He left on Friday evening, and I spent my Saturday doing things that normal people do. Woke up at 10am, walked the pup, had a late breakfast and went for a run up Sanitas (ok, not a lot of people just go run up Sanitas, but I guess some of that crazy athlete had to come out every once in a while). I came home to take a long shower and then go to the Broncos game in Denver. Nice, chill Saturday.
On Sunday though, my alarm went off at 4:00am. I already had my stuff packed: peanuts, gummy bears, water, Gatorade and of course my hydration vest. A warm jacket, hat, gloves, etc. Where was I going? I was headed to the top of the mountain that had kicked my butt 3 times in the past. Also, I needed to go check out whatever was left of my second home.
I was at the trail head before 7am, got Levi ready and started jogging. Fun fact: I've been running up in the mountains a lot lately and have been bringing a pair of shorts and a light sweatshirt. This day, it was 30 degrees at the trail head. Ouch. Good thing I had my puffy... this was my first time running wearing this! Felt hot fast, but it was too chilly to not wear it.
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| Chilly, but gorgeous morning |
This mountain is so much more forgiving in the summer. The past three attempts have been in the winter, once with lots of snow, the other two with lots of wind. This time, it was sunny and not windy at all. Wait, scratch that... it got windy, but not as bad as it was the previous times. It was definitely easier to walk up this mountain with no snow. And I made it up to the cabin site in just 25 minutes. I almost cried. I miss the cabin, although there's some of it left up there... I was happy to visit.
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| Me with what's left of my second home |
I got back on the trail and jogged up to the saddle between Mt. Sherman and Mt. Sheridan. I was up there within 36 minutes. Kept moving fast and before I knew it, I found myself on the last stretch of the ridge to the summit. It was one of the most fun ridges I've been on. Crazy that I've been on that mountain 3 times before and I never really made it to that part.
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| Awesome ridge! |
I got to the summit in just 1h10m. And it was awesome. I had the summit for myself for a good 30 minutes before other people started arriving. I had never had the top of mountain for myself and it felt pretty good.
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| Summit shot. My 14th 14er |
And the views did not disappoint:
On my way down, I set my eyes on the mountain right next door: Mt. Sheridan. A 13,750-ish foot mountain. I decided to jog down fast and head up to the summit of the second mountain. It looked like it was really close.
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| Mt. Sheridan as I saw it coming down from Sherman. It looked close, but it wasn't really... |
It was a steep mountain, but I made it to the summit quite fast. It took me just under 50 minutes to get off Sherman and summit Sheridan. It was a cool summit.
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| Summit of Sheridan |
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| Sheridan summit |
It was a successful day, which ended with an awesome breakfast at the Burro Cafe in Fairplay. One of my favorite breakfast places in the world. Also, not only was this a 4th, and successful attempt of this mountain, but this is the 14th 14er that I summit. Maybe there's something special with this mountain... and number 4 I guess.
Apart from still playing in the backcountry, I've also been training for my 50K race... which reminds me, I haven't shared the fact that I got a new coach and he's been kicking my a$$ like no one before. I like it. Maybe one day I will summit all these mountains in just 30 minutes... cause he sure is making me faster.
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