Climbing a 14r is kind of a rite of passage in Colorado, a symbol that you are a hiking bad ass, and can conquer challenges at any altitude. There’s a range of awesome 14rs to choose from, with varying degrees of difficulty. People spend summers trying to cross hikes off their 14r bucket list. These hikes get so much attention because of their difficulty and the insane elevation gains you must overcome to summit.
I’ve lived in Colorado my whole life and never done a 14r. Truthfully, the crazy outdoor culture that has taken over Colorado’s identity wasn’t super prevalent when I was in high school. Of course my friends and I would hike, but we never had any desire to challenge ourselves to extremes and spend hours climbing a mountain.
As I got older and more into the outdoors, 14rs have always been on my bucket list. Despite never doing one in Colorado, I have lots of experience from South America doing hikes at 14,000, 15,000, and even 16,000 feet, so while I’ve technically never done one in Colorado, I’m comfortable climbing high where the oxygen is limited and the views are amazing.
So this past weekend, my friend asked if I wanted to try one. I said yes feeling nervous, but knowing I was probably going to be in good enough physical shape to accomplish it, but had to consider if I had the mentality to tackle a long hike.
We decided on Mt. Evans, which is known as an easier 14r, mainly because you can drive up a winding road to a parking lot where the summit is much more in reach. Of course when we arrived though, the road was closed so we had to decide what our approach would be. From the parking lot there was a trail that would add some serious mileage but we decided to go for it.
This trail was stunning, weaving through pine trees, with soft lush dirt beneath our hiking boots. Once we past the tree line, insane views of the Rockies started peaking into sight, and the crispness of the air made for a beautiful start.
As we began to see the climb we would have to do, we noticed the path sort of disappeared. We tried to retrace our steps and could not seem to find a distinct path. We decided to do some off trailing and climb up, hoping that we would eventually find a path. We saw other people getting stuck at the same spot as us, where the trail seemingly just disappeared. Another group of girls decided to go nearby, climbing up rocks, and we decided to meet them.
For a good hour, we climbed massive boulders, and went up a super steep side of the mountain. We knew there was no way this was the trail, but truthfully didn’t have many other options. After a good hour or two of climbing rocks, we were exhausted, but saw the road. This road we knew was a good sign because if you followed that you would get close to the summit. Once, we past the boulders, we had a steep climb to hit the road.
An incredible view of Evans came into sight, and we decided to perch on a rock with panoramic views of the mountains of Colorado. Surprisingly, there was barely any wind at this spot and we soaked up the views. I got exhausted just looking at the road to Evans, seeing how much further we’d have to go (probably another 6 miles). We decided with sore feet, no summit today. Because of the miscalculation, getting lost, and the road being closed, we figured that we would probably hike 20 miles if we decided to summit, which we were not ready for. We chose to take the road back, looking down at the massive boulder wall we had just climbed, and deciding that to go down and back would be excruciating.
We took the winding road down, which was actually super gentle on the legs, and gave us extraordinary views the entire way. While we didn’t summit, we had an absolutely stunning 13 mile hike, still gained 2,000 feet in elevation, and had an adventurous climb.
Hiking for me has never been about summiting but enjoying nature and the people I’m with. Have you ever tried to summit a 14r? Or challenging hike? And did it goes as planned?
Despite not summiting, I had so much fun! And can’t wait for the road to open to try summiting again!
Hailee Boyle Social Media Management 