Well it's been a few months since my trip to Colorado and I haven't written about our biggest adventure if the trip yet. The one thing I wanted to do before we even left for Colorado was to hike a mountain. And since I'm crazy I decided it needed to be a 14er. It didn't take much convincing to get the other two on board for the expedition; took a little more time to decide on which mountain to climb (started as Mt Snuffles then we switched to Uncomphagre along the way.) At home we started a regimen to get ready for the hike (as best possible in flat Oklahoma).
Since we camped out about 45 minutes from the trail head, we had an early wake up call so we could be hiking by 7am. 4:45 came very early after sleeping on the rocky ground all night and I think we were all a little glad to just be getting up. We quietly packed up camp and got ready to go. The first 15 minutes of the drive was nice and peaceful on a paved road. That quickly changed as we turned on the road to the trailhead. The 4-5 mile trail took about 30 minutes to climb with several sharp switchbacks, streams to cross, and tight roads to pass. We finally made it to the top and put our hiking shoes on, our packs on and we were off.
Now in deciding to hike this mountain (or any mountain) I had no.clue what to expect. The first 1/4 mile or so was through a forest of evergreens. The trail was fairly flat and wide and you couldn't see our peak. We soon emerged from the trees into a beautiful clearing full of flowers, flowing creeks, and a view of Uncomphagre Peak. The trail through this lower clearing area was beautiful. We hiked along the babbling brook for awhile with a few small hills to climb. This area was fairly flat also and had great views of the area. Since we were above the tree line, all the views of the surrounding mountains were unobstructed. 
As we got to the top of the clearing, we came to our first major climb. This was a minor incline with several switch backs. This turned into a flat region for awhile before reaching a steep uphill incline with no switch backs. The weather to this point had been fairly warm. We had quickly shed our jackets at the beginning but at this point the colder air started to set back in. At this point we were hiking along the lower ridge line of the peak. There were some beautiful views of the valleys on the other side as well as the mountains in the distance. We were high enough to see some of the others 14ers in the area at this point. 
We were starting to get tired legs at this point and just when we thought we were close to the final climb to the final climb to the peak we realized we had a steep section of about 12 switch backs to hike. For.each 10 steps we took we would have to stop to rest for a moment. It was slow going but we were determined. We finally made it to the top and once again thought we were almost there. Wrong!!! What awaited us was a short scramble (for those not accustom to hiking terms this means climbing up a rock slide). After several minutes of questioning if we wanted to continue, we were joined by a group that told us how to do the climb and suggested we follow them. For me, going up isn't difficult, I was happy to be climbing up the rocks and felt secure by my pack pushing on my back, going down I knew would not be so pleasant. 
Once we got to the top of the scramble we still had about a 1/4 mile of steady incline to hike to the peak. With the air thin and our legs exhausted each step felt labored, but as we got within a hundred yards of the top, my racing instinct took over and I picked up the pace to the top. And finally we were there!
There is no way to accurately describe the peak of a mountain, it is something that must be experienced. The views were amazing and you could see for miles. We were above the clouds in many cases and above all the surrounding peaks. We signed the log, took a few pictures, cracked open an ice cold coke, and enjoyed the views for a few minutes. As we stood on the top, we noticed the clouds forming quickly over us and suddenly sleet started to fall...in August! To someone from Oklahoma, this is unheard of! We quickly put on some extra clothes (we had already added gloves and ear warms awhile ago) and started climbing back down. Now we get back to this rock slide...going down is not something I enjoy, each step was carefully calculated and I took my time to make sure each rock was secure. After a frightful 10 minutes we finally were back on the trail. We took a few more pictures and started the long decent back down.
Our plan had been to take the way down slowly, take pictures, and enjoy...nope - it started hailing on us, we ran. Well as fast as you can run on steep, rocky switchbacks thousands of feet in the air on a sheer cliff... and once again I don't like going down which majorly slowed down our little group. We stopped to put on rain jackets and pack ponchos, but outside of that it was a race to the car. We finally made it back to the truck - 7 hour round trip to the peak and back. It took us 5 hours to climb up, and just a little over 2 hours to make it back down - hail is great motivation!
Climbing Uncomphagre Peak was similar to the feeling I had when I finished my first half marathon - it is an amazing feeling to accomplish something that not everyone can do or wants to do. There is also something exhilarating about being able to conquer fear and overcome muscle exhaustion and push on to finish something you set your mind to. Even months later as I write this I still can feel the rush and the high of the accomplishment.
