Harder Than a Marathon
This post was originally written in July 2011.
I could have titled this post several different things besides "Harder Than a Marathon":
Hardest Thing I Have Ever Done
Most Challenging Thing I Have Ever Done
I Question My Sanity
Why do I do this to myself?
I tried to summit my first 14,000 foot mountain (i.e. 14er) this past Saturday. I didn't make it. My body's limits won this time. I must have easily forgot the pain and challenge of Mt. Fuji last summer, because I decided the week before last to hike my first 14er. What that tells you is that I did absolutely no training for climbing a mountain. I workout on a regular basis so my cardiovascular system is pretty good and my legs are strong, but that's at 200 feet (yeah, sea level).
Several of my colleagues hike 14ers as a hobby and they have invited me along for a couple of years now. These are a few of my colleagues that I regularly run and work out with when I am on work trips. I finally decided that this would be the year that I would go since I knew a little of what to expect from hiking Mt. Fuji. They decided to do Missouri Mountain (14,067 ft) which is part of the Collegiate Peaks. Turns out everyone bailed except one guy who I'll call my hiking buddy. My hiking buddy has climbed 10 14ers in Colorado, so this will be his 11th.
We stayed in Buena Vista, CO (7,965 ft) at another retired colleague's cabin. The cabin was great with a rushing stream right and it was fed by a hot spring (i.e. instant hot tub!). When we weren't hiking or sleeping, that's where we were...in the hot tub.
After reading about Missouri Mountain online, I felt confident about going on the hike. It's considered a Class 2 hike so you don't need technical gear or to do any technical climbing. My only concern was the altitude, since I don't handle high altitudes well.
We arrived to the cabin on Friday afternoon. We had dinner at Casa del Sol in Buena Vista where I had a chicken enchilada and a taco. I didn't eat my beans or rice. I probably should have ate rice for the carbs. After dinner we had a beer and enjoyed the hot tub and then headed to bed at 10 pm so we could be up at 5 am. I fell asleep quickly but then was woken up around 11:30 pm by the wind blowing the blinds around. I never went back to sleep...excitement I guess. I think I dozed between 4 and 5 am, but that's it.
We were up at 5 am, got dressed, had breakfast (banana, yogurt, and low fat granola), drove to the Missouri Gulch Trailhead (at 9,540 ft) and were hiking by about 6:30 am. The trail went over a bridge and then started climbing quickly through dense forest. It was difficult early on for me to keep up with John...he moved very quickly, but I tried my best which was probably a mistake. I should've just gone at my own pace as slow as that may be. By the time we reached 10,500 feet, I was already feeling the effects of altitude sickness...I was light-headed, dizzy, and had a rapid heart rate. My heart rate monitor was not working, so I didn't know my exact heart rate, but I know it was high. With Mt. Fuji there were stations periodically, so my goal was just to make it to each station. On this trail, there were no goals to work towards so I stopped periodically, but kept going with the goal to get out of the dense forest and eventually above the tree line. I knew I probably needed to eat after an hour, but my hiking buddy thought otherwise. He said we had had a good breakfast and should keep going. Eventually we did take a short break and had some almonds and cranberries. In hindsight, I should have eaten when I thought I should...I know my body better than anyone else. My hiking buddy did encourage me to be drinking more water, so that helped.
Back on the trail in the dense forest, we came across a creek and at first we didn't think we had to cross it, but soon learned that we did. It had thin logs across it, so I took my time and crossed easily. Soon enough, we had to cross it again and thankfully there were thin logs to cross on. During this time, we met a girl by herself on the trail. This would also be her first 14er, but it sounded like she had trained some for it even though she was from OK. I was surprised to see her by herself, but there were a lot of people on the trail since it was a Saturday, so I wasn't worried for her.
We kept winding upwards on some switchbacks and eventually reached an overlook where we could see the rapids and a waterfall of the Missouri Gulch. Along the trail, there was manure. My hiking buddy thought someone was horse bike riding up here, but I surmised it was a mule. As we hiked a little farther, we came to the roofless cabin (at 1.6 miles) which is a landmark on the trail. A litle after the cabin, you finally come out of the dense forest and into scrub brush. Here we noticed a couple that had set up camp (a tent) and there was the mule. A little later, when I was resting, the couple and the mule passed me on the trail...I guess they were scared to leave the mule at camp.
Today is June 23, 2014 and I realize I never finished this entry or published. I decided to go ahead and publish it today. I made it to almost 12,000 ft and had to stop. I told my hiking buddy to go on so he could summit before afternoon thunderstorms might show up. He almost made it. After resting for 20 minutes I tried going up further , but came across a stream that I didn't want to cross by myself. I ended up going back down the mountain a ways and wait for my hiking buddy. I felt sick the rest of the day. I could barely eat dinner and my headache and nausea did not go away until after 10 PM that evening. If I ever try this again, I will have to look into altitude medicine because I definitely suffer from altitude sickness.
