Over a year ago, a plan was hatched. Plane tickets were purchased. Travel plans were made. We needed to climb a mountain. But then, that little pandemic canceled our plans. Our mountain would have to wait.
This year, once again, we made plans. Plane tickets were purchased. An AirBnb was booked. A van was rented. We needed to climb a mountain. And this time, we were going to make it happen.
The plan was simple: Hop a flight to Denver, pick up the rental van, drive to Colorado Springs, climb Manitou Incline, head to an AirBnb in the mountains, relax, get up early the next day and head to Georgetown, CO where we would summit Mount Bierstadt, head back to Denver and hop a flight back home. A jam-packed two days awaited us, with very little wiggle room.
That Tuesday morning, we awoke to text messages telling us that our flight was delayed by two hours. Apparently, our flight crew arrived late the previous night and needed some required sleep. HOW DARE THEY?! So, we took our time getting to the airport, and we changed our Incline reservations for a bit later in the day.
Finally, we were all together at the airport in Detroit!
We chatted and snacked and ever-so-patiently waited for our flight to board. And then it was time. Away we went!
While we look happy on this shuttle bus heading to pick up our rental van, I assure you the line that wrapped around the building to actually pick up our rental car and the hour wait for our turn took a tiny bit of wind out of our sails.
The day was gray and rainy as we packed our things into the van and headed for Colorado Springs. We made a quick pit-stop at a 7-11 where we stocked up on all kinds of junk food. Calories don't count on vacation, right?
And then it was time to climb the climb. Manitou Incline was waiting for us. Like some sort of small miracle, after a day of gloom and rain, the clouds decided that enough was enough.
I had seen pictures of this place, but to see it in person, standing at the bottom, was something to behold.
The climb started out with a gradual incline and we headed up, step by step. Soon enough, we hit the 700 step mark. That wasn't so bad!
We continued upward, stopping now and then to look back on our progress. We were doing it!
The steps began to get steeper, and there were points where it seemed like using our hands would be a good idea.
The higher we went, the steeper it got. We were all in shape, but this climb was kicking our butts. We'd pick out a point, climb up to it, and then hold on to catch our breaths.
And then, the biggest gift of the day: SUNSHINE. Glorious sunshine!
We were all spread out now, and each of us had our moment to reach the summit. That view after that climb? Completely amazing.
We had done it: 2,768 steps to the top of Manitou Incline.
Brandy and I celebrated (and caught our breaths!)
Soon, there were Misty and Amy!
Next up was Lisa, blinded by the bright sun!
And Teresa was right behind her, joining us at the top!
We had done it. It was pretty hard to believe we had woken up in our own beds in Michigan that morning and we were now standing on top of a mountain!
We hung out at the top for a bit, checking out the oddities scattered about.
But I also had my eye on the sky. There in the distance, was a line of darkness. I knew how fast those storms could move and I didn't want to be caught in a predicament.
Plus, I had heard the trail down the mountain was amazing in itself. I was not disappointed. Huge boulders and a winding trail took us down the side of the mountain.
There was a chill in the air now, and when we hit a patch of sun, we stopped to soak it up.
The stormy sky had moved in a different direction, so we took our time and just had so much fun coming down that mountain.
Once back to the van, we had two things on our mind: getting to our AirBnb and FOOD. We stumbled upon a little market right before closing time, and took the place over. We needed breakfast for the morning and food for the mountain and of course, more snacks! By the time we had stocked up on everything imaginable, it was time to find dinner. We were a little far from any big cities, but we managed to find a Mexican place where we picked up food to go. We didn't make it to our house for the night until after dark, but it was lit up and waiting for us!
We quickly unloaded the car before completely inhaling our huge order of Mexican food. We took turns showering and trying out the full body massage chair and then we had to get situated for morning. How many layers should we wear? Should we take poles? How much water is too much water? So many decisions had to be made.
Our alarms were set for 2:30am. Wait. Does that even count as morning?! Ugh. It was going to be a short night-it was nearly 11:00pm already.
Somehow, we all popped out of bed Wednesday morning. Lisa was making pots of coffee, Misty was making breakfast burritos, there were bagels and muffins and peanut butter and Nutella roll-ups being packed for later.
