Events of Wednesday, July 21, 2010

       Today, the light clicked on at 2:02 AM. After sleepily wondering why, I remembered that we (Dad, Dr. Kenigsberg, Ryan, and I (Ben)) would be climbing Missouri Mountain, one of Colorado’s many 14ners (peaks over 14,000 feet). We quickly dressed and then drove for 3.5 hours to the trailhead, elevation 9,500 feet. We began our climb at 5:50 AM. The first two miles were heavily forested, containing sharp uphill switchbacks. Surprisingly, it was rather warm, so we all took off our outer layers. Dr. Kenigsberg shot up the trail, amazing Dad and I with his endurance and speed. I could never keep such an intense pace up such a steep slope. After climbing above the tree line, we encountered masses of brush and tundra. Around 7, we hit a fork in the trail at 11,600 feet.  We took the trail to Mt. Missouri. After some rolling tundra, we met the trail to the ridge. We had a couple switchbacks before hitting the rocks. Fortunately, the National Forest Service did a spectacular job with the trail so that the rocks formed a great path. While on the rocks, the wind picked up, forcing us all to don another layer. However, the steep uphill gradient remained. Once we had reached the top of the ridge (around 9:05), we thought we were close to summiting the peak. However, since we were on the ridge, the true peak was hiding behind many different false summits. We hiked about ¾ of a mile around that ridge on the trail that lead to the summit. The final path to the summit was very exposed and a little scary. It included a near-vertical drop to a lower trail and then an incredibly sharp ascent to the summit. When we reached the top at 9:30, we met a couple who had climbed 40 fourteeners (peaks in CO over 14,000 feet); Mt. Missouri made 41. For me, it was just number one of (hopefully) a couple more. Also at the top, we met a group of 10 high school and college kids from all over the world. They came to Colorado as part of an adventure/outdoors club.

On the way down, we decided to lollygag. We paused for a few minutes to admire a pair of brave marmots (which were very well fed). We saw quite a few gorgeous wildflowers and a huge forest of aspens. On the ascent, I had missed all the natural beauty, so it was great for me to pause and see the flora and fauna of the Rocky Mountains. At the steep switchbacks near the trailhead, Dad’s knees started to hurt, so he descended the last mile walking backwards. After hiking 10.5 miles, 3 ½ hours to hike up and 3 ¾ hours hiking down, we were exhausted. To cool off, Ryan, Dr. Kenigsberg, and Dad waded in a frigid creek (we think it was either Crystal Creek or Clear Creek – either way, it was crystal clear). Climbing a fourteener has changed my mind set about many concepts, including:

 

uphill: nothing, not even Half Dome, has been this steep. It wasn’t just steep for a little bit. It was steep for 5 continuous miles.

 

feeling the altitude: nothing has ever felt like 14,000 feet. The air was thin, but that wasn’t all. It was clear, cold, and pure. It was awesome.

 

lollygagging: I think Dr. Kenigsberg is a professional lollygagger. No one could ever lollygag as much or as well as he could. Instead of just taking his time, he stopped to point out every little detail, like how an aspen with burn marks had probably been struck by lightning within the last couple weeks. That’s talent.

 

depends on the weather: nothing could have depended more on the weather than climbing that mountain. It went rain à cloudy à sunny à cloudy àhot à freezing à rain and repeated. Lucky for us, the cycle didn’t include electric storms while we were climbing.

 

All in all, climbing Missouri Mountain was a rewarding experience. Although it was much harder work, I would rather climb a mountain any day instead of washing and cleaning the RV, doing laundry, playing cards, making cookies, and painting nails like the girls did who stayed home with the other Kenigsbergs in Greeley, CO.