Gray's Anatomy

I finally got off my super-sore ass and downloaded some photos for your viewing pleasure. So without further ado, I give you our fourteener adventure climbing Gray's Peak...


Left to right: Liz, Meghan, Dawn, and me. We all look so happy. It's because ignorance really is bliss and we had no clue what the hell we were getting ourselves into. Ok, in fairness, my cousin, Dawn, did try to tell me what I was getting us into because she'd done a fourteener before. But anyone who knows me knows that I rarely listen to reason. So we crossed this bridge and headed off...
Given the lovely surroudings, I was certain it was going to be a perfect trip.

Doesn't this stream look calm and serene? ***Not pictured - me already sucking wind very early in the hike.***

At one point, I stopped on the trail in hopes that some oxygen would find its way to my lungs. The only good part of altitude sickness was that it gave me the opportunity to stop alot and therefore, I took tons of photos. It's amazing how clear these pictures are considering my hands were shaking and my lungs were on fire. Good times.

Here's where the trail became less of a trail and more of a tightrope-made-of-rocks. My tiny ankles were not amused.

And here's where we started hiking on the surface of the moon... It was somewhere around here where I started to wonder if I could really finish.

The only thing that kept me going was the scenery...and this blog. I'm not kidding you guys - I dreaded the thought of having to tell you I didn't make it to the top.

So I kept going...

...and going. If you look closely in the picture above, you can see a snake-like line which was our trail. But finally...this was the view from the top.

This picture doesn't even do it justice. It was breathtaking. I was so, SO proud of myself for reaching the top! I stood there for a moment and basked in the glory when suddenly, this guy showed up and robbed me of my thunder....

...as I looked out over the peak, this guy came climbing up the back side of the mountain...the side with no trail. He reached the summit, stood there for a minute as everyone else picked their jaws up off the ground and then headed down the other side. He barely stopped and took a breath. I grabbed my camera and got this shot. It rocks, doesn't it? *pun intended*

I almost offered to buy him a new bike if he'd leave it up there and carry me down instead. But by the time I put my camera down, he was half way down the mountain. I mean, COME ON, who is that bad-ass? Only a Colorado boy. *sigh*

Speaking of bad-ass, here we are at the top - elevation 14, 276 feet.

I'm not sure if it was the pride in myself, the endoprhines or the lack of oxygen to the brain but I was in the best mood as we came down the mountain. I was damn near skipping for a while.

Two days have passed and my leg muscles have totally atrophied so I would say my skipping days are done for a while....but that's ok because the view from the top? Totally worth it.