The Thomas Family: hallet's peak

Paul so generously and last minute-ly sent me away to Colorado for a weekend getaway last weekend. The last trip just wasn't enough to get it all in. He's getting ready to have his surgery, and he thought it would be a good chance for me to get in some fun first. My little sister, Sam was happy to accompany me, as she didn't get a vacation this summer and was jonesin' for the mountains anyway. We drove to Goodland, KS on Thursday night until we had to lay our sleepy heads. We got up in the morning and finished our drive getting into Estes Park around noon. We ate a quick fast food bite and checked into our small studio. After that we headed out to RMNP for some acclimation. We hiked up to Lake Haiyaha and just took it slow getting used to the altitude. On the way down we decided to turn off onto Dream Lake and hike up to Emerald Lake, too. That night we dined at Ed's Cantina, got a Subway sandwich for our hike and hit the sack. The next morning we got up and headed to Bear Lake Trailhead to summit Hallet's Peak. Sam has never summited a big peak. She usually does the lakes. So she was excited. I was too! I did Flattop Mountain last year, but didn't go the extra 0.6 miles to Hallet's Peak.

Since we weren't really acclimated yet, we certainly weren't speedy. We took our time. At the Dream Lake overlook (pretty early on) I was already feeling weak and ate some GORP. I had only had a banana and protein bar for breakfast, which at the time seemed plenty. The GORP I had was a pre-packaged portion and was pretty small. In retrospect, it wasn't enough. Once you pass treeline, you feel like you are close. You are not close. As we got higher and higher, we got slower and slower. I could see we were close but started feeling so weak. I realized I needed to eat but we were too close to the top. I wanted to eat my sandwich at the top of Flattop and my snickers bar on the top of Hallet's Peak. I finally broke down and ate half my snickers and that did help get me to the top. We both felt weak and agreed we weren't sure about Hallet's. Turns out all we needed was some fuel. Once we ate our sandwich on Flattop and enjoyed the views and a small break, we both realized we were up for Hallet's Peak. Next time I'll pack an extra snack for the way up or eat more carbs for breakfast. I suppose being acclimated would help too ;) Felt good on that steep hike from Flattop to Hallet's though. It was challenging and fun trying to find the best route/boulders/trail up to the top scrambling the boulders. Once we were at the top of Hallet's I finished my camelback of water leaving me none for the hike down. Sam shared hers when I needed it. She didn't drink enough obviously to have any to share. I now know for next year I need one whole camelback, plus a big gatorade for the hike down.

The hike down is slow going (although faster than going up). It is so steep you have to work against gravity to prevent falling. Plus it's very rocky. We both felt great the whole way down and at the end though, even though we'd hiked 10 miles and were tired. Sam did get some altitude sickness feelings that night. I am positive she didn't drink enough and think that is largely part of it. Plus we were up high and were only there a day. She drank lots of water and still felt kind of dizzy most of the drive home the next day. Either way, we both thought it was an amazing hike and LOVED it!

I love hiking because it's so empowering to overcome challenges, both physical and mental. It feels physically challenging, but it's more mental really. I know I can do anything I set my mind to. Anything. But, I have to believe I can do it and remind myself of that when it gets hard. The journey and hike is fun, yes. But reaching the summit is the best. Summiting Hallet's Peak gave me that same high I got finishing my half marathon. And it was a hell of a lot more beautiful. In such beautiful mountains you feel closer to God admiring his creation. I said a special prayer for Paul's upcoming surgery thanking God for the healing he IS going to provide to him. This, I know.

Trail Stats:
Hallet's Peak
Summit Height: 12,713'
Elevation Gain: 3,228'
Difficulty Level: Strenuous