out our post about packing for a Colorado hike here.
Loved reading your blog!! Beautiful place!! Glad you are able to go and make memories and see God’s wonderful creation!!! Love you son!!