So my wife and I climbed Mount Bierstadt (14,060 ft.) on Sept 1, 2012!

We drove up the night before and slept on the floor of our van to get an early start. We didn't get much sleep since hikers were pulling in and leaving from 10pm to 5am. This particular peak is a very popular climb.

We left the trailhead at 6:20am before sunrise but it was just getting enough light to see without flashlights. The first mile is fairly flat and travels through beautiful, marshy tundra with many bridges to keep you dry. After the first mile you have 2.5 miles of uphill, about 2800 feet of uphill to be accurate. The trails were easy to follow and we always had other hikers in view either coming down or going up.

The last quarter mile consists of scrambling over large boulders to get to the summit. This was a little challenging for my wife since she is a little shorter but she handled it great and we made the summit by around 9:30. We of course enjoyed the view and took some pictures and then headed down. The first half of the downhill goes a little slow since you really have to watch your footing on the loose areas but we made it down to the trailhead by around Noon.

After completing this climb I can say that this will probably not be the last 14er my wife and I do together! It left us both with a great sense of accomplishment and we got to experience some amazing scenery!

Mount Bierstadt (peak on the right) from the trailhead.

The bridges over the tundra.

Sally and I on the summit!

Amazing views from the top.

Ptarmigans along the trail. It's amazing how many animals we saw including marmots, ground squirrels and mountain goats from a distance.

So the 14er climb is set for the weekend of August 18th. We are planning one more training hike up to Chasm Lake at the base of Long's Peak for this weekend and then we get to the real thing. The planned peak is Bierstadt. Hoping for a clear, non-windy day!

My wife and I have started training pretty seriously for this already this year. She just completed a 6-week Boot Camp through her work and I'm doing P90X. Looking to complete this in June or July.

Last weekend we climbed to the top of Grey Rock and this weekend we hiked about 9 miles at Bobcat Ridge. I'm hoping to hike FlatTop Mountain and/or the Chasm Lake hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park in May or early June as training.

At the top of Grey Rock!

I missed the Long's Peak climb in September but have been hiking in RMNP about every other weekend to keep up on training. Going to hike as much as possible through the winter and plan the first 14er for around the first part of June if the weather permits.

I missed the Long's Peak climb in September but have been hiking in RMNP about every other weekend to keep up on training. Going to hike as much as possible through the winter and plan the first 14er for around the first part of June if the weather permits.

Right now I have a scheduled climb of Long's Peak in early September. I'll be going with several friends, one of which just climbed Kilimanjaro. Need to up my training for that hike because it's a rough 14er.

Hiked about 6 miles around Horsetooth Mountain Park. Great hiking! Saw beautiful falls and great scenery.

My wife has also made this one of her goals so we have started hiking together to get ready. Last weekend we hiked a popular trail in the Poudre River Valley called Grey Rock. The hike was about 4.5 miles with an elevation gain of around 1500'. It was a great hike!