Mt. Bierstadt

     Rather than taking on a long run this weekend, Kayleigh and I decided to take on our 5th Colorado 14'er.  At 14,060 ft, the summit of Bierstadt is the 38th highest peak in Colorado and is located in the Front Range pushed up against the more famous Mt. Evans. 
     We woke up and started moving around at 3:30am knowing that we had a fairly long drive ahead of us to Grant and we wanted to be at the trail head as closest to sunrise as possible to guarantee the fairest weather and uncrowded trails.  We did just that and I took some great pics of the sun rising over Sawtooth ridge as we were starting the hike. 
     We could tell that the tri training has been going good, because even though Bierstadt is a class 1 hike, Kayleigh and I did not need one break on the hike up and we barely were ever winded, unlike the rest of the afternoon hikers.  Once at the top, we had the option of crossing Sawtooth ridge in order to reach Mt. Evans and knock out to 14'ers in one day.  I have heard the trail looks harder than it actually is, but I have also heard it is sketchy in some places.  The sketchy part is what made us decide to conquer Evans on another day. 
     We bounded down the peak like two mountain goats, passing hundreds of late bloomers trying to summit as well.  The whole time the both of us had realizations how good of shape we are in because we never once looked miserable and many of the hikers going against were having a rough time. 
     Climbing Mt. Bierstadt with Kayleigh was way more enjoyable than a long solo run; however with the Boulder Marathon in just three short weeks, I am going to have to squeeze a few in these next two, or I'll be hurting.