Monday, July 27, 2009

Pikes Peak

So I think I mentioned a few times that we were planning on hiking Pikes Peak this weekend and that I was a little nervous about it. We were planning on hiking about 7 miles to Barr Camp where we stayed the night and then hiking to the top the next day and down the mountain. It rained all but two hours of the 24 hours that we were on the mountain, which meant wet gear, wet dogs, dead cell phones, and thunder and lightening.

Well we made it to Barr Camp the first day, even though we spent 2 hours on the mountain hiding from the storm. I don't know why I was so worried about the hike, it really wasn't bad at all.

The next day, after 2 hours of breaking everything down and attempting to dry everything off while it was still raining, we started to summit. We made it about 2 miles before I made everyone turn around. Henry was limping pretty badly, and I didn't think he was going to make it up the whole way. I honestly think everyone was a little relieved that we didn't keep going. It was a good thing for the dogs that we didn't. They both are so sore that they can't even walk. We had to carry both of them out of the car and I've had to carry food and water to them since. I'm a little surprised that they're this sore and hurt and I feel pretty bad but I'm glad we turned around when we did.

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This poor guy can't even walk and no, it's not because his backpack was too heavy.


Photobucket
And this guy couldn't even get out of the car when we got home.


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Maverick was annoyed that I was taking his picture instead of hiking.


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Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs.

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Don't cut the switchbacks! Or fall off the side of the mountain.

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There was a big storm coming ...

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... so we got to hike through the clouds.

My favorite part of camping: The middle of the night listening to the sound of the rain hitting the tent, when I'm warm and dry inside my sleeping bag, smushed inside a too-small tent with my three favorite guys.

6 comments:

Kat said...

A. You had the courage to start and the intelligence to know when to stop.
B. The comment at the end about the tent reminded me of Dolly Sods :)
C. At least you didn't climb the wrong mountain like Toby did :)
http://tinyurl.com/ne72wn
D. If you don't have the link to my blog, let me know. I had a catastrophe at my tri this weekend. Totally would have rather run Pike's Peak!

Emily said...

Wow, what a trip. Poor pups, I'm glad everyone's okay, but I'm impressed that you took on this endeavor anyway!

TupeloLove said...

Coolest. EVER.

Taryn said...

Wow- those poor puppies! I am glad to hear that the hike went pretty well for you. It is always good what things go better than you fear. Good for you. Maybe next time? = )

Alex said...

Poor doggies. I didn't know they could get sore. Harry was constantly running around like a lunatic on meth, so I just assumed lactic acid build up was only a human thing. Wise choice turning back. Try again next year?

Katy said...

Aww. Poor puppies. Mine would definitely not make it up there. We tried taking Toby across a dam that is like 3 miles there and back. He needed to rest halfway. He's pretty lazy, but we love him. :-) The others are just too short to walk that far because it would take forever.