Hardest Thing I Have Ever Done
Most Challenging Thing I Have Ever Done
I Question My Sanity
Why do I do this to myself?
I tried to summit my first 14,000 foot mountain (i.e. 14er) this past Saturday. I didn't make it. My body's limits won this time. I must have easily forgot the pain and challenge of Mt. Fuji last summer, because I decided the week before last to hike my first 14er. What that tells you is that I did absolutely no training for climbing a mountain. I workout on a regular basis so my cardiovascular system is pretty good and my legs are strong, but that's at 200 feet (yeah, sea level).
Several of my colleagues hike 14ers as a hobby and they have invited me along for a couple of years now. These are a few of my colleagues that I regularly run and work out with when I am on work trips. I finally decided that this would be the year that I would go since I knew a little of what to expect from hiking Mt. Fuji. They decided to do Missouri Mountain (14,067 ft) which is part of the Collegiate Peaks. Turns out everyone bailed except one guy who I'll call my hiking buddy. My hiking buddy has climbed 10 14ers in Colorado, so this will be his 11th.
We stayed in Buena Vista, CO (7,965 ft) at another retired colleague's cabin. The cabin was great with a rushing stream right and it was fed by a hot spring (i.e. instant hot tub!). When we weren't hiking or sleeping, that's where we were...in the hot tub.
After reading about Missouri Mountain online, I felt confident about going on the hike. It's considered a Class 2 hike so you don't need technical gear or to do any technical climbing. My only concern was the altitude, since I don't handle high altitudes well.
We arrived to the cabin on Friday afternoon. We had dinner at Casa del Sol in Buena Vista where I had a chicken enchilada and a taco. I didn't eat my beans or rice. I probably should have ate rice for the carbs. After dinner we had a beer and enjoyed the hot tub and then headed to bed at 10 pm so we could be up at 5 am. I fell asleep quickly but then was woken up around 11:30 pm by the wind blowing the blinds around. I never went back to sleep...excitement I guess. I think I dozed between 4 and 5 am, but that's it.
We were up at 5 am, got dressed, had breakfast (banana, yogurt, and low fat granola), drove to the Missouri Gulch Trailhead (at 9,540 ft) and were hiking by about 6:30 am. The trail went over a bridge and then started climbing quickly through dense forest. It was difficult early on for me to keep up with John...he moved very quickly, but I tried my best which was probably a mistake. I should've just gone at my own pace as slow as that may be. By the time we reached 10,500 feet, I was already feeling the effects of altitude sickness...I was light-headed, dizzy, and had a rapid heart rate. My heart rate monitor was not working, so I didn't know my exact heart rate, but I know it was high. With Mt. Fuji there were stations periodically, so my goal was just to make it to each station. On this trail, there were no goals to work towards so I stopped periodically, but kept going with the goal to get out of the dense forest and eventually above the tree line. I knew I probably needed to eat after an hour, but my hiking buddy thought otherwise. He said we had had a good breakfast and should keep going. Eventually we did take a short break and had some almonds and cranberries. In hindsight, I should have eaten when I thought I should...I know my body better than anyone else. My hiking buddy did encourage me to be drinking more water, so that helped.
Back on the trail in the dense forest, we came across a creek and at first we didn't think we had to cross it, but soon learned that we did. It had thin logs across it, so I took my time and crossed easily. Soon enough, we had to cross it again and thankfully there were thin logs to cross on. During this time, we met a girl by herself on the trail. This would also be her first 14er, but it sounded like she had trained some for it even though she was from OK. I was surprised to see her by herself, but there were a lot of people on the trail since it was a Saturday, so I wasn't worried for her.
We kept winding upwards on some switchbacks and eventually reached an overlook where we could see the rapids and a waterfall of the Missouri Gulch. Along the trail, there was manure. My hiking buddy thought someone was horse bike riding up here, but I surmised it was a mule. As we hiked a little farther, we came to the roofless cabin (at 1.6 miles) which is a landmark on the trail. A litle after the cabin, you finally come out of the dense forest and into scrub brush. Here we noticed a couple that had set up camp (a tent) and there was the mule. A little later, when I was resting, the couple and the mule passed me on the trail...I guess they were scared to leave the mule at camp.
Today is June 23, 2014 and I realize I never finished this entry or published. I decided to go ahead and publish it today. I made it to almost 12,000 ft and had to stop. I told my hiking buddy to go on so he could summit before afternoon thunderstorms might show up. He almost made it. After resting for 20 minutes I tried going up further , but came across a stream that I didn't want to cross by myself. I ended up going back down the mountain a ways and wait for my hiking buddy. I felt sick the rest of the day. I could barely eat dinner and my headache and nausea did not go away until after 10 PM that evening. If I ever try this again, I will have to look into altitude medicine because I definitely suffer from altitude sickness.
posted by Aud at 7:16 AM
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