Your First 14er

[Gene913]

2001 01 Blanca Summit.jpg (97.98 KiB) Viewed 2501 times

As made plain by the photo, my first was Blanca in 2001. Every other 4WD road to a trailhead looked tame after that introduction. I wore shorts. But there were jeans on the summit that day.

[CORed]

My fisrt was Torreys, when I was in high school, followed on the same hike by Grays. I had done quite a bit of hiking already, with family and Boy Scouts. I borrowed my parents' Scout and drove to the 4wd trailhead. It was in the summer, but I don't remember the exact date. I think I had driven to Mt. Evans before, but I'm counting first one actually climbed.

[oliver303]

Wetterhorn in the rain during a high school. I was on an Outward Bound trip. Fun first peak. No jeans but wore the same stinky polypropylene top the entire 3 week backpacking trip.

[greenonion]

Wetterhorn in the rain during a high school. I was on an Outward Bound trip. Fun first peak. No jeans but wore the same stinky polypropylene top the entire 3 week backpacking trip.

Are you and peter related?

[LoneStar]

My first 14er trailhead was back in 2004 or 05, when the NPO I was working for in Denver was the beneficiary of a fund-raiser/climb of Grays. One of the organizers drove me to the trailhead from the Bakerville parking area, where I got to hang out for a bit with the event's celebrity guest, Ed Viesturs. Pretty cool. Then off they went and I caught a ride back down to the highway.

Some years later, I finally got around to summiting my first 14er. A snow-covered Quandary in late May of 2008. I've only managed to do eight more since, but my hope is that there are more on the horizon.

[Scott P]

Snefells followed by Wilson Peak andMt. Wilson the next day. They were the closest ones to where I was working.

[nyker]

After visiting many state and national parks in the late 90s and early 2000s and doing some other long summit climbs, like Mt Marcy, Half Dome, Wheeler, Telescope, etc, coming to RMNP of course I set my eye on Longs, which was Spring of 2004. It would be a year before I thought about climbing it and another year before I made it back to RMNP. In 2006, we planned to climb it, but really had no idea about the proper plan, alpine starts, snow, the altitude, the strategy. We only had an extra day and the night before I felt we were not prepared (we weren't) so we didn't climb it then. Fast forward to Autumn 2007 and after months of other hikes and climbs on any spare day and extensive training, we were ready this time and got it done. Returning back to the ranger station, the ranger on duty said "congratulations!, when are you doing the rest?" I said what do you mean? He said " all the other 14ers...then I discovered this site...All my training from then on was geared towards mountain training.

[jaymz]

Elbert, July of 2007. It would have been Bierstadt with my brother-in-law the year prior, but we got chased down by afternoon storms just short of the summit ridge.
I picked Elbert because I figured class 1 meant it was easier and less physically demanding than Bierstadt's class 2 rating, which I found exhausting, and so I took my girlfriend at the time along with me. She wanted to do just one so she could say she did it; I wanted to see if this was something I could develop a love for. An added plus was that if I decided never to do another one I could at least say I climbed the highest mountain in Colorado!
The distance and elevation gain were brutal on both of us, and she kept making comments about wanting to quit and go home - I secretly wanted to as well, but I stubbornly refused (still feel bad about that!), remembering how heartbroken I was having to turn around on Bierstadt. We ran out of water/Gatorade at the top, so we packed our empty bottles with lingering summit snow. The hike down absolutely killed my knees - I limped most of the way down, and it made me hate even the idea of hiking 14ers ever again. I even remember giving disgusted looks at Elbert as we drove back through Leadville, thinking "Man I hate that mountain, glad I checked that deed off the bucket list, never have to do anything like that again!"

The following morning, of course, I was on the .com picking out the next one.
(14er, not girlfriend)

[RobbS]

Summer of 1973, my older brother was home for a visit after heading off to the USNA the year before. He and two of his buddies planned to go hike up Mt. Bierstadt. I wasn't part of this plan and I remember feeling pretty sad about being left out of whatever this adventure was going to be. Then, the evening before the trip my brother "invited" me to go along. So off I went with the three older guys to Guanella Pass. Blue Jeans? Absolutely. Willows? Oh, yea. Soaking wet within 15 minutes? Check!
Later that day, after making the summit, I found that out it was my Mom who had intervened and made sure that I was offered the opportunity to tag along. Thanks Mom! I am forever grateful.

Lord willing, I will back on the summit of Mt. Bierstadt in the summer of 2023 for a 50 year anniversary.

[climbingcue]

My 1st was Elbert in August 1999 when I was doing state high points. 2nd Colorado 14ers was October 2011.

[ECF55]

Elbert from Black Cloud/SE Ridge. I was approaching 40 years and we had a trip planned through Colorado to coincide with the Great American Eclipse of 2017. While I had extensive hiking experience in the Eastern US (I'm currently an East-Coaster), I decided I wanted a different challenge on a very big mountain with much higher elevation than I was used to. I was also interested in seeing what all the fuss was about.

Weather cooperated, my body held up and I had one of those life-changing experiences that left me with a hunger to make the long trip back to Colorado as often as possible and start knocking off other peaks. Unfortunately, COVID threw off my 2020 plans to bag a couple more, but I will return soon as is feasible.

[NM_Hiker]

Mt Democrat with Adidas Sambas. Will I do it again in Sambas? probably

Was also the only one wearing a Megadeth t-shirt while enjoying the views on the summit.