Maybe. But we would rather just see the singular. Mt. Democrat.
And not from the bottom up, but from the top down. Joshua's comments are in italics.
A hiking we will go…
Joshua, Briana, and John came to Colorado to visit. When these boys are back in town, we seek adventure. And 14ers are just that. Calling our names to reach the top. And since 14ers aren’t really a challenge for these boys, or Briana either :), we took some kids along, so they could actually get a workout.
Mt. Democrat starts in the small town of Alma which is already
located at 10, 361 ft elevation. By the
time you drive up to the start hike location, you are probably close to 11,
000. Feeling dizzy yet? Nauseous? Good thing, we’re just about to get
started.
Joshua and Briana scoped out this 14er for us. (Thank you
very much) In Joshua’s words, “It’s only about 2 and ½ to 3 and ½ miles round
trip. We’ll probably do the 3 and ½
because it’s not as steep.” In my head,
“Three and one half. That’s nothing. My
kids and I did 5 the other day.” Five at
5,500 ft elevation. Boy, were we in for
a surprise.
Mountains are tricky things.
Tricky, you say? Yeah, I know
it’s not the term you usually think of when you think of a mountain. They like
to keep the reputation they have going.
Majestic. Unconquerable. Tall.
Massive. Mysterious. It’s the mystery that will get you. And from a distance mountains are all they
say there are. It’s when climbing them, you find out there’s more to them than meets the eye.
See, you look at a mountain and you think, “I got this.”
Which is exactly what the mountain wants you to think. But often what you think is the peak of the
mountain isn’t really the peak at all and that’s where they get tricky.
After these grassy areas, the mountain started to get more intimidating. This is the time when the mountain wants to see if you really have it in you. The rocks became harder to transverse, even slipping underneath you at several points. Kira was especially having a hard time. Not sure if the elevation, hunger, or dehydration was affecting her, but the mountain was giving her a run for her money. Joshua was a great cheerleader. He would distract her with ideas, give piggy-back ride incentives (and skittles), and encourage all along.
We came to an open area part way up. The winds became stronger here as it was open
to other mountain ranges. But the view
was amazing. We stopped for some pictures.
The kids all clung attached to Briana without any
trouble. They would pick her flowers,
hold her hand, and take sips of her sparkling juice that she shared with
them. We asked Briana a few questions
going up. Mountains like these make it
difficult to engage in conversation.
You have to focus on breathing instead of talking.
Our one motivation to reach the peak was to eat! We planned
to have lunch at the summit. So although
we teased ourselves with water and a few nuts and grapes, the real treat was
sandwiches at the top.
Remember the part about the tricks. Well, he did. (I guess this is a masculine mountain. We prefer those democrats to the female kind) We were at a really tough point and we could see what we thought was the
top ahead. We had to basically go
straight up. We gradually each made it
up, John dragging Liam, (Thanks, John.) and panting for breath. We thought, “This is it, we made it!" Only to look a little off to the left and see
a stake in the summit 200 yds ahead.
We stopped here for a bit to play in the snow. Yes, Snow!
Joshua built mini snow boys and girls and put rocks on their faces. Well, we’ve come this far, let’s finish
it! So, up a bit more we went.
John is trying to tickle me here, hence why my hand is behind my back. 
What a great adventure!
Briana was amazed at Sienna (A 5 year old!) making to the top doing most
of the hiking by herself. Not many
people can say they hiked a 14er that young.
We loved getting to hang out with John and Joshua. (Even
Liam got his name down) They are so positive and we definitely couldn’t have
made it to the top without them. We also
loved meeting Briana. She is very loving
and willing to share whatever she has. (I’m wearing her blue jacket in the last picture. I love her go-getter attitude and her
excitement to hike. She did Mt. Democrat
on Monday and hiked the Manitou incline the very next day. I'll add another post about that fun adventure!
On the way down we saw a mountain goat. Briana was down in a lower point in the
rocks with the kids. We called out to
her, “Look, a mountain goat.” She didn’t
get up to look. We said it again. When she finally did get up it was six feet
in front of her. She was shocked. “I thought the mountain goat was a ways off," she said. The mountain goat walked on by
us. He didn’t seem startled at all.
Sienna also held my hand on the way down. She
told me, “Mom, I like holding you hand.
I didn’t get to hold it on the way up.” I asked her, “Whose hand did you
hold?” She said, “I held Joshua’s and Joshua’s true love, I can’t remember her
name.” “Out of the mouth of babes.” said
John.
Thanks for coming and giving us such a fun adventure to
remember.
Briana sharing her words of wisdom.
Come on, Liam. Give me a little smile.
Panorama!
Mwah!
Taking a break, right before the mountain goat came walking up.
All the beautiful wild flowers.
Exhausted.
Here the kids are all taking turns giving John a kiss for a skittle as a reward. :)
"If you sit on his lap today, a kiss a skittle is the price you'll pay!"
Kira was being playful. She didn't want to give John a kiss and kept darting in and out.
The Alchemist
Conversion of Bill Carpenter - a fun conversion story that we listened to. I recommend it!!
