Danielle And Linda's Excellent Adventure: Pike's Peak, Summer 2004

Back in May, Danielle was trying to come up with something cool to do during her one week of vacation between her third and fourth years of med school. Since climbing Pike's Peak has been on her "to do" list for years, it seemed like a good idea. Andy initially agreed to go.     In short order, Danielle's seriously kick-ass sister Linda was recruited, as was her then-boyfriend Robert. (Note to any potential suitors: The last guy who commented on this page to me is now dating her. So she's taken.)     Six weeks prior to our trip, both guys backed out, leaving it to the ladies. So we fired up the estrogen, made some reservations, and packed the car.

Linda's favorite pic - taken about 4 miles into our hike

Day 1: Drive to Colorado. This took about 10 hours. Check in to Gray's Bed and Breakfast. Visit the Garden of the Gods. Hike. Take pictures. Wander around the town of Manitou Springs. Sleep. Day 2: Left for a scenic drive to the north of Pike's Peak via Cascade. Then down some winding roads to the town of Cripple Creek, where Linda performed a remarkable rendition of the dance one of her students does while playing the song of the same name. (She teaches private string lessons when she's not kicking ass). Left Cripple Creek, and headed south to Canyon City. There, we hooked up with a group of male cyclists, and rafted through the Royal Gorge. It had rained a lot recently, so we got to manage class IV and V rapids. We thought they were crazy; they thought we were crazy. A good time was had by all.

Tempted to stop, eh? Actually, our MOM has been there - on a family trip when she was a kid!

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here...

Day 3: The mountain. We arrived at the base of the Barr Trail around 5am, and set off. Let me preface this by adding that we're from the FLAT great plains. The trail is nearly 13 miles long, and ascends 7000 feet or so. We reached Barr Camp (7 miles in) around 9 am, and felt pretty good. Needless to say, the altitude was a killer, and we didn't reach the summit until 4pm, and much swearing later. But we did it.

This is all that's left of the town of Gillet, a ghost town wiped out by a massive flood. We wanted to visit a ghost town, but this was the only one we could find. Note that it's for sale. How ironic.

The trail at miles 7-9.

And then we awed the folks who'd taken the train up, had some hot donuts, and took the train down. No question, the hardest physical and mental challenge I've ever accomplished. I would say that I got a great night's sleep, but my lungs hurt so much from the altitude, the heavy work of breathing, and the ensuing bronchitis, that I didn't. Day 4: We head home, enjoying the richness of the air as we descend across Colorado and Kansas.

The summit got 18" of snow the day before we summitted. This is what the trail looked like, as we climbed on an unseasonably warm day. This is looking up a rock face, but there was that much water coming down on us.

Treeline is at about mile 9. Above this point, there is little shelter and the view is phenomenal

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