No Easy 14ers

"Maybe the best advice is to remember is there is no such thing as a easy 14er." - Hiking 101 in the Examiner

When my sister asked me to hike Pikes Peak with her, I thought initially thought she was crazy. I mean, really - I haven't been under 240 pounds since I started college. I haven't been working out. And I am NOT a hiker. But then we went into the mountains in Beulah, CO and I fell in love. It was beautiful. And there was wildlife around us. And we hiked and I really, truly enjoyed it.

As such, I've agreed to summit Pikes Peak. To spend the next year of my life preparing for this journey. So what is the first thing I do? Google it.

And I did. And the quote above is the first one that I found. I realized right then and there what I'd gotten myself into. Beauty, sure. But we're looking at a 6-10 hour day of hiking. And that's just to get to the top. We're looking at storms that come between 1:00 - 4:00pm, so we best have made it to the top before they hit. We're talking about planning gear to take to protect against the cold (even in August), and what clothes to wear to keep moisture from sticking to us.

Most importantly, we're talking about finding a fitness level that is unlike any that I have experienced in the last 5 years. So in the next year, I will work on cardio and resistance training. I am working with a trainer and in the gym 3-4 days a week. I'm trying to walk on days I don't go to the gym. I'm trying to build my body into a lean mean hiking machine. And hopefully, I can do it by next August so my big sister and I can summit Pikes Peak and feel absolutely, positively infinite.

There may be no such thing as an easy 14er, but there is such a thing as perseverance.

And at least I finally have an excuse to wear the Keens I bought for hiking a year ago, right? (That's a story for another post...)