06/25/2025
Sometimes I decide to put down the romance & pick up non-fiction! My husband convinced me to read Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, a fascinating first-hand account of the 1996 Everest disaster. it was great to get insight into what went wrong and what climbing to the highest point in the world would be like.
As I read, I thought about my own forays in high altitude sports, though my own feats are less than half the elevation of Everest, I have submitted 13 of Colorado’s 14ers. Even these frequently traveled peaks, with hundreds of thousands of eager hikers flocking to the Rocky Mountains every year, aren’t something to be taken lightly.
On a hot, sunshiny summer day you’re still racing the clock to reach the summit before an afternoon storm rolls in. Even if you’re off the summit before noon there’s no guarantee a storm won’t catch you off guard by rolling in earlier than the forecast predicts.
Being above tree line when rain starts falling & lightning streaks across the sky is one of the scariest things I’ve ever experienced. Racing on exhausted legs to reach the relative safety of tree line as flashes grow closer & closer is something I hope to never experience again.
Though considering that this happened when summiting my very first 14er, you might think I’m crazy for attempting even one more - let alone the 12 peaks I’ve accomplished since.
But there’s something utterly exhilarating about staring out across the landscape from such a high vantage point. Pushing your body to exhaustion, gasping in the thin air, convincing yourself just 1 more step over & over & over again until you finally reach that little elevation marker is a high that you would only understand if you’ve done it yourself.
With a total of 58 14ers in Colorado, I’m far from done on my mountaineering journey, BUT I know without a doubt that Everest is not something I’ll be attempting (though I can’t say the same for my husband who definitely has the Seven Summits on his bucket list).
Swipe to see some photos of me on top of a few of the 14ers I’ve bagged!
QOTD: have you hiked a 14er? If not, is it on your bucket list?
