1st 14'er climbed!

[mgl45]

...and had a 15lb pack of "just in case" stuff, which didn't appear to be typical.

Awesome, congrats on pushing through to a successful summit!!!

As for the "just in case" stuff, I almost always win the largest pack on the mountain contest - oftentimes it mostly goes unused but I've had many a times when those backup layers and such have saved the day. Even when they're not needed it's good conditioning.

Obviously you can overdo it and really bog yourself down needlessly but I don't think 15lbs sounds unreasonable at all and I always remember the day I decided to stop packing all the extra stuff and got caught in a freak summer snowstorm and thought I was going to freeze to death...

Thanks for the congrats and your perspective on pack weight, contingency items. Glad to get a sanity check here. What I tried to solve to with the pack items was a recommendation made by one of the SAR groups (I think it was a video linked on 14ers.org) which said "have everything you need to spend the night on the mountain" because if if you're high up and can't walk, SAR may not be able to reach you until the next day.

So for me that led to extra water, extra food, layers planning for overnight temp not expected day temp, bivy bag, mittens, chemical heat packs, etc.

Despite being part of the flatlands, one helpful thing about living in Wisconsin is, we have an abundance of cold, ice and snow to practice with in the winter! I was able to test my gear down to around zero degrees before attempting a summer 14'er climb.

[mgl45]

Nice work!! Judging from how you did on Sherman, I would suggest either bierstadt or democrat as your next ones. Bierstadt is a little longer, but not much, Democrat is actually shorter, but just as much elevation gain, so steeper. If you don’t care about 14er or not, the sniktau/Cupid/grizzly group is a good one to build up endurance. If you do sniktau first, you can go over to Cupid if you feel like it, or turn to head down, and if you feel good after Cupid, head for grizzly.

Those sound like good next steps, thanks for the suggestions!

[Fly Agaric]

Our church group did a hike of Grays and Torreys while I was in high school. I'd done some camping as a kid but never really thought much about hiking. Basketball was my thing.

My friend was a little older, early 20s maybe, and we were far ahead of the rest of the group pretty early. Saw some hikers diverging from the main trail and heading to right. We decided to go that way.

Had a blast. I did Kelso Ridge for the second time just last year and it was every bit as fun as I remembered. The crowds and trailhead scene on the other hand…

[ejhaley23]

Congratulations! I can tell from your posts that you've put a lot of dedication and planning into this, its great to see it pay off. Keep climbing!

[ltlFish99]

Congratulations on a wonderful accomplishment.

[BobbyFinn]

Congrats! Sherman is a great hike. Go hike another one!

My summer pack is about 15 pounds and it's well worth it to have what you need when you need it. Just make sure you're bringing what you need and not useless stuff.

[mgl45]

Congratulations! I can tell from your posts that you've put a lot of dedication and planning into this, its great to see it pay off. Keep climbing!

Thanks much!

[mgl45]

Our church group did a hike of Grays and Torreys while I was in high school. I'd done some camping as a kid but never really thought much about hiking. Basketball was my thing.

My friend was a little older, early 20s maybe, and we were far ahead of the rest of the group pretty early. Saw some hikers diverging from the main trail and heading to right. We decided to go that way.

Had a blast. I did Kelso Ridge for the second time just last year and it was every bit as fun as I remembered. The crowds and trailhead scene on the other hand…

That is awesome you got to do that in your 20s! I've been wanting to do climb a 14er since my teenage years but it hasn't worked out until now, at age 45.

I haven't been doing this long enough of course to have experience what it was like "before things got crowded" but I have been on hikes (like Uneva Peak) where I was the only one on the trail until coming down from the summit, where I'd then pass by a few people going up. I definitely prefer that to the crowds for sure, but either way, I enjoy it.

[mgl45]

Congratulations on a wonderful accomplishment.

Thank you!

[mgl45]

Congrats! Sherman is a great hike. Go hike another one!

My summer pack is about 15 pounds and it's well worth it to have what you need when you need it. Just make sure you're bringing what you need and not useless stuff.

Thanks for the congrats and perspective on pack weight!