Some things don’t always go exactly as you plan in your mind. Obvious statement, right? Alas, it never fails to have a fleeting moment of “this isn’t how it’s supposed to happen” thoughts, am I right? (But I’m wrong – it is how it’s supposed to happen.)

This weekend, Shane and I set out to bag our 2nd and 3rd 14-ers, Grays and Torreys Peaks.

yep…this picture pretty much sums it up..

I had kind of been in a slump the latter half of last week, not really feeling motivated, not sleeping well, and just feeling run down. So, I was looking forward to getting away in the mountains, coming back refreshed and inspired.

We drove up to Breckenridge Friday afternoon so that way we could grab a bite to eat and get a good night’s sleep in a hotel. We stopped at Pug Ryan’s and grabbed a burger and fries – and some spinach artichoke dip and beers (we were “carbing up” for the big hike ) We debated grabbing froyo, but by this time it was about 8:30p, and we wanted to get a good night sleep before tomorrow’s adventure: 8.5 mile round trip hike, gaining a total elevation of 3,600 ft. But some things don’t always go as planned…

[photo from 14ers.com]

14ers.com says it takes between 5-8 hours to summit both peaks, so we left our hotel shortly after 5:00a.m., drove to the trail – including about 20 minutes on an unimproved road; yay for off roading in the truck!- and walked up to the trailhead around 6:00am.

It was still dark when we began – and it was pretty chilly – about 45 degrees. In typical Paige fashion, I didn’t bring a coat or gloves, but I had long sleeves and my Patagonia vest, so I was fine for the time being. Plus, it was only dark for about the first 30 minutes of our hike. Then the sun started to creep up over the mountains and splash us with a little warmth.

Unfortunately, the sun didn’t stay out too long before it found a big gray sky to hide behind. We thought it would clear up, though, since it was only about 7:30, and the forecast predicted clear skies until noon (the forecast was wrong.) We hiked and hiked and hiked, not having to stop too much. While there are NO easy 14ers, Grays and Torreys are a couple of the most doable 14ers here in Colorado. That said, there were a few times where I had to stop and rest, lest my heart would pop out of its chest – especially after we reached 13,000 ft.

Around the time we did approach 13,000 ft., the wind picked up immensely, and the temperatures plummeted as some weather moved in. We got a little bit worried here (and I may or may not have freaked out a bit, due to not having a coat or gloves) but Shane gave me his coat, and since we didn’t hear any thunder, we pushed on to the summit.

Well, we trusted it was the summit at least…we couldn’t quite see it as the snowy weather moved in!

Alas, we made it to the top. Hooray!

However…notice anything missing here? Normally, I’d segue into the breath-taking summit view pictures of all of the other peaks surrounding us, but there are none. That’s because there weren’t any views. We were literally in a cloud – and it was snowing at the summit! We were afraid we’d run into rain, but we didn’t even think about it snowing (that grapple kind of snow) in August. Once we checked off Grays, there wasn’t really a point in hanging out, since no views were to be seen.

Usually when you get to the summit, the views are outstanding. To give you a frame of reference, here’s the view from the summit of Quandary Peak, a 14-er I hiked exactly 1 year ago yesterday:

Quandary Peak, August 2013

Quite the difference, right?!

Anyway, we debated for a minute what we were going to do – descend or head toward Torreys, and we ultimately decided to push on to summit Torreys. That lasted about 15 minutes, as the weather didn’t let up, and the wind picked up even more. Pushing on could lead to a very unsafe route. Our better judgment told us we should head back and descend, so that’s what we did.

At first, I felt SO bummed out. We’d made it that far, and another 14er was probably only 30 minutes away. But then I realized how many things had to happen to lead to our decision to descend, and that’s what was supposed to happen. When you fight with reality, you lose, but only 100% of the time. So instead, I was happy and proud. Hey! We just hiked a 14er!

Pretty paint brush flowers on the way back down

The way back down was pretty uneventful, save for a potty trip in the bushes where my fingers were so cold I couldn’t unbutton my own pants. My fingers just wouldn’t work! I actually had to have Shane do it for me ! We had quite a laugh after that. Shane also took all of the pictures in this post. I have Raynauds, and my fingers literally would not work – it was a crazy feeling!

We made it back down to the trailhead a little after 10, which put us around a total duration of 4-4.5 hours to summit Grays, start up Torreys (and change our minds,) and descend back down to the trailhead. While I would have liked for the weather to have been good enough to bag both 14ers, I have a feeling Torreys will be there next year waiting for us

The only other 14-er I have to compare Grays to is Quandary, and despite the harsh elements on this weekend’s hike, I’d say Grays was easier than Quandary to me. It starts out with an incline, but then levels out and gives you a break before starting back up again. Additionally, that last leg to the summit wasn’t quite as steep – or long as Quandary’s was. Again – no 14-ers are easy, but I’m actually feeling pretty good today, and even made it out for a hike with Heidi yesterday!

Today I’m off to run in the foothills, and then work in Boulder for a while. Have a lovely week, friends!

What was your last big physical endeavor? Did it turn out as planned?