*Skip to ^^^^^^^ if you want to skip the approach and get to the peak of the action, but I certainly think any summit is well worth the climb up.*
It’s 6 AM, and I’m only a few miles into my hike – exhausted from the previous days of hiking – when I realize I left my hiking poles a quarter-mile down the trail after taking a break and, reluctantly, head back down to grab them. Just as I reach them, I see a young woman hiking towards me.
She’s got blond hair done up in a short ponytail, sunglasses covering most of her face, a cute smile, and a runner/hiker’s build. She looks confused as to why I’m hiking back down the trail so early, so I mention with a laugh that I forgot my hiking poles and quickly turn back up the trail.
I’ve got a 15+ mile hike climbing two of Colorado’s 14,000 ft peaks including a long, rocky traverse on the ridge connecting them (bonus points if you can guess the two peaks) and don’t want to waste anytime. This is the third summer I’ve come out to Colorado with the goal of doing as many 14ers as I can manage. While it’s long been a fantasy to hookup with someone I meet hiking in the Rockies and there’s no greater aphrodisiac for me than the outdoors, I don’t expect us to keep the same pace, much less anything actually happen.