Epic and Stupid Fourteener Adventure

Laura, Michelle and me at the top of Mt. Evans, 14258 feet above sea level

I added climbing a fourteener to my bucket list two years ago. I finally get to mark it as complete.

My daughter Laura and I set off Sunday morning at 5:45 with Michelle(Laura's friend from high school)  and headed to Guanella Pass to begin our ascent and for me to discover the reason why people climb Fourteener's.

Michelle and Laura gave me their top reasons.

1.  Because it is so pretty.
2.  You get to see Mountain Goats!

We thrashed through the bushes and marsh for the first 1.8 miles.  We kept seeking higher ground as we didn't want to get our shoes wet :)

Through the marsh and about to start climbing in earnest.   

Early on in the ascent, Michelle proclaimed this will be an "epic fourteener adventure."

The parking lot from where we started is in the top left hand corner of the picture. 

What do you mean we have to cross a stream?                                                   

We leap frogged back and forth with this group of fellow climbers.  The person in the lower left hand corner took our picture at the top of Mt. Evans with his camera and e-mailed us the photos!

Regrouping after ascending through the Rocks

We made it!

Top of the world!

Laura shows off her scrapes!

Not even Laura's kitty could do this!

Michelle shows off her "white socks"

Apparently this is the real reason to climb a Fourteener, Mountain goat sighting :)

Our fearless energizer bunny leads us on the descent

Laura tackles the descent through the boulders

When you see the stack of rocks, you know you are on the correct path.  See the little Marmot peering out on the right corner of the rocks.

Back where we started from! 

At the end of the day, we had climbed 3,426 feet according to my Garmin watch. 

At some point the "epic adventure" was deemed to be "stupid". 

We had waded knee deep through stretches of muddy marsh.  Our attempts to keep from getting our socks wet were utter folly. 

Michelle has no fear when climbing or descending.  Laura and I, not so much. 

The air above 12,000 feet is indeed rare.    I have never heard my heart beat so loudly in my ears.  Sometimes I would take 15-20 steps and have to stop until I could no longer hear my heart beating wildly in my ear drums. 

There is a definite sense of camaraderie that you share with your fellow climbers. 

I had no idea what it would be like to climb a Fourteener.  Mt. Evans is not a climb for the faint of heart.  There were several times where I felt like I couldn't do it.  We were at 14,000 feet and still had a mile to go to get to the summit.  That was a discouraging feeling.  Kind of like hitting the wall at the 20 mile mark of the marathon and knowing you still have 6.2 miles to go. 

Some of the views were indeed incredible.  The camera never can do justice to what we can see with our eyes.  This was  a rugged climb.  Lots of boulder's, rocky terrain.  

I am not sure that seeing mountain goats will be enough of a reason for me to climb a fourteener again.  

I think everyone needs to discover the truth of why to climb. My top reasons for climbing. 

1, I got to spend an epic day with my daughter Laura and her friend Michelle. 

2. See #1. 

I want to send out some extra light and love to Michelle.

Michelle's Father passed away unexpectedly on the morning of July 20 as we awoke to a world that had changed as we were sleeping.

Here is to father's and their daughters. 

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We are Aurora, Colorado

View of Mount Evans from Aurora, Colorado

We are Aurora, Colorado. 


This is my home.  I raised my family here. 


This is my community. 


We live a mile from the Century 16 theaters. 


I got a text message from my son at 3:09 am on Thursday morning. 


"Just saw the new Batman movie in Parker.  There was a mass shooting at Century 16.  I almost went there...Wow."


"You really can't take life for granted.  I love you all."


Adam had been invited by two groups of friends to attend the midnight release of the new Batman movie.  


He chose to go with the group in Parker.  


Six of his friends went to Century 16.  They had seats in Theater eight.  


The killer chose Theater nine.  His friends made it out of the theater okay. 


Twelve people in theater nine did not. 


Adam found out while he was on the air Friday night that a classmate of his from high school(Micayla Medek)  was one of the twelve people that had not made it out of theater nine. 


Adam and his co-host Dario went on the air last night on Mile High Sports to serve a grieving community.  There was no talk about sports last night.  There will be another day for that.  They provided an open forum for people to talk about the shootings, to begin a long slow healing process.  The tone of the show was perfect, respectful, hopeful.  


I was so proud of Adam and Dario last night.  I am so grateful that my son is safe.  My heart aches for those who lost their sons and daughters. 


Tomorrow, my daughter Laura and I will be running in the Possibility 5K.  We will run carrying the Colorado state flag. 

 Tomorrow's race will be dedicated to the possibility of ending violence in our community, in our world. 


I don't want to refer to the people that lost their lives as victims.  They went to the theater to enjoy a midnight release of a much anticipated movie.   They went to the theater at midnight.  They couldn't wait.  They were excited. They were choosing life.  Let it rip!  That is not how a victim lives their life.   They are the winner's. 


Here's to the winners...


Jessica Redfield was an aspiring sports writer in her mid-20s who had narrowly escaped another mass shooting in Toronto just last month.


Alex Sullivan was at the movie as part of this 27th birthday celebration. Sunday was to be his wedding anniversary.


Matt McQuinn was killed while trying to provide cover for his girlfriend, a family spokesman said.


Petty Officer Third Class John Larimer was a U.S. Navy sailor from Crystal Lake, Ill.

Micayla Medek is among the dead, her father's cousin, Anita Busch, told the AP.


AJ Boik graduated from Gateway High School this year where he played baseball, a family spokesman said.


Jesse Childress was injured in the shooting and died at the hospital.

He was a reservist with the Air Force and worked as a cyber-systems operator at Buckley Air Force Base.


John Blunk, "He always talked about if he were going to die, he wanted to die a hero," his estranged wife, Chantel Blunk, told NBC News. Blunk was at the movie with a friend who credited him with saving her life.


Veronica Moser-Sullivan is was just 6 years old. Veronica's mother, Ashley, 25, was wounded in the attack and lies paralyzed in a nearby hospital, authorities said.

Alex Teves' father, Tom Teves, told ABC News that his son had blocked his girlfriend from a bullet when he was shot and killed himself.


Rebecca Wingo was 32, the coroner reported. Wingo grew up in Quinlan, Texas, about 65 miles east of Dallas. She graduated from Ford High School. Her friends say she was funny and always cracking jokes.


Gordon W. Cowden was 51, the coroner reported.


We are Aurora, Colorado. 


We are Platte Canyon High School


We are Columbine


This is my home, my community. 


In the words of Emily Keyes, ""I love u guys. K?"

Get back to living.  Let it Rip!!!  That's how the winner's lived their lives.  Let's get after it.

Light and Love x Aurora, Colorado x forever...

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