Because it's there -- Pikes Peak, beyotches!!!

It's certainly not the tallest mountain in Colorado.  It's certainly not the most difficult climb (I hope).  But it's certainly the most famous.  Did you know that Pikes Peak is the second-most visited summit in the world after Mt. Fuji?  It's true, I read it on the internet.  It might have something to do with the fact that there is both a road and a damn railway to the top of it.  Aside from being eminently accessible, Pikes Peak's (that looks weird, doesn't it? I should have another beer so my punctuation gets better) anyway, its claim to fame is that it was the inspiration for the song "America the Beautiful" (motto:  "More Verses Than You Think").

And we're climbing it.  Chris' friend and schoolmate, Scot, has been our behind-the-scenes informant in all our Fourteener adventures.  He spends most of his summers at an incline, heading up.  In fact, he's climbed all the Fourteeners (of which there are 53, I think) -- all of them, that is, except mighty Pikes.  He invited his dad and some friends along to be with him when he crosses this one off the list, so it should kick some serious ass.

We're taking two days to make the ascent, as the trailhead begins around 7,000 feet (most of our mountain hikes start around 11,000).  We'll get about halfway up and stay the night at Barr Camp, a rustic bunkhouse type place that sends hikers off each morning with a hearty pancake breakfast.  We'll summit on Sunday, then hike all the way down the same day.

It will be weird to arrive at the top of the mountain, sweaty, stinky, and panting, to find fat Americans arriving by the carload to snap a picture, eat a cheeseburger, and trundle back down to civilization.  I understand that the same undistinguished fate greets those who finish the Appalachian Trail at the top of Mt. Washington.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to getting out-of-doors one more time before the Giant Snow Duvet of Doom smothers us all.  Check back for pictures, hopefully not from the Medivac helicopter.