August 28, 2002
After a harrowing ride up a bad dirt road (4-wheeling in a Ford Escort wagon is not recommended for the faint of heart) our hike to Gray's Mountain began at 7:30. It was a lovely day, and Nelson's 60th birthday.
The Birthday Boy
Have poles, will travel.
It was a nice hike despite crowds that would make an REI closeout sale look sparse in comparison. The mountain that day was infested with children, loud chatty ladies, and surprisingly... Canadians. Nelson met several of his fellow countrymen who all seemed to recognize each other by their particular brand of mountain gear, frequent use of the interjection "Eh?", their fierce determination and proud independent spirit.
Not a Canadian.
Canadian.
This was my second fourteener hike, I'd hiked Mount Bierstadt in 1999. Nelson was a skilled mountaineer, having already summited Mount Gray twice in the past, the last time being 1999, along with Mount Bierstadt, he also had 7 attempts that failed due to weather or time restraints.
Nelson did not like the looks of the clouds this day as they hung ominously over the peaks. I didn't like the ominous creak in my knees four hours into the hike. Unfortunately, due to this year's wild fires, a stolen bike and time restraints, this was my first hike of the season and I wasn't in top form.... I was also packing excess weight...and not all of it in my backpack. I'd also been up since midnight after only 3 hours sleep after my new neighbors awoke me with the sounds of construction. Ok, there are probably some more excuses I can come up with, but those are in the top 10.
View
from almost the top.
View of Mount Kelso
with ominous clouds.
We were nearly over the roughest part of the hike and had the summit in our site (well, ok, it was maybe another hour or two away at our pace) when the weather quickly turned bad. Dark clouds and thunder rolled over the the mountain. A woman on her way down from the summit warned many people off, telling a tale of finding a dead man struck by lightening on this very mountain last year with her husband. She sold me on the idea of turning back.... Nelson made the wise decision to turn back, my knees were secretly overjoyed, while my spirit was disheartened at not reaching the top. I know Nelson regretted not summiting on his birthday, and I know he'll soon be back to attempt it again.
We both agreed that the journey was to be enjoyed and that it's not always the destination that holds the most importance.... we had a nice journey.
High but not quite there.
Nelson near the top.
The trip down was overshadowed with the threat of rain that never really materialized, a few weak dribbles and a low rumbling thunder. Clear skies would peak out and more dark clouds would push it away. I slightly twisted an ankle whilst maneuvering the well traveled but rocky path down. I reikied most of the pain away while Nelson gallantly offered to carry my gear, I declined his kind offer and made it back ok, though very slooooowly.On a particularly rocky portion of the trail I sychronistically found what I considered an answer to a silent question, and an assurance that all would be well...
Lost and found... one golden angel. Will the owner please call...
Dark clouds over Torrey Peak
So we reached the parking lot.... and the blessed public toilets, at about 4:30 PM, 11 and a half hours after we'd set off on this trip. We had a wild, white-knuckle ride back down the impossibly nasty road where I pretended I was maneuvering through the video game "Asteroids". Nelson threatened to walk down rather than ride shotgun with Danger Girl... (ok, he was jumping out of the car to help guide me over the really nasty ditches, and to remove boulders... but he did consider it less stressful than being in the car).
After making it back to Idaho Springs we celebrated with a Beau Jo's Mountain Pie and ice cream.
So, all and all it was a very nice hike but it was the foreboding weather that prevented us from reaching Mount Gray's summit... at least that's our story and we're sticking to it.
Happy Birthday Nelson!
