We decided to climb Bierstadt first simply because it's close and it was supposed to be real easy. We plan to climb all the 14-ers in the front range this summer, seven in all. You can drive to them, climb them and return home all in the same day. Anyway, we thought it would be easy. And from the parking lot at the trailhead, it appears to be manageable. However, climbing at 13,000 feet and above is a tough task, but the pay-offs are huge.

Sacrificing the luxury of sleeping in on the weekend, we rose bright and early on a Saturday morning June 18, 2005. It was 5 AM and the sun was already shining quite brightly, which makes it so much easier to pop, or shall I say roll, out of bed.

We arrived at the parking lot around 7 AM, and were on the trail shortly thereafter. You can read lots of accounts of what the trail is actually like at 14-ers.com. It is OK, not one of my favorites though. You hike through a lot of brush for about the first mile or two, and it limits your view. It was quite muddy and in several places, the Colorado Mountain Club hd built boardwalks to take you across shallow pools of water. Shallow - but wet.

Eventually, as you start to ascend, you come out from the brush and from there, it's basically straight up. At least the trail that we took, along with the other masses of people with the same goal that day, was straight up. We didn't come down the same route, so I imagine it probably could've been a little easier. It's steep, somewhat rocky, and covered intermittently with snowfields. Snowfields are deceptive suckers and you are most successful walking in the footsteps of other people. Otherwise, you can end up waist deep in a snow-hole. Toward the middle of summer, you wouldn't have to worry about that. The terrain is mostly open, grassy and as I mentioned, rocky. So it's like walking across a meadow sprinkled with rocks. As you get higher and higher, of course, the view becomes more and more beautiful and you can see what seems forever, but it also becomes steeper and more rocky. Eventually the rocks are like steps that have fallen down. So it was a little hairy, but you have to go so slow anyway, so you are naturally protected (not really, but it sounds good for Mom.)

What I noticed was the types of hikers that there on that climb the 14-ers. There are those who go in short, fast bursts and rest what seems like almost every 50 steps or so. Then there are the 'slow, but steady' hikers who go at a snail's pace but rest less frequently. I and husband are of class two, slow and steady. Somehow it always seems like we are passing people (of class 1, I imagine) but I am not sure if it's because they are slow or husband's stride is just double that of us normal size people. Yes, that extra foot he has on me can create quite a distance between us.

So long story short, it was a long hike that took about 4 hours to reach the top. That's four hours of heart-pounding, muscle-burning exercise. And the reward is beyond any concern of pain. The view, astounding, and also a little defeating when you see how many other 14-ers there are out there. But it's fun to imagine people on all those other peaks looking at your peak and imagining you on top.