Hiking Red Cloud 14,034′ Above Sea Level
I’ve heard women declare after giving birth, “NEVER AGAIN!” However, it seems that before a year has passed many of them are singing a different tune. They just love being a mom and can’t wait to have another baby. They don’t give it a second thought, not even when they are seven or eight months along. It’s like the pain never happened, and they can’t remember or recall any tension or stress associated with it. It must have something to do with the way they were created; otherwise we would all eventually die off.
The memory of the pain of childbirth must be similar for an older and fatter people like myself who like hiking to fourteen thousand feet above sea level. Somehow, we completely forget the pain and agony of the last time we attempted it. Most people who live somewhere around a thousand feet ASL find it is a major effort to climb a flight of stairs in Denver which is only fifty three hundred feet above sea level (ASL). There are not very many of us old hikers around because of that fact.
Prior to hiking all fourteeners after the first one, I seem unable to remember the suffering involved on the previous hikes. All the trauma to my joints, my lungs and my heart are completely missing from my memory. I can’t seem to remember the three or four days of agony from the soreness caused by the strain of the hike. I also have the tendency to forget extra weight, and this year I hauled thirty pounds of unneeded of body fat to the summit. I forget that any tiny item that isn’t needed is unwanted weight which after a day of hiking becomes a huge burden.
I do remember the problem with high altitude which may cause Acute Mountain Sickness (common in one out of four hikers), so, I try and give myself a couple days around ten thousand feet ASL to acclimate. I 'kind of' remember the effort it took to summit the last fourteener, therefore, I 'kind of' try to get myself as physically fit as possibly. I ride a bicycle and hike a little, but never enough. When on the hike, it’s easy to remember how afternoon thunderstorms can run you down a mountain side that is covered with ankle breaking talus. It only takes one time near a lightning strike to make you a believer. The thought of being struck by lightning burns something into your memory that is totally unforgettable.
This year, the round trip hike ended up being somewhere between seven and eight miles long and an altitude gain of a little over three thousand, six hundred feet. For the most part the trail was good, however there were more than several places where an ankle could be easily broken. Particular care must be maintained to keep from stumbling and hurting oneself.
My initial intent was to hike to the summit of “Red Cloud” then to transition over to the summit of “Sunshine” and back again. This would have been more miles hiked to make a grand total of more than twelve miles round trip and an additional vertical assent and decent of around a thousand feet two extra times. I’ve been defeated several times by “lack of discretion,” but not this time. I had several excuses for not completing my original intent, and several more excuses for wanting to completing it. However, “Better discretion” won me over and I’m presently home here in Mustang, Oklahoma undamaged and unharmed.
Originally I was going to pitch a tent and camp at the trail head, however due to my good friend “better discretion” I chose a motel in Lake City.
After resting reasonably well, I arose at 0300 MDT and was the first one on the trail by 0440 MDT hauling a 20 to 25 pound backpack, the majority of the weight was water. However, I was probably hauling 10 pounds of unnecessary weight. Sometimes you have to just take chances and leave some of your contingency material in the pickup, and sometimes you don't. Before the hike I was asked by a loved one if I was going to pack a handgun. My reply was,"NO WAY JOSE!" That would have been useful only if I wanted to shoot myself, and that was one option that I felt was better unavailable to me.
By the time I started, the moon had already set, and starlight was of little use as the trail began in a heavy forest. I was hiking with a headlamp which illuminated the trail nicely. After a while hiking, I began to hear someone in the distance behind me and occasionally I would see a flash of their light.
Suddenly I heard a voice say, “Are you the Okie?”
I replied, “Yes, how did you know?”
“We signed the register right below you.” He said as the two men caught up with me. We all introduced ourselves. (note: I have never met a jerk above ten thousand feet while hiking in the Rockies.) This time was no different, as these two guys, Boyd and Andy from Dallas, are very nice people, with whom I now communicate. Hopefully we will be friends and communicate often from now on.
The two men are much younger than me, I’d say late thirties or early forties, and they were both in much better physical shape. They ripped passed me and in no time were leading me by a half to three-quarters of a mile. They both topped the ridge around sunrise, as the dawn light was illuminating the mountains all around. I watched them moving up the ridge and as they started to scramble up the rocky side of the mountain well above the tree line. We three were the only hikers present on this Friday the 5th day of September 2014.
Andy and Boyd topped the summit of “Red Cloud” long before I did and deposit their packs on the top as they scrambled down and up again to the summit of “Sunshine.”
I too left my pack there and started toward “Sunshine” behind them. However after less than a mile, when “better discretion” took control and helped me make an about-face. Back to the summit of "Red Cloud" and down the mountain. Truthfully I was already completely physically spent. There was no energy left. It was a struggle the rest of the day and all the way down. I was probably slower going back down than my ascent. After stopping for a short chat on their way down, Andy and Boyd ripped by me once again. They reminded me of an earlier time in my life when going down was faster, safer and a lot more fun that going up.
The conclusion of this event was that it took me almost twelve hours to make this round trip. I was too heavy and out of shape. Next time I’ll be lighter and I will find a stadium with bleachers where I can gain about a thousand feet a day for at least a couple of weeks. I think this sort of physical training would have been very beneficial this year. But you know what they say about hind sight always being 20/20.
I must mention that Almighty God is in control of everything. He is my Source, and He created me and He was with me all the way to the top and all the way back. I praise Him and to Him is all the glory. Me? I was the guy placing one foot ahead of the other praying each step of the way. He was the one who helped me make it to the top and back again. Honestly the Holy Spirit of God who lives in me kept me safe and gave me the endurance to complete my wish. “Red Cloud” is my 15th fourteener, I hope to do more of them in the future, if the Lord is willing to allow it.
I was totally used up by the time I got back to Lake City, I had several large cups of Iced Tea and a Buffalo Burger with french fries at Poker Alice’s Restaurant. I went straight back to my Motel and went to bed, I remained in bed for the next twelve hours. Then four days of soreness. Already I feel like hiking another fourteener. Just like the women who give birth, it’s what they are born to do, and hiking fourteeners is what I love to do. God’s Grace is by far the best gift I have ever received! To Him be all the glory!