Today we celebrated Melissa's 30th birthday by summiting Pikes Peak. Her birthday is actually tuesday the 17th so it was her last summit of Pikes Peak in her 20's. The weather forecast was perfect especially for the middle of October. Neither one of us had been on the mountain since the marathon. John and Fisher came with us and my mom was kind enough to drive to the summit and give us a ride down. It would be Fisher's 1st official summit day too. All the other times I have taken him on the mountain we have gone at most to 2 miles below the summit and back down which is actually tougher than just going to the summit. He did awesome and it was perfect temperatures. It was in the mid 30's at the summit with minimal wind. We started about 8am in the morning and it took us about 5 hrs to get to the top. We were in no rush to get to the top and we really didn't run that much. It was nice to be on the mountain and not be focused on pushing hard and training. It was also nice because it wasn't too crowded for a weekend with only your more experienced hikers on the mountain compared to the middle of summer. We started to see snow in a few places once we got to Barr Camp and the patches of snow got a little bigger as we got above treeline. And a few places below the summit there was snow on the trail.
Taking a break at A-frame. You can see the snow in the background.
A-frame with the summit looming behind us!
About 3/4 mile above treeline. Just over 2 miles to the summit!
John and Melissa heading up. Just over 1 mile from treeline and a little under 2 miles to the summit.
Looking south towards Mt Rosa and Almagre Mountain.
Meghan lost in the boulders with the summit house in the background.
Willie and Fisher watching my mom coming up the Golden Stairs. She and Willie came down 1 mile to meet us and then back up. We are about 100 feet to the summit.
Just below the summit.
The summit! 14, 115 feet.
John, Me and Melissa! Shortly after summiting, we headed into the summit house for coffee, hot chocolate and the world's best donuts. I also gave Melissa her b-day presents. It was a great way to celebrate her entering into the 30's.
The northside of the Peak from Crystal Reservoir on our way back down the road! The temperature was in the 60's by the time we got back down to Manitou about 3:30.
Today we celebrated Melissa's 30th birthday by summiting Pikes Peak. Her birthday is actually tuesday the 17th so it was her last summit of Pikes Peak in her 20's. The weather forecast was perfect especially for the middle of October. Neither one of us had been on the mountain since the marathon. John and Fisher came with us and my mom was kind enough to drive to the summit and give us a ride down. It would be Fisher's 1st official summit day too. All the other times I have taken him on the mountain we have gone at most to 2 miles below the summit and back down which is actually tougher than just going to the summit. He did awesome and it was perfect temperatures. It was in the mid 30's at the summit with minimal wind. We started about 8am in the morning and it took us about 5 hrs to get to the top. We were in no rush to get to the top and we really didn't run that much. It was nice to be on the mountain and not be focused on pushing hard and training. It was also nice because it wasn't too crowded for a weekend with only your more experienced hikers on the mountain compared to the middle of summer. We started to see snow in a few places once we got to Barr Camp and the patches of snow got a little bigger as we got above treeline. And a few places below the summit there was snow on the trail.
Taking a break at A-frame. You can see the snow in the background.
A-frame with the summit looming behind us!
About 3/4 mile above treeline. Just over 2 miles to the summit!
John and Melissa heading up. Just over 1 mile from treeline and a little under 2 miles to the summit.
Looking south towards Mt Rosa and Almagre Mountain.
Meghan lost in the boulders with the summit house in the background.
Willie and Fisher watching my mom coming up the Golden Stairs. She and Willie came down 1 mile to meet us and then back up. We are about 100 feet to the summit.
Just below the summit.
The summit! 14, 115 feet.
John, Me and Melissa! Shortly after summiting, we headed into the summit house for coffee, hot chocolate and the world's best donuts. I also gave Melissa her b-day presents. It was a great way to celebrate her entering into the 30's.
The northside of the Peak from Crystal Reservoir on our way back down the road! The temperature was in the 60's by the time we got back down to Manitou about 3:30.
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