Handie's Peak and moose

This post is dedicated to our 14er climb. It is was hard, fantastic, breathtaking, and very tiring all at once.
Handie's Peak 14,058. Yippee! We actually ended up going 6.5 miles instead of 5 since we parked the jeep a lot further away than the real parking lot and had to hike it. Very sad at the end having to hike that extra bit. Oh, well.

Hiked through 3 streams going up (and those 3 coming down) and sloshed through 5 snow banks (and those coming down). Met people going up and down, but not at all the giant crowd we were lead to believe would be there.

Stopped at Sloan Lake on the way up. Supposed to have native trout but Mark saw nary a rise. We hit every kind of surface from small rock, big rock, snow, mud, but the trail was well marked - no chance of getting lost.

Marmot city. Really, hundreds of them all up and down the entire way. They just weren't up on the tiny summit.

The flowers were at peak and I will tell you we've never seen anything like this. Fields and fields of every kind imaginable, including columbines, thousands of them. Stunning indeed.

Sloan lake from waaay above

We huffed and puffed a bit to get to the summit and I was surprised at how small it was. Apparently they mostly all are. Wow, it's a lonngg way down. Two young guys had sprinted past us and were up at the top when we finally got there. We exchanged photos and had a nice conversation. This was their 3rd 14er of the day, it was their day off, and they were rafting guides on the Arkansas. Hey, you guys will not steal our thunder. We did it!!

Last but not least, is the moose sighting. Our first one. A day of firsts it seems. She's last, but actually we saw her on the drive up to the mountain. Yes, she has a collar, biologists. The females weigh close to 900 lbs (males 1300).
We are a little stiff today but in remarkably good shape considering. Member's of the 14er club now!