Mountains

[I just found this as a draft in a forgotten file. Without any edits, I thought I’d share it today.] ::::: I throw the car from sixth gear down to fourth; there is no time for fifth. The engine revs, then catches and begins to pull, once again able to accelerate up the incline. Forty…

If you know my sister Becca, you know she’s all about dogs. She always has been; her first word was “woof-woof.” In addition to running a dog rescue (whence came Foxy!), she has three dogs of her own – and they’re like her kids. So when she and my brother-in-law decided to go to Seattle,…

This morning, I set out to try to climb Humboldt Peak, the mountain that thwarted me last September. I’ll just go ahead and tell you that I didn’t make it to the top – because this is actually a story about something different. In the trail description, the guidebooks said that a high-clearance, 4WD vehicle…

On Monday night I rolled my ankle, and that was that. Yesterday morning, I limped 11 miles out to Twin Lakes Village where Kristen and Lacey were waiting to resupply me, and after a few hours in Leadville in which I wrestled it over, I asked them to take me home. Of course, the decision…

Are you stressed? Aggravated? Fed up? Worn out? Call Annie Parsons – the Bullshit Exterminator. This is what one of my beloved co-workers called me today – a moniker I proudly accept. Listen, life is too much these days. I’m inordinately stressed at work. I’m in the midst of an insurance battle over my roof….

Three months ago, Colorado was in the midst of out-of-control wildfires. Everything was brittle and dead, and when the summer storms started, the lightning-induced fires were hard to contain. And because this state is completely bi-polar, today is a very different story. Unless you’ve been living under a (dry, well-insulated) rock, I’m sure you’ve heard…

Today I re-enter real life after a 9-day vacation – and oh, the pain. I mean that figuratively, of course – but also literally. My body hurts. I climbed three 14ers last week, and I’m all scabs and bruises today. On a steep slope a week ago Sunday, a rock the size of a bowling…

Yesterday, in the process of climbing Wilson Peak, I slipped on a steep snowfield and had to self-arrest. Now before you go thinking that I’m a badass who almost died, I should say that while I could have slid a good deal further than I did, even if I had hit the rocks below, I…

On Saturday, I climbed my 31st 14er, and my toughest one to date, Longs Peak. Believe me when I tell you that two days later, my entire body hurts.  Not just my quads, y’all – my entire body.  I’m talking about the fronts of my ankles, and the tops of my shoulders, and that fat…

As some of you may know, I’ve spent the past few summers climbing as many 14ers (mountains over 14,000’ high) as I can.  There are 54 in Colorado, and while I’m not sure that I have a goal of climbing every single one of them, I love the challenge and adventure that each one brings….