Mt. Princeton

For those of you unaware...when I lived in New Orleans, before Hurricane Katrina, I had an awesome roommate named Katie. When Katrina rolled in and wrecked our lives, Katie returned to her home state of Colorado. Since then, I have made a point of visiting her whenever possible, usually during ski season. I decided this year to visit in the summer, since I'd never been to Colorado in the summer.

For whatever reason, Katie had this plan to climb Mt.Princeton while I was in town. This is something Katie does regularly, climb mountains, and this was going to be her 20th 14er (meaning a 14,000+ peak). This is something people train for and what not, and I'm supposed to just show up and give it a whirl. Of course there's nothing that says I have to make it all the way to the top, I'm just supposed to try. I'm from sea level, my lungs aren't used to this thin stuff they call "air" up here. And oh yeah, I don't climb or hike regularly. But sure, I'll give it a go. This is the perfect opportunity to say things like "it's all uphill from here" and actually be right.

The night before, we bought snacks and water for hiking. Katie said to get something to eat that would make me "happy" when I got to the top. So I got some Rolos (I love caramel) and a Butterfinger (one of only 2 acceptable forms of peanut butter). Also some sharp cheddar cheese, because it's awesome.


We woke up way early Saturday morning, like 3:30am. Gah.


Started the hour and a half drive to the trail head. Stopped at a 7-11. they had a huge rice krispy treat.


Eventually got to the trailhead. A lot of people park at the bottom, but we had 4WD so we went up a little further, and this jeep was following us.


probably 6am by this point


rushing past roots and stuff


gearing up


here we go


met a pretty dog


I had some kettle corn


This first part is easy


and the view is already spectacular








chipmunk!


then it gets a little steeper


Miguel adds to the cairn...these are throughout the trail


Katie wanted a pic of the kettle corn hitting me in the ass


That far away peak, that's where we're going supposedly


oh hello boulder field


cave


does it ever end? turns out it does not.


This was more interesting than the dirt trail, and I liked it a lot at first. I've got great coordination and balance and with all the dance and gymnastics experience I'm really pretty agile. But after awhile your legs are burning like you've been doing the stairmaster...and it was like doing the stairmaster for two hours.


I am flipping Miguel off. That's how awesome I feel right now people.


View is still great, even though every muscle fiber in my legs is burning


View from the false peak...apparently no, we are not there yet.


but I wish we were


still gotta do all this


the dog is like "oh shit"


kill me now


I look happy don't I?


When do we get to go back down?


I can't believe I did this. And people are all like "you're so close, we're almost there"


I did ALL of this, how can there be more?


I found a flat rock. And I had a seat. And I breathed a lot. And I was totally really to call it quits because I'd made it this far, and it was pretty far, and I was happy enough with that. And some guy asked if I was okay and if I needed anything, and I said "better lungs" and he was like "you only have about 300 more feet to go, you should do it". Of course, he meant 300 feet STRAIGHT UP.

And Katie had my cheese. I really wanted my cheese. FINE I'LL DO IT.

This is all I have left. I feel like people were telling me that for half an hour. And it may not look like much. But damn it is brutal. I felt like I had to stop every 10 feet to breathe and rest.


but weeeeeee the top




weee my cheese!


Everyone kept telling me I was really awesome for making it to the top. This is my "I'm really awesome" pose.


Now let me eat my cheese. And die.


This dog is probably like "never again"






It really is spectacular


Now we just have to get down...which is easier than getting up, but still not a piece of cake






Falling would be bad...of course, I slipped and fell anyway, so I have a few scrapes and a great bruise now


We actually ended up going down a slightly different path than we had come up...and it was not very easy


dogs were everywhere


The end (of the boulder field) was near!


The freaks I was with started running when they got to the grass. I did not run because my legs were shaking bad enough just walking.


Kelly was right around the corner and the two of us walked down while they all ran ahead. We eventually made it back to the truck, put on flip flops, and started the drive down. As soon as we made it to the town near the bottom (buena vista) we stopped at a bar for foooooood.

I more than earned this bacon cheeseburger.


We drove back to Dillon and were pretty much useless the rest of the day. I can't say the climb was "worth it" exactly, but I am glad I did it and I don't regret it. Can't say I really want to do it again, but I'm glad I had the opportunity and I'm pretty proud.
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