Another busy weekend

I need a break from my weekends. This past weekend provided another busy and amazingly fun time. Luckily, my work provides me the option of working 9 hour days and getting every other Friday off. This past Friday was my first flex Friday.

Friday: I have actually been looking to buy a house in the Denver/Golden area, so I knew that I had to be back in cell service at around 8:30 to work with my Realtor to submit an offer on the house I wanted. So Thursday night, I packed my backpack with my skis, boots, poles and everything else I needed to ski, with the intention of getting up at 2 am, hiking up a 14er, skiing down it, then getting back to the car by 8:30 am.

After 3 hours, I actually woke up at 1:45 am and started the 1.5 hour drive to the base of Mt. Torrey. This is one of the easiest and closest 14ers to hike. I did not know that the last 3 miles of the drive was a small dirt road with pot holes the size of a football offensive lineman. I actually got stuck once, but after slowly backing up and trying again, my trusty Subaru made it past the giant ruts.

I got to the trail head at 3:20 and started hiking at 2:30. It was amazing to hike in the dark by myself. All I could see was what my headlight shone on and of course the moon and every star in the sky. Unfortunately, I underestimated the altitude and the heaviness of my pack. It weighed around 30-40 pounds and the altitude was killing me. In steep sections, I could only walk around 2 minutes until I had to stop and catch my breathe. I realized at around 5:30, I would not be able to make it to the top, ski it, and get back to the car by 8:30. Instead, I found a great place to relax and watched the sunrise over the mountains. I then headed back to the car. After passing around 20 people hiking up (don't people have jobs to go to?), I made it back to the car at 8. Even though I failed to reach the summit of my first 14er, I had an amazing time.

After being on the phone for the rest of the morning, I met with my realtor to work on the contract. Two hours, the contract was complete and signed. I was finally able to get some rest around 3 pm.

Saturday: I found out that the seller was going to counter my offer. To clear my head, I went mountain biking with Kristen on Green Mountain. Then, came back to the house, only to head out 20 minutes later to meet up with some people at a Brews Bluegrass festival. Unfortunately, after the 5 mile bike ride there, I realized I had forgot both my wallet/ID and my bike lock. That was the end of that night.

Sunday: Woke up bright and early again, around 5:30 and picked up Kristen to hike Mt. Bierstadt, a mountain 14,065 feet high. We knew it was going to be crowded, since it was another close one to Denver. By the time we got there at 8 am, there was easily 40 cars there and a line about 10 people long for the outhouse. The hike was about 4 miles up. It was a gorgeous day, but very windy. Halfway up, we needed to put on our jackets and gloves. Honestly, I didn't know if I was going to make it. I had to stop every 200 feet to catch my breathe.

The final .75 miles rose about 1200 feet, with two snowfields to cross and over .5 mile of rock scrambling. And the wind, it was relentless. We finally made it to the top after 2 hours 45 minutes of hiking, which was actually a pretty good pace. Even with me holding us back, Kristen and I passed 4 people and only got passed by 7 people. The top was amazing. You could see for miles and miles. Someone had a devise to monitor wind speed. The entire time we were on the summit, the wind didn't dip below 48 mph!

It took us 2 hours to get back to the car. On the way back to Denver, we treated ourselves to some Beau Jo's pizza and a 32 ounce Tommy Knocker Amber in Idaho Springs.

That night, I talked with my realtor and decided to stop pursuing the home that I put the offer down on.

What a weekend! Pictures and videos to come soon.