Last weekend I put the final words on the page for Season 1 of the Hundred Halls, and to celebrate we decided to climb a mountain. Perhaps we’re a bit masochistic, but it seemed an appropriate celebration for wrapping up such a huge project.
For those of you that don’t know the lingo (which included me before a few years ago), a 14er is any mountain with a summit over 14,000′ (4.27 km). I left my wife in charge of picking the mountain and doing the research because she is a much more experience hiker than I am. She chose to climb Mt. Princeton (14,196′) because that is the peak we look at every single day from our front porch, and seldom does she pick the easiest thing to tackle.
It took us about an hour to drive the 12 miles to our starting location. The last 3 miles took 45 minutes up a very narrow, single track, honestly frightening road halfway up the mountain (4 wheel drive required). From there we climbed up to the ridge (on the left side of the picture above) and across about 2.5 miles of bouldering before climbing to the top. It was a difficult climb, but didn’t require any mountaineering experience at least.
It was pretty amazing to look down into the valley from up there! There is something very satisfying about looking back at where you’ve been, and recognizing how much you’ve accomplished to get to where you are. It truly was a fitting celebration. I was so inspired that I’m putting a post together for next week looking back at all the work that has gone into creating the Hundred Halls so far.
Wow! The pics are stunning! Congratulations to both of you!
Thanks! It was fun (and exhausting!)