Bagging a Colorado Fourteener
When we started making vacation plans to go to Colorado, a friend at work who is from Colorado asked, “Are you bagging a 14er?” I had no idea what she was talking about until she sent me a website link (14ers.com). Colorado has 58 mountain peaks exceeding 14,000 feet (known as 14ers) and it’s a big accomplishment to hike one of these amazing peaks. There are six Class 1 Fourteeners and #4 on the list is Mount Elbert, the highest peak in Colorado. A few years ago, we hiked the highest peak in Maine — Mt. Katahdin at 5,367 — so why not hike the highest peak in Colorado. To put it in perspective, Clingman’s Dome is the highest peak in Tennessee at 6,643. When Mike and I hiked to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, we were at 8,839 feet. Half Dome was the highest we’ve ever hiked. We spent our first two days in Colorado doing a few short hikes and getting acclimated to the altitude. Then on the big day, with the sign in my backpack that frien...