Tag: 14er

Another busy travel weekend

While we may not be traveling overseas, my husband and I have been busy visiting some scenic spots around Colorado. This last weekend we were down in the San Juan Mountains. It was a very last minute trip, but we really enjoyed it.

My brother messaged me through his GPS. He was about 2/3 of the way through his Colorado Trail hike and wanted to see if I could get a room for him in Lake City (thru hikers plan “zero” days to get resupplied and do laundry). Since he had no cell signal, he hoped I would be able to find a room. Lake City is really a very small town with few places to stay – mostly cabins. I managed to find a 2 bedroom cabin. So my husband and I thought, what the heck, let’s go down and see him. My husband quickly planned a hike up two of the nearby 14,000 foot peaks, Redcloud and Sunshine.

The area is very scenic but a long way from Denver. About five hours. Traffic was super heavy as they are detouring traffic off I-70 due to one of the four fires raging in our state. But it was worth the drive. I drove my husband to the trailhead on a narrow mountain road the next day. Only 18 miles, but the last three miles were rough and part was right on the edge of a mountain!! It took 50 minutes one way. But I made it.

The trip back to Denver on Sunday took even longer. We decided to go a different route because Google maps told us it was quicker. Well, bad choice. They had to close down the road and we had to do a one-hour detour. We found out the next day that a motorcycle hit a pickup, flipped over, hit another car, which in turn hit another car. The two on the motorcycle were killed. So sad.

Oh, and my car got broken into by a hear! Not kidding. But I’ll save that story for tomorrow. My car is fine, but I do want to share the story in its entirety.

Trailhead to Redcloud and Sunshine Peaks
Heading up to trailhead. The road is not bad yet
Now things are starting to get fun!
Sending my brother off again. See ya in Durango!
Headwaters of the Rio Grande

Up and down weekend

I’ll start off with the good news! My oldest son rode his bike up Mt. Evans! That is one of the two 14,000 foot peaks in Colorado that have a road to the top, the other being Pikes Peak. Now, of course, he didn’t start at sea level, but his elevation gain was just over 7,000 feet and total round trip mileage was 58 miles. The elevation of Mt. Evans itself is 14,271 feet (4348 meters). This summer the road to the top is closed to cars due to Covid-19, so it did make it an ideal time (if there is such a thing!) to do it.

Doing this bike ride would be an accomplishment for anyone, but for my son, it is especially amazing. He has been a Type 1 diabetic for nearly 20 years. While he was young it was hard for him to compete in sports due to managing his blood sugars. But since he started wearing Dexcom’s Continual Glucose Monitor (CGM) five or so years ago, he has started to become more active. He now can look at his phone and know exactly what his numbers are without doing a finger prick. It’s truly an awesome medical device.

at the top of Mt. Evans 14,271 feet

Now about the downside of my weekend. I cut my finger on Saturday and required five stitches. I was cutting a watermelon and the knife got stuck. I yanked it out and it hit my finger. This is the second time I have cut my finger during the pandemic. The first time was on the tip of my pinkie while cutting an apple with a serrated knife. While not as deep it was a really tough one to bandage. I thought about going to the ER but I was a bit concerned as it was early on in the pandemic and we were in lock down. Fortunately, this second cut was easy to stitch, but it was sure painful when the doctor gave the lidocaine shots to numb my finger. I have put a picture below but don’t scroll down if you get queasy. I’m happy to say I haven’t had any throbbing at night, but I have to be careful still as it hurts if I knock it in to anything.

Ouch!