Going the limit on Rocky Mountain High Colorado
By Adam Hodges Contributing Columnist
The classic country music song “ Colorado Rocky Mountain High ” by the late John Denver is an introspective by Denver about his experience of moving to Colorado when he was 27 . Denver had been out on the road with his music career and he writes in the lyrics “ when he first came to the mountains his life was far away on the road and hangin ’ by a song .” But he “ climbed cathedral mountains he saw silver clouds below he saw everything as far as you can see ”.
Living in Colorado was life changing for Denver . He clearly depicts in the lyrics how it calmed him and he was able to walk in quite solitude and was to seek grace in every step he took .
This past August , I traveled out to Colorado to climb as many 14ers ( Colorado peaks at least 14,000 feet in elevation ) as I possibly could in six days . Climbing with me were my good friends Davin Mancini from
Meridian and Jeff Seidnitzer “ Snitz ” from Boston .
At least the beginning of the plan was set and we were to first climb Longs Peak in Estes Park north of Denver then head back southwest to Leadville where we would climb both Mt . Massive and Mt . Elbert , the highest of the 14ers at 14,439 feet . After that , we would go where the mountains would take us .
The attempt on Longs came the second day we were in Colorado . We left our camp at 2 a . m . and headed up the mountain for what we expected should be about a 10-hour climb round trip . Not too long into it , we realized our bodies were still very much adapting to the change from sea level to the 9,000 feet elevation we were climbing at . We suffered tremendously that day ! Headaches , nausea , extreme fatigue . We ended up topping out on the mountain around noon , 10 hours after we had begun and we still had a long arduous trek back down to camp . Once back at camp we were exhausted and defeated , and a little shocked at how difficult the climb had been . By unanimous vote we decided to head back to Boulder to get some good food and a hotel room for the night and to try to regroup .
The next day , still a little beat down by Longs , we drove up to Loveland Pass at 11,990 feet , and did a short day hike , which seemed to restore our muscles and motivations , and then we drove over to Leadville . After stocking up on food and supplies at the local grocery we made the short drive out to Massive and Elbert . Our campsite in the Halfmoon Campground was perfect ! It was within minutes of both the Massive and Elbert trailheads , and was nestled right alongside a flowing river . We played the card game Rummy by our camp fire until it became too dark to see and then turned in . The next morning we would leave out at 3 a . m . to climb Mt . Massive .
The climb this day went much better . We had acclimated and rested well and our pacing was good . By just after 9 a . m ., we had arrived on top . After some High Fives and photos we headed back down to our camp site and on into Leadville for some wellearned burgers and fries .
The following morning we headed back out at 3 a . m ., this time to climb Mt . Elbert . As we started up from the trailhead , a young woman , climbing alone , approached us from behind . I spoke to her and continued on up , bringing up the rear of our climbing team . As I climbed in the silence and stillness of the night , I began to think about this young woman and her being out there alone on the trail . I stopped and introduced myself and told her she was welcome to join us for the climb , which she accepted . We discovered her name was Hannah
MERIDIAN LIFE