Denver Seminary

About 16 months back I attempted a winter climb on Yale. It was a couple degrees below zero when we started and the snow was knee/thigh deep all the way to treeline. The total trip was slightly over 12 hours long and it was exhausting!!! Unfortunately the winds were extremely strong above treeline and simply impossible on the summit. I do not know what wind speeds we encountered that day, but I can tell you, in the end we could not stand in them. So what do you do when you can not stand...you crawl! Unfortanely, this mode of travel proved useless. So, we turned around right at the base of the summit. It would simply have been too dangerous to try and get on the summit. Well, a good friend (I will not share his name, but his initials are J.D.) told me I had to actually stand on the summit; apparently you can not just touch it with my hands. Well, I do not know exact summit protocol, but I figured that it would be good to go back just to be safe. After all, I do not want J.D. calling me a poser!!!

Well, our son, Jonathan, was home from the USAF Academy for a 2-day break and in need of something other than military. We arrived at the trail head and sleep a few hours and started our hike at 4:30 a.m.

Here is a look back down the valley as the sun was coming up

This is Jonathan and we are on the spiny ridge right below the summit. The was the turn around point 16 months ago.

The Wayward Bottle on top of Yale at 14,197 feet

Right across the valley are two other collegiate peaks: Harvard and Columbia.

It was a great father's day gift to spend a day with my son and push the mind and body on a Colorado 14er.