On Friday, 5/31 I woke up in Tampa (my new home!) and went to the dentist. Then I had lunch and went to the Tampa airport, where I overheard a woman who had just flown in for her brother's funeral ("his parachute didn't open"). I flew to Denver and then took the short hop down to Colorado Springs, where I checked into a Marriott Courtyard (nice, but expensive).

Saturday I had breakfast at the hotel, then headed over to my friend Chuck's ranch for lunch and a chat. Then I picked up some PopTarts (vital supplies) at the local 7-11 and went back to the hotel, where I found my friends and hiking buddies from Maryland, Carol & Jane. We drove up to the Broadmoor (sightseeing), then went out for Mexican dinner.

On Sunday I got up at 3, had breakfast in the room, then met Carol in the lobby and drove to the Barr Trailhead in Manitou Springs. We started hiking at 4:35 and arrived at Barr Camp at 7:40, shortly after our friend Laura passed us running up the trail.

We talked to Laura and her puppy for a while, then continued up at 8. We gradually got slower on the ascent and people were passing us pretty easily, except for a group of younger kids who were having altitude problems. We coaxed them along toward the summit.

At about 13,200' we ran into another Colorado friend, Mary, who had driven to the top and hiked down to meet us. She reversed direction and joined us for the rest of the climb. Jane was also at the summit, which we reached at about 1:00. Carol & Jane drove down to Buena Vista, and Mary drove me back to my car in Manitou Springs, then went home as I also headed west to B.V.

I checked into the same hotel (the Best Western Vista, very nice) as Carol & Jane and washed up. In the hall I ran into Jane, who said Carol wasn't feeling well and would be sleeping in, so Jane & I crossed the street for dinner at the Buffalo Grill.

On Monday we had breakfast and did some shopping (Carol was up & about), then hot-tubbed and plotted a strategy for the week. The immediate plan was to climb Mt. Yale on Tuesday. In the afternoon we drove up to Cottonwood Pass and some side roads, looking for mountain goats and bighorn sheep, but all we found were elk and deer. We all went to dinner (at the Buffalo Grill again), then back to the motel for sleep.

At 5:30 a.m on Tuesday the phone rang - Carol was not feeling up to Mt. Yale, so she & Jane were sleeping in, then heading out. I packed my gear and hit the Yale trailhead (Denny Creek) at 6:40. I went fairly fast from 10-13,000', then slowed a bit on the steep climb up to Yale's summit ridge. It was very quiet and still, and a light snow began falling as I neared the peak. I was hiking with a ski pole, and about 100' from the top it began to vibrate in my hand - a bad sign. I tossed it down and away from me, and ran to the summit where I was looking for the register when BLAM!!!, lightning struck close by. I gave up the register search and ran back down as fast as I could, retrieving the ski pole on the way but still tossing it ahead and below until finally I dropped below treeline. One of my boots was smoking from a small chunk of melted rubber caused by the electricity.

I limped back to the car in a hailstorm with continuous lightning (my quads were shot from running down so fast). I jumped in the car and headed back to the hotel and washed up. Then I picked up a pizza and huddled in the room for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

On Wednesday I got up at 2 a.m., packed my gear and headed towards Westcliffe. I arrived at the end of the 2-wheel-drive road to South Colony Lakes just before 5. Mary, Mark & Sean showed up shortly afterwards, and we all piled into Mary's Jeep Cherokee for the horribly bouncy 90-minute ride up to the upper parking lot at just over 11,000'. There was plenty of snow from the storm the previous day. We started up towards Broken Hand Pass but my quads weren't cooperating so I gave up about halfway to the pass. The other three made it to the pass, but Sean turned back after seeing the snow conditions on the far side. Mary & Mark continued around Crestone Needle and up Crestone Peak to about 13,400' but also turned back because of the icy conditions in the gully route.

Meanwhile, Sean had returned to South Colony Lakes and we hiked up to the upper lake to watch the peaks and the wildlife. Then we met Mark & Mary back at the lower lake, trudged back to the car, and bounced back down the hill. Sean took off, and the rest of us had pizza in Silvercliffe. Then I headed back to Buena Vista and collapsed into bed.

On Thursday I drove up and over Cottonwood Pass to Taylor reservoir, then to Pitkin (with a side trip up to the Alpine Railroad Tunnel), then out to US 50 and Canon City. From there I headed north on Phantom Gulch Road (I missed a turn on Shelf Road that Mary had recommended), then turned right at Victor and took Gold Camp Road back into Colorado Springs, and checked into the EconoLodge north of town (cheap but OK).

Friday I got up and had breakfast at McD's, then drove north to Sedalia and took the Rampart Range Road south to Devil's Head, where I took a well-groomed trail to a very busy fire tower (lots of fires this year!). Then I continued south to Woodland Park where I found Laura. We played guitars for a bit (well, SHE played, I faked it), then took her 3 dogs for a 5-mile walk through Lovell Park. Then I headed back to the motel and had a Quizno's sub for dinner.

Saturday I got up and drove to the Air Force Academy to meet Mary, then I drove her up to Guanella Pass and we tried to find a cutoff from the Mt. Bierstadt trail over to the Sawtooth Ridge on Bierstadt's north side. We were unsuccessful, so somewhere around 13,000' we gave up and returned to the car. I think that the Sawtooth needs to be approached either from Summit Lake on Mt. Evans or directly from the Guanella Pass lower parking lot.

Anyway, we drove into Morrison to see the Red Rocks Amphitheater, then had lunch at a nearby Mexican place. Then I dropped Mary back at her car, washed up, picked her up again and we drove to Chuck's for pizza dinner with a flock of giant Bernese dog-monsters. Afterwards I went back to the motel, and on Sunday flew back home.

Take me back to Gary's Base Camp.