And then, still in the dark, we left our cozy home in the mountains and headed for THE mountain of the day: Mount Bierstadt.
But halfway into our drive, there was a snag. Due to construction in one of the mountain tunnels, they had the freeway closed. We sat in a line of never-ending traffic. And we sat. And we stared at the clock. For nearly 45 minutes we sat. Finally, cars began moving. Let's goooooo!
Georgetown, Colorado is so cute and historic and even if climbing 14'ers isn't your thing, this town with its shops and restaurants and breweries is a great spot to visit. We, however, didn't visit. We just passed through in the early morning and then we began to go up. Lisa was driving and I was in the passenger's seat trying not to freak out. I have this fear of heights, you see, and Lisa wanted to look at everything while navigating hairpin turns going up the side of the mountain. Cue the nervous sweating. But the drive really is very breathtaking and I couldn't blame her for wanting to check everything out.
Normally when a person wants to climb this mountain, you can drive up to the trailhead, park, and be on your way. But because we were here in the off season, the road to the summit was closed at Guanella Pass. We would have to park there and then walk the road for two miles to get to the actual trailhead.
When we arrived at Guanella Pass we were all filled with nervous excitement. We were doing it! It was quite chilly, so we were all wearing several layers, hats, and mittens. We had food and water, spikes and poles stashed in our packs, and I added a raincoat, just in case. Let's go climb a mountain!
The road was clear and the sky was so blue. The trees looked like something out of a Bob Ross painting.
As we went further down the road, or rather up the road, there were patches of thick ice. At first they were small and we could go around them or just take a step or two and be across them. But then, the ice was too much and we took to walking in the very tall snowbanks lining the road instead.
As we climbed, we kept our eye on Mount Bierstadt. It was hard to believe we'd be up there today, in just a few hours.
Up and up we went and then the need for a bathroom took over. We all had to GO. All around this mountain is wide open country and there really wasn't anywhere to duck away. We came to the unopened parking lot near the trailhead and there was a bathroom! With huge piles of snow all around it! Darn it! Upon further investigation, one of the bathrooms had been shoveled out just enough to get inside. Hallelujah!
We all took our turn and then put on our spikes. We were leaving our paved road and beginning the trail. We had a brief discussion before heading out about time limits. I had climbed this mountain in good conditions, without snow, and knew it would be much more difficult in the snow and would take much longer. At 5:30pm, we had a flight to be on. In addition to that, we had quite a drive to get back to the airport. We decided if we hadn't summited by noon, we'd have to turn back, no matter what, in order to have enough time to get down the mountain and back to Denver. Game on!
The trail started out nice and easy. The sun was shining and we were all in good spirits. I couldn't believe we hadn't seen any other people! We literally had the mountain to ourselves. Very early on we learned to STAY. ON. THE. TRAIL. Or else!
The trail was snow covered and there were only remnants of a few footprints, but the first section was easy enough to follow and the incline was very gradual.
The climb gradually got steeper, and the snow made everything just a bit more difficult than just a normal trail. Still, we trekked onward and upward.
While keeping and eye on the time, we continued up and up. Being flatlanders, the increasing elevation was really felt. We took frequent breaks to regroup and have snacks.
The sun was shining brightly and because we were expending so much energy, we started to shed some layers. And then? Then the trail disappeared somewhere under the snow and all we knew was that we had to keep going up. I call this the "make-your-own-trail" section.
Once we re-found the trail, there was no snow for a bit! I didn't want to take my spikes off for just a little section, so we all just kept them on.
A little after 9:00am, we reached the halfway point. We did a little math, and we figured if we could keep moving and get the last two miles in in the next two hours, we'd be good to go!
As we kept moving up, I kept looking behind us. Soon, the sky began to change. Was there something coming this way? We kept moving. It was so difficult. We'd go about twenty yards and then stop to breathe. And then ten more yards with a stop to breathe.
Ok, yes. There was definitely something coming this way. The wind was growing stronger and stronger. Move faster. We can do this. Just a mile to go.
