Got Oxygen ?!

That appeared to be the only slogan printed on any article of clothing at the Summit House on top of Pikes Peak this past Saturday when we visited it.

How disappointing!



The last part of the hike is more
"bouldering" than hiking.



After 6 1/2 hours of a fairly grueling hike, which included an elevation climb of over 5500 feet (from below 9000 to 14,110 feet at the peak itself), I had hoped there would be something ... anything  available with the words "I climbed Pikes Peak."  But there was not!  You could find shirts or bumper stickers that said "I drove up Pikes Peak" but there was nothing to be worn as a badge-of-honor representing your ascension up the mountain that Zebulon Pike himself never managed to climb to the top of!



I was proud of the 4 boys (Josh Case Jr, Nathan Peterson, Jeffrey Moore, and Jon Morrow) from the Firehawks Patrol that made the entire climb with me.  Only one boy (Aaron Bullock) was unable to make the complete ascent, but he did hike from the Crags Campground to Devil's Playground, which is an exhausting hike over 4 miles in length and covering 2300 feet of elevation increase.  Excellent job Firehawks !!!

All in all it was a very enjoyable experience.  There is a certain satisfaction that comes from achieving such a lofty (pun intended) goal.
I take pride in the fact that I can forever again look up at the beautiful peak and say

"I hiked that!"

I just wish I had it on a t-shirt or something!  :)

...