Ingrid's Corner

Fourteeners…

by Ingrid

Several blogs I follow share their adventures of hiking.  I’ve been inspired by their stories.  Inspired by the photography.  I can’t wait to explore some of these trails myself.  I throughly enjoy hiking, but in the past I haven’t had time to hike more than an hour or so.    Therefore, I have never built up the endurance for much past a four to five mile hike, nor did I have the desire.

Pikes Peak
a snow-capped Pikes Peak behind Garden of the Gods

After reading the accomplishments of fellow bloggers, I am motivated to hike longer and further….motivated to increase my endurance…..motivated to push myself….motivated to explore beyond my dreams.  I actually have an interest in one day hiking a “Fourteener” and  it is now on the “bucket list”.  As I contemplate this goal, I am reminded of a post I did last spring.  A post about “Fourteeners”.

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If you live in Colorado, you obviously know what a Fourteener is.  For those of you unfamiliar, it’s a mountaineering term used to describe a mountain that exceeds fourteen thousand feet above sea level.  Climbing all of Colorado’s Fourteeners is a popular pastime among hikers, especially here in Colorado.

Pikes Peak
Pikes Peak,  Colorado Springs, Colorado

Alaska has the tallest Fourteener; Mount McKinley in Denali comes it at 20,320 feet in elevation.  Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs, Colorado, places 57th on the Fourteener list in the United States coming in at 14,110 feet above sea level.

Although I love to hike, I know my limitations.  Thus, hiking a Fourteener has eluded my repertoire of activities, as well as the bucket list.  I have the utmost respect and admiration for those whom have accomplished hiking all of Colorado’s Fourteeners.  I just won’t be one of them.

Grand Junction
Me with daughter and my brother at The Monument

I do enjoy a good hike.  Whenever we visit my brother and sister-in-law in Grand Junction, Colorado, we always manage to squeeze in a visit to The Monument, even if it’s only an easy one hour hike.  That being said, last year daughter and I were on such a hike with my brother and his wife.  The Monument is so beautiful, any hike is better than no hike and a trip to Grand Junction just would not be complete without this activity.

We hiked, we explored, we climbed rocks for photo-ops and that’s when it happened.  A sound escaped my brother…..”Hum, excuse me”. he says slightly embarrassed.  I comment, “No problem.  Consider yourself healthy and normal”.  I proceed to brief him on a recent Dr. Oz show….a show on flatulence, a show about passing gas.  Dr. Oz…. gotta love him.  According to Dr. Oz, the average, healthy person passes gas fourteen times per day.

AND THUS…..the new meaning of a FOURTEENER was born !  Have you accomplished a Fourteener?  🙂

The Monument
Really, Mother? Really???

Grand JunctionGrand Junction Colorado

41 thoughts on “Fourteeners…”

  1. Love your blog! Let’s see I drove to the top of the Continental Divide in Colorado at 14, 400 or so feet, and walked around until my head ached. Does that mean I’ve done a fourteener?
    LOL! 🙂

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    1. Colorado has plenty to choose from. It’s definitely a goal. Thanks for stopping by. Over at Lilly Sue Bites and Brews she’s blogged about a couple of recent fourteener hikes….good info.

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  4. Nope, by your defination, Arizona just has big hills. lol. Been up most of the hills here, and I’m pretty sure I’m not cut out for anything bigger!

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    1. Agree….love the hills in AZ. Hope to get in lots of hiking this winter between Usary, McDowell and Superstition we certainly won’t be at a loss of places to explore. We’ll leave those higher elevations for next summer as most already have snow. AZ here we come…lol

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        1. Usary Regional Park, east side of Phx/Mesa. Last winter we spent a little time in the area. So this winter we hope to explore lots more. Are you near Casa Grande? We have friends that winter there.

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            1. Oh, this is too funny. We’ll be camping at Cave Creek Reg Park so hubby and I can spend sometime looking at Real Estate in that area. My son lives near the 101 and 51 and I like shopping at Desert Ridge off Tatum. Small world 🙂

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  5. Anything is possible. Moderate your entry and progression, you actually get stronger while you are sleeping, so the workouts are only one part. Good diet, recovery time and sleep are essential. I was told hiked Quandary Peak had reasonable access, then hiked it in 1987 with a stranger from UK. Simon and I started at dawn, scrambled for hours and went further than we deserved to reach the top of that 14-er before turning back for the return trip. Now my wife and I may get to do the same next Spring. Right now we’re hunkered down beached in the Catskills on our http://www.trampervoyage.com Hope the truck is fixed soon and we survive this bump in our road.

