Trial Run, not Trail Run

Brandon and I are taking 10 YW and 4 other leaders on a high adventure hike this coming weekend. We decided to give the trail a trial run. Monday morning we woke up at the parking lot at the trailhead. We ate a hot breakfast thanks to our nifty backpacking stove, then hit the 4wd drive road for the 2 miles up to the real trail head. Most people park in the paved lot and walk the extra 2 miles. There were a few rough patches of road, but Brandon had fun driving his truck over and through it. We hit the real trail head at 7am at the elevation of 10,499 ft.

The 2 photos below are at the same point, one facing downhill and one facing uphill. The elevation at this point is nearly the same as the TOP of Timp. ( 11,800 ft ) The peak facing uphill is our goal. It is Mt Elbert. Elbert is the highest point in Colorado at 14,433ft. It is the 2nd highest point in the 48 states. ( Mt. Whitney in CA is the highest.)

At about 13,800 we noticed a few clouds rolling in. I was feeling some nausea and a headache. I gave Brandon the camera and said if he was going to make it before the lightning he better leave me and go ahead. He took off for the top while I plugged along slowly. At one point, he yelled down to me saying he was at 14,200 and I was at 14,000. We could see the people walking around on top of the peak. Then we heard the thunder. Brandon jetted for the top and took a few photos. I didn't continue due to the nausea and the thunder. The photo below is totally cool and totally scary with that storm swirling around Brandon. We both know we wouldn't chance that summit in that weather with YW. But he loved getting there. Hopefully this Saturday with my YW we can get more photos with more of us in it.

7 hour hike for us, trail is steeper, but shorter than Timp, but the altitude makes a big difference. Hydrate or Die!

MY MAN!