Mt. Lincoln

Our good friends Jamie Buckley & Eileen Clerig came to visit us this past weekend from Chicago. It was an absolute treat for Kristine & I to host these two and its always a special bonus when you find couples that you so enjoy hanging out and adventuring with both halves of the couple. Jamie is a fraternity brother and pledge brother of mine from W&L and has been a long time great friend. Jamie also climbed Kilimanjaro with Kristine, myself, and others in 2011 and I believe has a newfound interest in this whole mountain climbing bit. Jamie had climbed a few Colorado 14ers in preparation for the climb of Kilimanjaro and he definitely wanted to attempt another one on this short but sweet trip back to Colorado. As always, Kristine & I are up for any kind of adventure and I thought the nearby Mt. Lincoln would be a good 14er for all of us to attempt as it is relatively short (5 miles or so roundtrip with less than 3,000′ vertical gain). We have come to know Eileen well over the past two years and we absolutely love this gal! She is so upbeat and positive and has a glowing personality. She and Buckley make a wonderful couple – so wonderful in fact that they are engaged and are getting married in Florida this June 15! I truly cannot wait to attend the festivities and I believe most of my fraternity brothers feel the same way.

My only other Colorado fraternity & pledge brother, Chris Sutton, who is a good friend and lawyer in Colorado Springs joined us as well with his girlfriend, Alison. Additionally, our good friend and partner in crime, Lauren McKeone, who teaches with Kristine in Vail, expressed interest in coming along with her German Shepherd, Scout. Last but not least, of course, Rainie & Kona rounded out the crew.

Kristine, Rainie, Kona, & I had been up Lincoln a few times and its always good to go back. This time we started the climb from the eastern Quartzville trailhead as the more standard and higher (in elevation) Kite Lake trailhead from the west was likely not accessible via car because of the snowpack. The last half mile to the Quartzville 4WD trailhead parking was deep snow so we had to park on the road, which added a bit more length to the hike but completely manageable. Kristine & I went sans snowshoes and besides the initial half mile up the road, there was very little post-holing as most of the east ridge route was firm snow or barren rock/grass. The weather forecast, however, was far from ideal. With a 40% chance of snow, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. But, with only one day for a 14er attempt for Buckley & Eileen, we had to at least give it an attempt. The snow really never came, which was absolutely fine with us. But what did come was the wind and lots of it! The forecast had only called for 15-20mph winds, but I estimated the winds were likely 40mph up higher on the east ridge with gusts perhaps at even higher wind speeds. Fortunately, the air temperature was fairly warm, which made the wind chill temperature manageable.

We really didn’t start snowshoeing/hiking until about 9:45am because of the slow drive over from Vail on icy/snowy roads. The sun kept poking through the intermittent clouds, which was definitely a reprieve from the high winds. Eileen let all of us know early on that she was really just wanting to have a nice, leisurely day in the Colorado high country but she knew that Buckley really wanted to summit if at all possible. Kristine then remained with Eileen and they both proceeded at Eileen’s pace and enjoyed the day. It actually worked out for the best as Kristine & Eileen got to have some great “gal time” together. Sutton & Alison made it to about 13,000’ on the east ridge before turning around due to the high winds. At that point, Buckley, Lauren, the dogs, & I had reached the base of the final summit cone at about 13,800’. Now, I never want to push my friends to do anything they are uncomfortable with or do not want to do. I kept turning around and asking Lauren & Buckley if they would like to continue. Their perseverance & resolve were incredible. They always wanted to forge ahead despite the very taxing high winds. We were never in a dangerous situation, though I know it likely felt a bit dangerous to them because of the high winds. I then broke trail up the final summit cone in hopes that the footsteps would help Buckley & Lauren.

We all topped out around 1pm, I believe, and enjoyed a good 20 minutes on the summit taking in the views and snapping pictures. Amazingly, the winds up top were not nearly as strong as the winds hammering us pretty much the entire ascent. My hat is off to Buckley on really staying strong to the end, as he normally does, and pushing through to the summit, especially since he had just come from Chicago (elevation 579’) two days before! He’s one tough son of a gun. And, Lauren did so fantastic in putting aside any doubt and disbelief to make a successful 14er ascent in tough conditions. Lauren has really been getting out with Kristine & myself on our backcountry and mountain climbing excursions and her efforts are really paying off! Chalk up another 14er summit for Buckley & Lauren and a new one at that!

I cleaned the ice and snow out of the dogs’ paws, but they were really cold, especially Kona with blowing ice freezing to her fur, so we descended pretty fast.

We eventually made it back down to the basin far below and met up with Kristine & Eileen. We had learned that they had made it all the way to 13,500’ on the east ridge where they could see us climbing up the final snow summit cone. Eileen did such a stellar job and I think she really felt good about herself. Kristine is amazing at coaching friends along and setting minor goals along the way. They had had a great few hours together, which is what it was all about anyway. Sutton & Alison had descended back down to their car and the rest of us made it back down to the cars at around 3pm but not without some good ole spring post-holing on the half mile stretch of road down from the 4WD trailhead parking. But, what’s a spring 14er climb without some post-holing, right? We all headed to the Breckenridge Brewery for some beers, food, and NCAA Final Four basketball and toasted to a great day up on the mountain. I think Buckley & Eileen had a great visit back to Colorado, however short it was, and a wonderful breath of fresh air before heading back to the Windy City. Kristine & I truly loved having them. I think Eileen said it best when she said, “Ya Know, even though it was a short visit, I feel it was very rich & hearty with friendship and good times.” I couldn’t agree more.