(I’m listening to “Nothingman” by Pearl Jam)

I turned 40 a few weeks ago.  It’s a strange birthday.  You’re not young anymore, but you’re not old, but you’re getting older.  Whatever.

For my 40th I decided I was going to climb 14er.  For those of you outside of Colorado, climbing a 14er means climbing a 14,000 foot mountain.  The widely accepted number of 14ers in Colorado is 53 and I was going to climb my first.

At the beginning of the year, I set a goal to be in the best shape of my life by the time I turned 40.  I’m not there yet, but I’m getting there.  It’s one thing to be 40, it’s quite another to feel 40.  So, I started eating healthier, running, working out, and going to the YMCA.  I figured a 14er would be a good test.

(Sidenote: My goal has also come in handy to keep off the pregnancy weight.  The wife is pregnant with someone else’s child (she’s a surrogate).  With our first two kids, I gained 10 pounds each time, so I’m not doing that again.  At 40, 10 pounds might take 6 months to lose.  So, when the wife is having 4th meal, I’m at the gym or running or doing anything else that keeps me from eating at 9:30pm.)

Anyway, I had heard 14ers are tough.  When I asked one buddy of mine if he wanted to join me he just said, “Naw, I’ll just be swearing the whole way up.”  Alright.  I didn’t let that sway my ambition.  I’ve spent a lot of time in the mountains hiking and snowboarding so I felt confident in my ability, but as I was doing some research on which 14er to climb, I did look for “easier” ones.

I settled on Mt. Bierstadt which is 14,065 feet.  One of my good friends agreed to come along, so on July 12th, 2018 at 5am I picked him up to embark on the 7 mile round trip climb that would see us gain almost 3,000 feet in elevation.  We were at the trail head by 6am and out on the trail by 6:15.  The sun was just coming up over the peaks, it was 44 degrees, and we were layered up just like a good Coloradan would be.

That lasted maybe a mile.  At 11,800 feet we began to climb up a shoulder.  Soon we were stripping off layers like…anyway, we were getting warm.  Sweat started to run down our faces and it felt good to have the mountain air pumping through our lungs.  At 12,300 feet, we reached to top of the shoulder and the rest of the route was in view.  We took a break at a cairn to scope out the rest of the trail.  It didn’t look too bad, so we took a drink of water and off we went.

The next 1,000 feet were the worst.  The trail got steeper.  It was starting to get warm.  A hipster passed us while running the trail.  Our legs and lungs were beginning to feel it.  We weren’t swearing yet, except about the hipster that had run to the top and passed us on the way down while we were still going up, but it was work.  We took a load off every once in a while to hydrate or have a snack, but it was good.

At 13,300 feet, we could feel the top getting closer and the trail started to get rocky.  It was also getting colder so we put our layers back on, including our stocking caps and gloves.  At 13,800 feet, we finally reached the top of the ridge.  All that stood between us and the top, was about 250 feet of boulders.

I got a second wind; and since I was concentrating on bouncing from boulder to boulder, I wasn’t even thinking about how tired I was.  I was just focusing getting to the next rock.  This was the most fun part of the climb.  Then all of a sudden, we reached the summit.

There were about 40 other people on the summit.  We all congratulated each other on reaching the top, made small talk about where we were from, and took each other’s pictures.  Then my buddy and I reached into our packs and grabbed a couple of Coors Lights.  What better way to celebrate tapping the Rockies then by tapping the Rockies.  We were the envy of the crew.

Some clouds began rolling in and rather than stick around and become human lighting rods; thunderstorms are common in the afternoons, we decided it was time to head back down.  I asked where the elevator was and it drew a few laughs.  I’m sure that wasn’t the first time that joke was told.

The descent was fairly easy, but I hit a wall with about two miles left.  My pack started to get a little uncomfortable, my feet and hips were beginning to hurt, and the adrenaline had worn off from reaching the summit.  Now it was just “get back to the car and get some real food” time, but there was one snag.  When you first start the trail, you actually descend about 300 feet before you start climbing.  You’re fresh and excited and it’s a nice warm up through a field of willows with a creek running through it.  On the way back, it’s like, “What the heck!  I gotta hike uphill again?”  Steps become slower, your feet feel like lead, it started getting really warm again, and I just wanted to get back.

Finally, we reached the parking lot.  Our mission was complete in just under 5 hours.  We congratulated each other on a job well done, put on some clean clothes, and went to get some lunch.  It was a great way to spend the morning of my 40th.

What a great birthday!  I had done something I had never done before, my wonderful wife and daughters made me dinner, I heard from many friends and family, and had a lot of laughs with many awesome people I’ve shared time with in my life.  To top it off, the wife surprised me by contacting a bunch of my friends and explaining to them my love for vinyl.  They came through in fine style by generously adding to my record collection.

With all that said, the bottom line is…I’m 40.  Last year, a good friend of mine turned 40 and he had a party called, “Welp, I’m 40.”  How that sounds is exactly how it feels.  I wasn’t exactly looking forward to it, but there’s nothing I can do about it except live my life.  It has been great so far and for that, I am blessed, and thankful.