14erz finishers: madmatt & two lunches!

[greenonion]

How is Archer? I sure miss that sweet dog.

[Jon Frohlich]

Big congrats to both of you!

Sad to see that Archer couldn't join in the fun but Wetterhorn would have been tough even for a younger dog.

[angry]

Congrats Steph & Matt!

[Cereal]

Congrats! Great choice for the finisher. I am glad you were able to get it in after the closures earlier this year!

[RWinters]

Congratulations Stephanie and Matt!!! It's a great accomplishment.

[two lunches]

thank you all so much for the kind words! special gratitude to the wildland firefighters who got the Lake City and Ouray fires under control (with some assistance from Mother Nature and a strong monsoon season) so Wetterhorn could reopen before October 1. i really had my doubts there for a few months.

thank you as well to Bill and Tiffany for coordinating such a fun weekend, complete with finisher balloons; to Darin, Brian, and David for joining the summit festivities; and to Kate, Jessie, Jordan, Eli, and Geo for joining our campsite party afterward! all of your donated beers and ciders were delicious, and it was a perfect way to cap off the day. and of course- i owe a Sunday School shoutout to Bill for maintaining this site which has both provided more accurate trip expectations than Gerry Roach's books (respectfully), and also continues to foster this community of uphill enthusiasts. additionally, i would like to extend absolutely zero thanks whatsoever to Highway 285, which shut down on both ends of our finisher trip.

BIG THANKS to Matt for being a consistently amazing hiking partner and an outstanding friend. there is very little Matt says no to when it comes to peakbagging, including “let’s climb all the 14ers,” “what if we take a non-standard route?” and “do you want to pack in?” i had SO MUCH FUN chasing this list with you- even during our misadventures- and appreciate your company, especially when you go out of your way to re-peak something you’ve already climbed but i haven’t. your optimism towards multi-peak days remains impressive, even when the snow is blowing, the winds are howling, or the sky is darkening. thank you for a bajillion laughs, for backtracking after we’ve overcomplicated an ascent, and for patiently waiting while your vertically challenged climbing partner takes a few extra moments to navigate a technical spot. i couldn’t have asked for a better person with whom to chase this absurd goal.


to update Archer’s devoted fan club: he was with us at the campsite both days and appreciates all the well-wishes he is still hiking Class 1 trails at nearly 14 years old, including recent summits of Stewart Peak, Baldy Chato, Wander Ridge, UN 12,598, “Kenosha Peak,” and re-peaks of “Cupid” and Mt. Sniktau this year. his eyes aren’t as good as they used to be, so he struggles a bit with talus, and his legs aren’t up for 3,500’ days anymore, but he would be glad for your company if anyone would like to join us for a senior hike! i owe one of my biggest THANK YOUs to Archer for this entire journey, as his love of Colorado’s mountains is primarily what fueled my own. he has climbed 125 mountains over 12K, including the time he continued to the summit of Mt. Sherman after i turned around in 2015, and remains my top peakbagging buddy, with Matt following not-so-closely at 40 peaks. at some point, i’ll write him the novel he deserves!

and finally, regarding my username change a few years ago: nothing makes me want to vomit more than waking up before 7am, and attempting to consume solid food after doing so is a close second. consequently, peak days usually involve no breakfast, two lunches, and no dinner because, by the time 7pm rolls around, i’ve usually managed to recover the calorie deficit via bacon cheeseburger, pasta, nachos, or some otherwise nutritionally questionable but delicious fare. so there you go

[madmattd]

Echoing Stephanie's thanks to all who have offered congratulations, gratitude that Wetterhorn was able to re-open this year after a bleak outlook for a couple months there, and many, many thanks to all that joined us either on the final hike or at the campfire after! I'd also like to shout-out the many others that I've hiked with before that weren't present on this finisher but were there for any of the other 14ers, one of my random it-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-home 13er combos, a backpacking trip, or a random non-summit hike.

It's been a fantastic last couple of years closing this project out. Many I have hiked with know that I wasn't originally planning to finish the 14ers. I spent a number of years beating up the trails of various peaks in New England in all seasons (nearly 7 full rounds of the NH 4000-footers, 62% of the NH grid, NE 100 Highest finisher, just Katahdin shy of being a NE 4000-footer winter finisher, etc) so it's not that I wasn't list-obsessed. After moving to Colorado in 2017 I naturally hiked some of the 14ers, but I was not into the exposure or scrambling that many of the harder ones entailed, so they stayed on the back burner. I always figured I'd only get to around 40 or so and I was fine with that.

Stephanie gave me the firm prod I needed to branch out and give those harder peaks a go - the PM saying "hey, we should do Longs next summer" a few days after that 14er Fall Gathering traverse of the un-named Lake City Centennials in 2021 stuck with me long enough (hehe) to decide I should at least give it a try (I was at 31/58 at the time). Ironically, we still haven't done Long's together, but I did climb it the following summer (2022), and had an absolute blast - it made me consider for the first time that maybe I could finish those harder peaks? In 2023 we finally did another hike together (McCurdy in Lost Creek Wilderness along with Mr Archer the best hiking dog ever) and that soon led to many more trips together. I firmly believe I would not be a 14er finisher if it weren't for Stephanie's prodding. By late 2024 it was no longer a question of if I'd finish, but when, and what was a good finisher peak for us to finish together on? We've had amazing trips, some "character-building" experiences, and a few aborted attempts due to various reasons. But through it all the question of "what's next?" always quickly followed and I wouldn't take back a single moment.

There's been many grand adventures since I moved to Colorado 9.5 years ago, and I'm sure there are many more to come. I know many 14er finishers turn to the Centennials afterwards - most years I've done more 13ers than 14ers and we've had serious discussions about the Centennials in recent months so I imagine we'll get there sooner or later. I don't care how long - just getting to poke around this wonderful state I am fortunate enough to live in with good friends made along the way is far more important than some silly list!

And to all of the other finishers of the 14ers, Centennials, 13ers, etc out there: I don't usually jump in to add my congratulations, and that's firmly on me. You all rock! Congratulations!

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[CheapCigarMan]

I always assumed two lunches was one lunch for you and a second for Archer.

Congrats Archer! 125 peaks and still going at age 14 (98) is remarkable! Though, I know you’re not interested in a list. It’s being with your pack in the wild that feeds your soul. May you get to explore many more lakes and trails together with the people you love.

[d_baker]

Did anyone get pictures of pole holes??


The Fox.

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[HikerBox]

Congrats Steph and Matt! I knew you'd get around to them all eventually and happy I was able to join you for a few of them! Sorry I missed the party but as you know sometimes the toughest crux is Denver traffic...

[HikesInGeologicTime]

Congratulations again to both of you (and for providing food for everyone else, even though im pretty sure it’s supposed to be the other way around), and I’m glad I was able to join the afterparty!

[climbingyogi]

Congratulations friends! I'm so sad I couldn't physically be there to celebrate last weekend, but I look forward to future mountain adventures together - where my navigation and route finding skills will likely add on some extra mileage and sketchy moments to our day.

I'm grateful to have met you both during this journey, which all started with a DM to Stephanie on this site regarding our shared love of our older dogs