The Day My Legs Almost Quit

Whenever I do physical activity of sports, hiking, and etc…I very rarely have to just quit due to pure exhaustion since I’m pretty good about knowing how to pace myself. 
 
I had just moved to Colorado on July 6th, and was invited by a church group to go camping and hiking up in the mountains on July 16th.  I thought it was a great opportunity to go quickly and hike some BIG mountains.  The tallest point in Georgia is Brasstown Bald at 4,784 feet.  All of the Denver area is over 5,000 feet.
 
I knew I needed to prepare as much as possible to get as acclimated to the new elevation, so I went up 2 nearby peaks with no major breathing problem or altitude sickness.  I went up Mt. Falcon and Bergen Peak, and both have remarkable views of Denver and Mt. Evans. 
 
Since the group I was with was camping outside of Leadville at the Halfmoon Creek campsites, I suggested the idea of going up Mt. Elbert.  The group had just only mentioned hiking Mt. Massive that Saturday.  So, on Friday I went with a group after being in Colorado for just 10 days to go up to the highest point in Colorado.  Genius.

I did surprisingly well and only had a headache due to altitude.  The trail we went on was a round trip of 9 miles (4.5 1 way), and you start the trail at around 10,040 feet…ONLY to climb a total gain of 4,700 feet up to 14,440 feet.  Once we cleared the tree line there were many false summits that were tricky and made you want to just sit and have a drink. 

It was amazing!  Words and pictures can’t fully describe the sensation once getting on the top and then making your way back down with a magnificent grandeur view.

I was pretty wiped out by the time I made it back to camp. That was a given.  The next day the plan was to go up Mt. Massive (the 2nd tallest mountain in Colorado) with some new people that had arrived that Friday afternoon.  Lets just say my body hadn’t fully recovered yet.  We decided to go on the Western slope, because we didn’t want to go up the long 7 mile 1 way route on the South and Eastern side.  The western slope is less than 4 miles in length.  Whenever you plan to hike up a 14er (14,000 foot mountain), you want to plan to leave the peak by noon.  This is due to the quick changing weather that can happen, and you don't want to be on top of a mountain when a storm blows in.

Mt. Massive sits just around 14,430 feet, and the trailhead starts around 10,500 feet.  It’s called Mt. Massive due to it having 5 peaks over 14,000 feet.  It’s a behemoth compared to everything around it.  The 1st mile or so wasn’t too bad, because we had only gained about 400 feet in elevation.  Then, the uphill.  About a mile going up the steep incline my legs started to give out.  I had to stop about every .2 miles to take a break.  I was going through my water and food so fast that I realized I was going to run out.  Thankfully people in my group had some extra water.  The muscles in my legs were cramping up so badly that stretching felt as if it made it worse.  My quads, calves, hamstrings, hip-flexors....EVERYTHING HURT.  I was definitely the straggler in the group.

"I'm kinda tired. Think I'll go home now"

The saving grace were the views.  The higher we went the more mountains we could see since we were on the Western slope.  I still kept taking breaks and slowly going up in small chunks.  Slow and steady wins the race.  I felt miserable…but so relieved when we got to the top.  A tricky part of Mt. Massive is that where there’s a trail junction, you feel as if you’re at the top…and then you see another point across the ridge where more people are and you realize that’s the Peak.  Awesome.  “Well, if I’ve made it this far”.

I took a well-deserved long break, our group was going to go back down several different routes, and I decided to take the long 7 mile “gradual” way down.  Thankfully people at the top had extra food.  Sausage had never tasted so good in my life.  I was so surprised at how many people were at the top.  I would say there was about 40 people on average on the peak for an hour or so.  It even started snowing on my way down…in July…I was confused.  Along with another pounding headache, ridiculously sore body, and more.  Deep down, I was still loving it.

At this point I didn't feel like even moving. Just sit and soak in the views. ...and people eating

I couldn’t walk normal for about a week or so after that.  Months later at a dinner party, I mentioned this insane hiking extravaganza to some Olympic wrestlers…and they said they wouldn’t have even done that.  Yet another reason to scratch my head at how I was able to make it…and WHY?! Why did I put myself through all that?  Because I love hiking and the journey/challenges it brings with a sweet taste of success with its views knowing that you DID IT.

If and when I hike them again, I know I'll do much better due to training.