14,036 feet

  On Saturday I hiked my fourth fourteener!  That makes four down and only fifty more to go! I met up with my friend Laura and her friend Andrea at 6 am in Denver and from there we drove about a couple hours to Mt. Sherman,a peak west of Fairplay, CO. You can read more about Mt. Sherman HERE at 14ers.com. Mt. Sherman is in the Mosquito Mountain Range. It seems that no matter the distance or elevation gain, or how much better in shape you are 14ers are just plain HARD! So this trail, like most 14ers was a pretty busy trail. There was a large group of people in front of us and when we caught up to one of the members of the group we asked if it was some sort of meet up hiking group. Apparently it was the 100 year anniversary of the Colorado Mountain Club and so every member of the club signed up to hike one of the state's 54 peaks over 14k ft. Little did we know we would be part of this 100 year climb when we started our day! This day was a girls hike day, so I didn't have my pack mule aka husband to carry all my stuff for me. I tried to lighten up my pack as much as possible, without leaving behind life saving essentials (Hello, have YOU seen the movie 127 hrs?!) but it was still pretty heavy after food and 2 liters of water plus extra clothes and the works. Wow, what a difference wearing a heavy pack makes! I don't think any of the 14ers I have been done would be considered easy by anyone in their right mind, but darn, this one was hard for me! I think I may even claim that is peak had the best view yet. It was a 360° panoramic view and I couldn't possibly take enough pictures to show this. For such a cool day ( 34°F at the start of the hike) the lack of wind that Sherman is notorious for made for quite a warm hike. It could also be the 10 layers of clothing my husband insist I wear because "It might snow on you at 14,000 feet!". Anyway, we found a nice spot in a man made rock alcove to have lunch, where we did the third grade trade, you know "What do you have? Wanna trade?" haha, it was a fun day and  I love having friends who like to be active like I do. I'm not 100% sure, but I'd bet that this will be my last 14er of the season. The Aspens are already changing, although still warm here, the high country is chilling quickly and there will soon be snow covering these peaks. I figure four in one summer is pretty good and early snow means early skiing! Today we have had a nice relaxing Sunday Funday. This morning we went to a local farmers market and bought some peach goat cheese made by local farmers and sampled all sorts of deliciousness like whole milk from Longmont Dairy. Love supporting the local farmers! As promised, I made buffalo chicken dip and other artery clogging football foods for opening season for the Denver Broncos. They play @home this evening, so we will be rooting them on and I'm sure explaining American football to the inlaws! =)

Cheers!