John went out and climbed Longs Peak the following week while I was on vacation. We thought, “Well if John can do it, so can we!” On August 11, we climbed Longs, and I couldn’t believe how tired I was after my third fourteener. But that spectacular mountain mesmerized me, and I really enjoyed the light scrambling. At that point, I thought it was realistic that we’d be able to climb most, if not all, of the third-class fourteeners. But descriptions of the Elk Range and San Juan Range peaks really scared me off, and I never thought I’d be able to finish. It really wasn’t until autumn of 2002 after successful climbs of Kit Carson, the Crestones, and Ellingwood Point that I felt committed to trying to complete the list, but I still was quite wary of some of our remaining peaks.

I have to echo Dwight and say the route Kurt Traskos led us on for Capitol Peak over Labor Day weekend in 2003. First, we took the “back way,” using West Snowmass Creek for the approach instead of Capitol Creek. Cool weather earlier that week led some of the elk to bugle that evening as we hiked under the stars. Kurt led us up Mount Daly’s East Face route while the sun made a grand entrance that morning, and then we joined Capitol’s standard route at Daly Pass. All the worrying about Capitol came to a head as we approached the knife-edge, but our hard work over the last couple years paid off. We made it up to Capitol without any problems, and in fact, I just had a great time and thought the scrambling was a joy. Kurt motivated us to descend to the Pierre Lakes Basin even though we were dead tired, and we returned to our trailhead via that magical basin, Bear Creek, and finally Snowmass Creek. It remains the toughest day I’ve spent in the mountains, and I treasure the experience.

Ellingwood Point’s Southwest Ridge. Erin and I made our first visit to the Sierra Blanca in mid-October of 2002. The first fabulous thing about our climb was that we had the entire Lake Como area to ourselves. We didn’t see a single person the whole day! We were planning on climbing the monarch, Blanca Peak, but we changed our minds at Blue Lakes and decided to see if we could climb both Ellingwood and Blanca in the same day. I really felt like I was pushing my limits, and the ridge’s north side held some snow from a September storm that year, which made some of the scrambling more exciting. I thought the exposure was exhilarating, the climbing sublime, and the routefinding, due to the snow, interesting. We didn’t have time for Blanca that day – it was dark before we got back to Erin’s car as it was – but we came back the following August, repeated the Southwest Ridge and traversed to Blanca. I still think back to that crisp, solitary October day and smile.

Without a doubt, this moment was on El Diente, my first time on hard spring snow. I’ll quote from my trip report:

 “We had to traverse a snowslope to reach the final gully to the El Diente-Mount Wilson ridge. This slope freaked me out completely, and I wasn't right for the rest of the day. Everyone took careful steps across the slope, belaying with our axes. I was the last in the line. As we neared the end of the slope, it steepened slightly, and I locked up. It didn't feel like I could, should, or would take another step in either direction. Paralysis. I agonized over my position while I watched the others continue their slow traverse, leaving my line of sight. It's not too often that I've wondered, "Just what the hell am I doing out here?" but at that point it was all I could think. After what felt like an hour, my legs began to quiver, too long had they been locked in place. Just then, though, I experienced an epiphany of sorts. It was suddenly all too simple; I realized that I really didn't have a lot of options. I either had to move on, or I had to turn around. I finally took that next step.”

Right now I haven’t decided on which list to focus on next. I’ve made some progress on the Colorado county high points. The fourteeners give you a nice head-start on that list, and with a little work, I’ve now hit 40 of the 64. I’d also like to do some of Colorado’s 100 Most Prominent Peaks, but strangely enough, given the effort I put into helping create that list, it’s not a priority either. Certainly the centennials beckon, but I’ve only climbed ten of those so far. More interesting to me are the thirteeners in general. I’d like to climb every Sangre de Cristo and Front Range thirteener, for example. This summer I’ve really enjoyed the flexibility of climbing whatever peak I fancy, and I think I like the idea of not hammering away at one list in particular, and rather slowly pursuing five or six! I also need to get outside of Colorado to see more of what the West has to offer.

Q: What 14er did you climb last? Did you  intentionally save it for last or is it a 14er that previously eluded you?

A: Culebra Peak was my final fourteener, for obvious reasons. I climbed it on September 11, 2004 with a small group of friends, and it was definitely a highlight of my fourteener career to finish at the same moment as three great friends.