Aging gracefully has never been one of my strong points. Don’t get me wrong, my body is holding up pretty well, but mentally I have always felt about 4 years behind my true age. So as my 30th birthday drew closer in the fall of 2015, I had to devise a plan to lessen the panic of aging another decade.
I’ve never been the type to do much for my birthday, so for this milestone I decided to spoil myself with a vacation. And where better to take a vacation than the mountains of Colorado. Aside from the beauty of the location, my true logic was that if I was able to get far enough into the backcountry and lose cell phone reception for the day, no one could tell me happy birthday, and thus I could ignore turning 30 for another year. So I reserved myself a rental car, packed up all my backpacking gear, and hit the road for Colorado.
Twelve hours, two bags of Gardetto’s Rye Chips, 4 Red Bulls, and an endless amount of Podcasts later I finally made it to my happy place; Colorado. And I could rest easy under the shadow of Pike’s Peak in Colorado Springs knowing that for the next couple of days Colorado would grant me access to her beautiful landscapes, endless miles of trails and challenging 14,000ft peaks.
I awoke the next morning a 30 year old man with a mission. I set out with my best friend towards the 14,000ft summit of Mt. Evans and two days of adventure.
I highly suggest taking the beautiful Mount Evans Scenic Byway to the summit. Along the way you pass a crystal clear alpine lake, massive boulder fields, and if you’re lucky, you can have a chance encounter with some of the wildlife at these high altitudes.
Big Horned Sheep near the summit of Mt. Evans. Canon T3i, Canon 16-35mm f2.8
At the summit sits the Mount Evans Meyer-Womble Observatory and a parking lot that is usually fairly full unless you arrive early. However, the true prize is a short hike away from the observatory at the true summit of Mount Evans at 14,258ft. From here you are rewarded with a panoramic view of the Front Range mountains, and on a clear day you can see downtown Denver almost 50 miles away.
Spectacular views from the summit of Mt. Evans. Canon T3i, Canon 16-35mm f2.8
After 30 minutes at the summit, and the constant waterfall of snot dripping from my nose caused by the altitude, we decided to head back down to the car. We made our way to a hidden campground just outside of Twin Lakes, CO but not before making a small detour to Buena Vista for THE BEST fried pickles I’ve ever had.
Seriously.
Go to Biggies in Buena Vista, CO. Every single item on their menu is absolutely delicious.
My friend pitched the tent as I sparked life into the campfire and it roared to life. I looked at my phone and saw the only thing I was hoping for...
No Signal.
Our secret campsite near Twin Lakes, CO. iPhone 6+
I sat around the campfire and reflected on the wonderful gifts that Colorado had blessed me with so far with a bottle of whiskey and the company of my best friend. We relaxed for a while and then took a short hike up the hill to a wonderful vista overlooking the twin lakes from which the town draws its name. Upon returning to the campsite, I prepared my camera gear for what would be the crown jewel and perfect end to this day. Little did I know that a technical glitch would prevent any photos from being useable.
Around 10pm, an eerie crimson light began its ascent into the eastern sky.
A blood moon eclipse.
The hair stood on the back of my neck as it approached its maximum. Silence enveloped the entire clearing, and for a few moments, I felt as if the Universe was smiling down upon me. As if this amazing spectacle was an unwrapped gift welcoming me into a new decade of life. Slowly the wind picked up, and we could hear an animal rustling in the nearby trees as we returned to the campfire and crawled into the safety of our tent for the night. I awoke at 3am to find that the blood red orb that was once in the sky had returned to a bright white, casting a light just shy of daylight onto the entire landscape.
The next morning we broke down camp and returned to Buena Vista for a delicious breakfast at the Evergreen Cafe. Neither I, nor the Hunger Monster have ever taken breakfast lightly, and today was no exception. My friend looked at me with astonishment as I ordered damn near everything on the menu and proceeded to stuff my face knowing that I would need every last bite of calories for the hike we had ahead of us. While Mount Evans relinquishes its 14,000ft summit after an easy drive, the summit we would undertake in a few hours would not be so simple.
The plan was to hike the Decalibron, an 8 mile hiking loop stretched over four 14,000ft peaks. We set off around 10am and slowly began our ascent to the saddle between Mt. Democrat and Mt. Cameron. I had hiked a single 14er earlier that summer and thought that this one would be of similar difficulty, but the sheer altitude gain over such a short distance made for a much more difficult hike.
By the time we reached the saddle, I could tell that one peak would be all that I could manage, so I stopped to rest for a few minutes looking out over the 1000ft cliffs on either side. By now my thighs were on fire, and the waterfall had begun gushing from my nose once again, but I took my last bite of energy bar and jerky, strapped my backpack on and made my final push for the summit. The next mile was a maze of switchbacks, scree fields, and one false summit, but after 3 hours of relentless uphill struggle, I finally made it to the summit where I was met with the astonishing view back down the mountain of the path I had fought so hard to follow.
The view was panoramic and endless, and I remembered just why I had set out on this journey. I sat down and laid back against the rocks, soaking in the warming sunlight in an attempt to rest my aching muscles.
A feeling of bliss and peace of mind washed over me.
I knew that I would have a grueling hike back down the mountain, a mind-numbingly boring drive back to St. Louis, and all of the stress of normal life waiting for me back home. But for those fleeting moments at the summit, I was as close to the top of the world as I could be. And in the grand scheme of things, that's the best birthday present I could have ever hoped for.