People sometimes ask me - I sometimes ask myself - why do I hike 14'ers? They're generally long, unforgiving, physically challenging hikes which offer little in the way of trees or immediately obvious wildlife. Lots of rocks, dust, hypoxia, rocks, sore ankles, and did I mention rocks?
But again this summer, my dear college friend Jim asked me to join him and his stalwart Dad, Dan atop another Colorado 14'er. And again, I just could not resist. Especially Mount Sherman, which is purportedly one of the "easiest", "gentlest" peaks over 14,000 ft to climb.
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| Jim and I starting off, at 12,001 feet |
To answer the question "why", one need look no further than the absurdly beautiful panoramic vistas from even the lower elevations of the hike.
And we did even spot some wildlife, such as this wild (famous?) grouse and her chick, nestled in the rocks just a few yards from the trail
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| The view to Leadville |
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| You know you're getting close to the summit when hiking something like this seems like a good idea |
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| Myself, Jim, and his dad Dan |
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| Special thanks to Dan for remembering to bring the sign! |
Along much of the trail were the remnants of old hard-rock mines, such as this relic perched precariously along the rocky slope of this hill at about 13,600 feet
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| Old Mill head..? and/or tram terminus? |
Note: A few of these pictures are from/by Dan Hillman; Many thanks to him & Jim for lugging the very, very nice new Nikon dSLR along!
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