We were all spread out now. Brandy and Misty were way up ahead. They had summited this mountain in a storm before, and really wanted to summit it today. Amy and I were in the middle, and Amy was just getting over a broken ankle. Lisa and Teresa were behind us, still coming towards us. Amy and I were at a standstill. We didn't know what to do. Should we keep going with this storm coming in? Should we try to catch up to Brandy and Misty and discuss it with them? Should we head back down the mountain? We really didn't want to head back down the mountain. We also really didn't want to get stuck on this mountain in a storm with nowhere to seek shelter. As we stood there, the storm decided for us. We couldn't safely continue. It was time to go. Now. The storm was here. Lisa and Teresa were heading down, too. We hoped that Brandy and Misty were turning around, but they were so far ahead of us, we could barely see them as tiny dots on the mountainside.
As the storm reached us, the temperature dropped and there was snow and so much wind. I put my jacket back on and put my raincoat on top of it. I was cold. And scared. I quickly realized the reason there were only a few footprints: These storms were wiping them out every afternoon! The earlier sun had melted the snow enough to make it just a little slushy and more posthole-y and going down didn't seem to be much faster than going up. And that "make-your-own-trail" section from earlier? Well, on the way down it became the "slide-on-your-butt" section because we were in a hurry and it seemed the safest option.
At one point, we could see that Brandy and Misty had run into two other climbers. On our descent, the climbers, two men, caught up with Lisa and Teresa. They had stealth camped overnight and had begun their climb up at 4am. They summited and then got down in a hurry when they saw the storm approaching. If only we had a little more time... We had no idea where Brandy and Misty were at this point, and we could only hope that they were safe and making good choices up there. We were literally alone, on a mountain, in a snowstorm, miles from anything or anyone.
As we reached the bottom of the mountain, I guess I got a little slap-happy. I was relieved that we weren't in the thick of the storm anymore. I was following Amy, and every time she'd posthole, I'd crack up laughing. Every time I'd posthole, I'd crack up laughing! I couldn't help it! Step, step, whoosh! Step, step, step, step, whoosh! Without warning, BAM: Knee-deep snow. It was ridiculous and exhausting and somehow hysterical to me.
Finally we made it off the trail. As we waited near our trusty bathroom, another storm started rolling in. Where were Brandy and Misty? I scoured the mountain. Did they make it to the summit? Were they hunkered down somewhere? Were they on their way back down? The clouds were so thick and low, we couldn't even see the top third of the mountain. And then, movement. For just a moment there were two figures. They were way up there but they were definitely coming down. Then I saw them again, closer this time. They were running! Had they summited? As the next storm grew closer, we decided to head back down the road the two miles to the car.
The ice from the morning had melted, and we were booking it down. We didn't want any part of the next storm, which looked darker and bigger than the last. Lisa and Teresa were right behind us, and within just a few minutes, there were Brandy and Misty! We had all made it to safety. Had they summited? Sadly, no. A few hundred yards from the top, they had to turn back. The snow and the storm made the last section really treacherous and they made the wise choice to abort their mission.
After playing with a very friendly bird, we packed ourselves back into the van and headed back down the mountain. We hadn't done all that we had come there to do, but we did have an epic adventure. Someone commented that they were a little bummed we hadn't gotten to see mountain goats. Me, too! Total bummer. Then, as we rounded the next corner, MAGIC. There, in the road, were three mountain goats. We couldn't believe it! The day was complete.
We made our way back through Georgetown as the sky opened up and completely down-poured on us. I was so very thankful we had made the choice to come back down the mountain when we did.
We stopped at The Rino Brewery, home of Blue Moon, for dinner before getting back to the airport. Can I just say this grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup were to die for?! So good. We sat on the patio in the 75 degree heat and roasted. It was so crazy to think that just a couple hours before we were bundled in several layers of clothing, slogging through knee-deep snow!
After a quick stop to drop off the van, we hopped on the shuttle back to the airport. We were all dead tired after our two day whirlwind, and it was a very quiet flight home. Once back in Detroit, we took one last photo. I think this totally sums up how we were all feeling.
We climbed to the top of Manitou Incline and hiked back down. We attempted a 14'er in challenging conditions and gave it all we had. We are ultra runners and adventure-seekers. We push ourselves to our limits and take chances. But we are also mothers with children and families and at the end of the day, we come home to those who need us. Sometimes it's better to make smart choices than to push your luck. We may not have reached all of our goals in those two days, but we came away with so many memories. Plans are already in the works to go back and do more and to do it better. Colorado hasn't seen the last of us.
