The Ascent

Brent climbed Pikes Peak on Friday. He started at 5 in the morning so that it wouldn't take his whole day. I laughed inside when he told me he would be home around 11 because we have been married for 10 years and at this point I know better than to think he will be home when he expects to be. He hates being late. I don't use that word often but he honestly despises being late. However, when it comes to hunting or the outdoors I can almost always plan on him being late because something always happens. They run out of gas or they can't find the animal that is down and suffering or they don't have a watch, you name it I have heard it. Now you may think that I am writing this fuming but that is not the case. I am laughing. It is just a give in at this point that Brent will be late and so it really doesn't upset me anymore. I just have to know that this is his thing and his day and he is going to come home with stories, and pictures and even though he will be exhausted he will email everyone his pictures and then call everyone and tell them his stories. And then he will crash.

So you guessed it. He was late. He called me at 11:30 and told me that he and Brad and Brad's son, Ty, had just reached the summit. I laughed. No seriously. I laughed. It had taken them 6 and a half hours to reach the top and they still had to come down. I honestly can't tell you when he got home but I believe it was close to 4.

Thier excuse: they had trudged the 12 miles in snow and he had carried his pack filled with items he didn't intend to use just to give him some extra training for his sheep hunt in 2 months. It was much harder than they expected. Instead of 3 miles an hour like he planned they were able to go only one mile an hour. When they reached the top they were sunburned, wind chapped, and falling over as others ran to open the door for them as they asked, " did you WALK up here(they had taken the scenic cog railway up)?"

Now Brent understands why his marathoner friends like Brig and Monte say that they will never do it again.

I am proud of you Brent and I do love your stories. (he is one of the best storytellers I know, and the most frequent.) I just hope you can make it on your sheep hunt because 12 days of it is bound to do you in. I don't know if I have it in me to listen to you complain about your sun/wind burns so you better take sunscreen no matter how many ounces it will weigh.

I love you, my mountain climber, my "lobster".