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  6. I really admire serious hikers. I go for walks. 😀 Love the Dr. Oz gas facts……..that means that the elderly guy I heard at the gym yesterday, was definitely “healthy and normal.” 😆

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    1. OMG……at the health club??? Too funny. Well I have to admit, we are more “walkers” working towards serious hikers…..that’ll take us some time though!

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  8. I’m not sure that altitude likes me enough to do a fourteener. After hiking the highest peak in AZ several years ago and discovering altitude was not my friend I try to acclimatize now before I tackle anything at too high an elevation. Just getting out into nature is wonderful so I would encourage you to go for it. 🙂

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  9. We love to hike/bike as you may have noticed but we will pass up on the mountaineering… or doing a Fourteener ..not that I have not done a Dr Oz fourteener 🙂 The monument will be a definite place to be check out.

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    1. Well we need to work on our hiking and biking distances before considering any high altitude hike. I’d love to share info on Colorado with you…..so much even we haven’t explored. Hopefully next summer we’ll get in some new locations. 🙂

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    1. Well, your hikes have definitely been inspiring. So pls continue to share 🙂 Although with this current snow, those fourteeners will need to wait awhile!

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      1. Ya, my adventures might have to wait until spring. This winter I am learning to snowboard though! So instead of hiking up mountains, I am going to slide down 🙂

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        1. Look forward to hearing all about those adventures! Daughter bought her season pass. She’s good at skiing but her attempts at snowboarding had her spending more time on the ground than upright 🙂

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          1. Yes, that is definitely the case when learning. If she only did it a couple times though tell her to not be discouraged! I think the first time always makes people think they are failures lol and then they begin to get the hang of it the following few times. I am just a beginner so I will be on the ground more often too 🙂

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  11. Ha ha! Fourteener. I’m going to remember that. I don’t know if I’ve accomplished that, but will have to take notice now that I’ve been informed by you of Dr. Oz’s info. I could do that ‘goal’ (ha) a lot easier than a mountain fourteener. I’ve done one hike over 11,000 feet, and the last 500 feet killed me. I had to push myself to take 10 steps, and then stop and try to get oxygen for another minute before I could muster energy for 10 more steps. Ick! I didn’t like that high altitude feeling. Besides, there are no trees up at that point–it’s just barren. I’ll stay in the trees, thank you.

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    1. Yeah, I have a bit of trouble over 10,000 feet…the headaches seem to start. I find the tundra (above tree line) fasinating…..the fragile wildflowers and other unique vegetation, as well as the occassional herd of elk. But actually hiking a fourteener? We’ll see!

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  12. You have way more ambition than I do. I’ll stick to long walks at sea level, thank you! Dr Oz has really been on a tear with the ’embarrassing’ topics of late. He is such a kick…. though I wouldn’t want to stock up on ALL of his suggestions, I’d have to rent storage. 😉

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    1. Totally agree re-Dr. Oz. If one took all the supplements he recommended, we’d be taking ninety pills a day….lol. As to my ambition, time will tell or rather the body will tell what it is willing to do!

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  13. I don’t know about an altitude long hike, but Jerry and I have hiked the Grand Canyon, rim-to-rim in one day, several times. That hike is 24 miles. Although fun to accomplish that goal, I always get to the point where it feels like a “death march.” Ha ha!

    I’m sure I could be convinced to attempt a fourteener. Let’s go :)!!!

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    1. Wow….rim to rim. I would love to do that. Gonna take me awhile to build up to that. You’ll love CO. So much to see and explore…….Stay warm 🙂

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  14. Hahah! That’s too funny. 🙂 I visited Cripple Creek a few times growing up (and about seven years ago), I always get altitude sickness. Not sure if I could do a fourteener even in good shape because of that. 😦 It is sad, because I love the mountains.

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    1. It does take an adjustment period. I still get headaches over 10,000 feet in elevation and I’ve now lived at 5,000′ for fifteen years. Definitely beautiful but challenging!

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