So as most of you know.. 4th July is Americas Independence Day! So what does that mean to me ... its a holiday and a looooong weekend.With tickets being bought to fly to Coloroda in the early times of May'11, after a lot of hesistation, yes /nos I finally made up my mind to travel to the much awaited place!!!
Direct flite.. arriving on time....all perfect.... car rental mess up... but as engineers we always have a plan B!!! and since we were a bunch of engg travelling together.. there had to be a plan B for every step...after a lil bit of travel here and there , we got the 4*4 that we wanted .. dumped all the stuff in the car and were ready to explore the Sangre De Cristo Mountain Range.... Well the trip was all planned by my friends.. and I was remotely also not involved in the planning.. All I knew was I had to hike a 14,000 ft mountain peak!!! Kudos to my friends for planning the trip...!!!!
So the plan was to start for the camping ground the following morning...with stops at Walmart and REI(Recreational Equipment Inc) and get all the things that we needed for the adventure and head out for the 3.5 hr drive to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Einstein Bros Bagel for breakfast.. followed by walmart....with a bunch of eating and stuff that we needed for camping.. and then REI where we got the temporary roof and mattress (read as sleeping bag) and some looking arnd before we finally hit the roads to our destination...
We stopped at a small family owned mexican restaurant for lunch whcih was a disaster for me since I did not get anything vegetarian there... managed.. with rice and soem cheese enchilada...which is fine since i wasnt too hungry after the hearty breakfast that I had!!!
5 hrs into the journey we finally reached the Great Sand Dunes Visitor Centre.. trailed our way to the mighty sand dunes.. Picturesque as it could get. and the feeeling of walking in the sand after it has just rained is mind blowing..... enjoyed the windy breeze on the sand dunes.. leaving behind a sandy feeling....
Before sunset we reached our campsites..with the guys getting the tents ready and the gals fixing dinner for everyone and breakfast and on the way food for next day... we were all getting ready for the long day!!! :) with some laughter and some interesting comments and light laghter we peacefully ended the day with some grilled dinner .
3:30 am.... the alarm rings.. and slowly everyone is getting ready to conquer the mountains... :) A 1 hr drive to the base with food assignements and making sure there was sufficient water , we were all set by 6:30 am. And this marks the beginning of the eventful hike... Base camp altitude:8,200 ft .. first major landmark: Willow Creek.. and the second one that was the destination. Altitide: 14,081. The Slight cold and the eager enthusiasm led our way to get to the willow creek in 4 hrs ... by then we were at 11,500 ft.
The creek was a beauty.. pristine.. and best of all it was a welcoming reward for the 4 hr effort.
The cold waters freshened us up... to get to another elevation... A well deserved breakfast followed by constant supply of electrolyte and energy supplements got us there!!! :D
Now was the main challenge.... we could see a portion of the peak but we still had a long way to go.. oh.. in the mean time the folks that we saw returning mostly had accomplished 80% of the peak which sort of discouraged us. Well, like brave soldiers we thought we would fight till we could...... :) and so began the rest of the journey.. which was entirely rocky......since there was no well defined trails for most parts....but it was fun exploring the path to the destination,, the much frequent breaks due to heavy breathing...:D and the constant sipping of electrolyte kept the 4 of us going.... we started a s a group of 8 but boiled down to 4 towards the end .......after couple of hrs there we were at 12,600 ft and we could clearly see the peak but din know whether we could reach that pt .. so like one of my frnds said.. the moutain seemed to say..."na na na... poo pooo":D
The tree line was long gone and we could just the peak with portions of it covered with snow.. which made it difficult to climb..We could see the clouds gathering up and it suddenly seem to become dark..which gave us another indication of giving up!!!!
And there I was..... with mixed feelings as always.... going back down with a small sense of achievement but with a mind set to come back and conquer the peak soon !!!! :) the journey downhill just made me realise how much altitude we had gained.. slowly my feet hurt and it seemed like they were begging me to just hold back on them.. Finally after 11 hrs I was sitting in the car,,, with a slight smile and feeling of some accomplishment... but of all the things... the enthusiam and the eagerness to come back to the mountains .. this time.. to tell them"na na na... poo pooo"....... It was one of those days where all i could dream of was a soft bed and a warm bath.......with 4 hrs of drive , i finally satisfied me!!! :D
The next day was wrap up day and exploring the downtown day... with an exiting 45 min run to reach the gate of the aircraft to Indianapolis..(home)thus ended the lonnng weekend....... and tick mark on another state.!!!!!!!! so this is state no :33......and one more addition to the things to do before 30.. complete a 14 er !!!!!!!:D
