54 reasons to love Colorado

I just recently finished climbing all 54 of the 14,000 foot high peaks in Colorado. It was an incredible journey and I got to see so much of Colorado, places that people I live with and around will probably never see in their entire lives. So many beautiful valleys and magnificent peaks.

It was a journey that started when I was about 9, I think it was then when I climbed my first 14er, Antero. I have since climbed that one 2 more times, mainly because it is so close to St. Elmo, one of the most beautiful places in the state.


I knew when I was in elementary school and got my first 14er checklist shirt that I wanted to climb all of the 14ers one day. It was a goal that, back then, seemed enormous. I couldn't even name the 54 14ers, nor could I comprehend the difficulty and effort required to climb all of them. But the human body is incredibly powerful and is capable of so much.

At the beginning of this summer I realized that it was entirely possible for me to finish the peaks this year. I had only about 10 left after the end of last summer, but they were located all over the state, and they were some of the more difficult peaks. Regardless, I went to it, and finished strong.


After all was said and done, I looked back, thinking about the incredible journey to climb all the peaks. So many mountains with so many friends or family, so many tanks of gas to fill, and so many stops at the Coyote Cantina, Subway and crappy gas station food. I have to say though that my favorite peak was Capitol, as it was incredibly long and tedious and fun.


Now I'm off to climb different things, but I'll never forget the great times I have had on the Colorado 14ers, and I can't wait to get back there this winter and repeat some of the more incredible mountains in the state, and maybe start to ski down them.

View a few of my trip reports for my most recent peaks here:

Capitol and Pyramid
Little Bear, Blanca, Ellingwood

And my 14er completion list