Fourteener

I climbed my first Fourteener today, Mt. Bierstadt. Mt. Bierstadt is supposed to be the "easiest" 14er, or mountain over 14,000 ft. in height. Which I guess proves that there's no such thing as an easy 14er. As a pilot, you learn that if you're going to spend more than 30 minutes over 12,500 ft., you need to carry supplemental oxygen, since oxygen deprivation impairs your judgment. Almost the whole hike, starting out at Guanella Pass, is above this altitude. I was pretty much exhausted by the time I got halfway up, but kept at it, boulders and all. With the clouds moving in, we couldn't spend as much time at the summit as I would have liked, but since I'm lugging around way too much extra weight as it is, making it at all was a pleasant surprise.