Mount Elbert

Clear skies this morning so Elbert was a go! Elbert is rated as a Class 1 Fourteener (meaning it's one of the 'easier' ones) Well, it kicked my butt! I've done several fourteeners but never with a full pack. Big difference. And then there's the little thing called oxygen. Or lack or it!

Breathing break cleverly disguised as a photo op. 

Whenever I start one of these challenges, and it starts to get hard, I wonder why in the heck I thought this was a good idea? Elbert isn't part of the CT and I could have just gotten up at a regular hour, and hiked the mostly downhill few miles into Twin Lakes for some town food. Then I look around me and see this

And I am reminded why. I mean, a hamburger has its own kind of delicious beauty but it can't compare.  As we got close to the top...it started to flatten out a little and then we were there!

Met all sorts of cool people. Again...hikers are good people. 

Thought of my dad a lot today. 

Kind of amazing how many rocks are heart shaped :)

Hiked down Elbert and in to Twin Lakes. We arrived later than we had anticipated, so instead of having a burger and hiking on...we had a burger and a beer (or two) and are spending the night. And a shower. And met more cool people. Another good day in the mountains.

 

Almost to Elbert

Hiking by 7:30 this morning. It was chilly but sunny!

Leapfrogged with a few other hikers but it's pretty quiet out here!

Temps were perfect. Low 60's. Had a few decent climbs but I already felt better than I did yesterday.

We got in some good mileage today and are camping at the trail junction with Mount Elbert. Highest fourteener in Colorado. 

That's Elbert with a dusting of snow. The weather looks good tomorrow morning (fingers crossed) so we are going to take the side trail (not part of the CT) and hopefully summit it tomorrow morning. 

Got to our camping spot and the thunder started up after a beautiful day. Got our tents up, climbed inside and this happened...

A bit of hail. Not to bad and didn't last long. I was happy to be in my tent! Again! The storm passed relatively quickly and the sun popped back out. 

Early to bed so we can be on the trail early tomorrow. And...there is the hope of some town food at Twin Lakes as a summit celebration if things go as planned.

Out of Leadville

We stayed at the Leadville Hostel last night before starting the hike today. It was really great and there were several other hikers there, so we sat around and swapped trail stories for awhile before going to bed. 

Packed up early and we were going to hitch the ten miles out to the trailhead , but Tif struck up a conversation and before we knew it, we had a ride out from Michael. A retired pharmacist who has been coming to Leadville every summer for about 21 years.

The weather started out a little chilly and drizzly.  Came to a really pretty little stream

We found a great rock overlook for lunch and just in time, the sun came out and warmed us up. 

No major climbs today, but I was definitely feeling the altitude! 

The skies started getting dark again and thundering, so we cut it short a little and threw up our tents before the rain started. Got everything inside before it started. It was a really nice, steady, gentle rain for the next few hours. Perfect for reading and napping. It has been a pretty stressful, emotional six weeks, and it was really nice to just do nothing . 

Had a good dinner once the rain stopped, hung out food and back in my nice, warm, dry tent. 

So...

ILife has changed a lot since I last wrote. My funny, stubborn and incredible dad has passed away. He taught me how to throw a baseball, laugh at a good joke, and enjoy a good burger. He took a pretty terrible fall in July. We had high hopes that he was going to be able to overcome, but sadly that did not happen.  The feeling is surreal. One of my cousins put it perfectly. "The world keeps moving along, but your world is forever altered."  I came home to be with him after his fall, and I am so thankful that I was able to have that last month with him. In the hospital, even as it was becoming harder for him to communicate clearly, he kept his sense of humor. When one of the nurses asked him if he knew who my mom was, he looked at her and said, "Zorba the Greek."  The nurse looked very concerned and confused, until I laughed and assured her he was kidding. It's a joke people! :)

So, now we work to find a new normal. One without my dad, sitting in his chair reading or watching golf.  I've known my whole life, that if I ever really needed to track my dad down, I could find him every weekday morning at 9:00 at the coffee shop with his gang.  Consistent and solid. When I decided to hike the Appalachian Trail, Dad was pretty sure 'I'd gone south him.'  But as I started out , he became my biggest supporter. He was proud. As a matter of fact, while he was in the hospital, every time he would introduce me to a nurse or doctor, he would say, "This is my daughter Joanne. She hiked the whole Appalachian Trail. "  I mean...what would he have told people about me if I hadn't? 'This is my daughter Joanne.... (Pause. Awkward silence)" 😊

Things are settling down here. My mom is sad but strong. It's time to start trying to move forward. I still have a few weeks until I am able to move in to my place in Fort Collins. I've completed some work I had here, packed my bags AND my backpack, and am heading back out to Colorado. Leadville to be exact and start up on the CT where I got off and hopefully finish this trail before I get moved in. I'm ready to be walking. 

And this time, my Dad won't be following my blog from home. He'll be walking along with me. Love you Daddio.

My friend, Tiffany, from home is joining me for this first week. As we pulled into Leadville tonight, we saw THE most amazing sight. It was a beautiful sunset, but even more beautiful was the reflection of the sunset on the clouds and snowy peak on the other side of the valley. This is just the reflection!!!!!! Absolutely stunning.