I climbed a mountain today.
It wasn’t the first time I climbed a mountain, but it was the most euphoric.
It started off as a gorgeous day in paradise. I was on the trail by 7:30 am. Two hours later it was sprinkling. I had studied the weather. It wasn’t supposed to do that. I looked at the clouds; looked at the sky. I decided that there was no chance of lightning. The clouds weren’t tall enough. I wasn’t stopping. By the time I reached the top of the mountain, it was sunny again with white fluffy clouds. Perfect.
It was on the way down the euphoria set in. I wished I could have shared it, but finally decided that this was a personal euphoria that couldn’t be shared. If someone else had been with me, I probably wouldn’t have experienced it.
Here are the photos from the hike. Click for the larger versions.
- 7:44 AM Waterfall across the valley
- Still in the trees, heading higher than the trees
- There are many streams crossing the trail. This was one of the more challenging to cross.
- Higher and Higher
- Above most of the trees
- 8:27 AM. Looking south
- The morning light is fantastic.
- Destination is up there, but the peak is not visible.
- 9:04 AM. Encountered The Marmot Gang waiting to ambush me. They musta known I was comin’.
- There is more to this photo than just rocks and plants. What else is here?
- Diamond Lake, with Mount Evans on the horizon.
- Monster rocks on the horizon
- The trail continues up across the tundra. Here it’s also a stream.
- Marmot frolicking in the flowers.
- 9:41 AM Starting to get a view of the whole state.
- The destination, South Arapaho Peak, but still can’t see the actual summit.
- 10:19 AM. A grouup of teens descending above me. They must have got up early to beat me up here.
- Arapaho Glacier
- More of Arapaho Glacier
- It’s a long ways down
- City of Boulder’s water supply.
- A portion of the trail I came up. Tiny specs of teens can be seen going down to the right.
- Looking south while I catch my breath. At 13,000 feet elevation, there is no air.
- South Arapaho Peak (Left), North Arapaho Peak (Right)
- Looking west while I catch my breath.
- This is the top! Just a few more steps.
- 10:46 AM Reached summit. According to GPS, elevation is 13,430′
- Diamond Lake again
- Town of Granby in the distance.
- Long’s Peak (14,000+) in the background.
- View East
- One of the younger marmots on the peak.
- Papa marmot. I remember him from the last time I was up here. I took his picture then, too.
- Papa Marmot
- Cold water straight down.
- Mount Neva and Lake Dorothy
- Another straight down photo into the glacier.
- 11:42 AM. Heading down off the peak. Patterns in the snow
- Down across the tundra. It was a Julie Andrews moment.
- The trail down.
What wonderful photographs! I do envy you the climb, and am happy you had such an experience.:))
Re the photograph with the rocks and plants, I think there is a bird (don’t know what kind) directly between the two plants.
🙂 It is a Ptarmigan. It thinks it’s so well camouflaged that didn’t move as I walked by.