The summit is 500 feet away and within reach. The winds howl over the treeless trail and the barometric pressure is falling.
“We need to turn back,” yells Mike, the leader of the hike.
After a two-day backpacking trip with about 4,000 feet of elevation gain over 6 miles, I am in no mood to call it quits now. It’s only 8:30 in the morning and a bit early for a storm, even at 12,000 feet. Considering we trenched through and over snow, mud, skree and boulders, another 500 feet of wind and snow shouldn’t be enough to stop us.
I take a few steps forward. The lack of thunder in the distance gives me confidence to take a few more. I try to convince Mike to do the same, who is (wisely) looking at the storm rolling in and shaking his head.
After a few more steps, the snow-turned-ice is difficult to stand on and my poles are no longer digging in for support. I hear a pole crack.
Mike’s right, it’s time to call it. Mt. Sopris will have to wait until another day.
The storm hits us within the first mile back down. Snow, rain and hail fall on us as we make our way down the slippery rocks. Thunder and lightning join the party.
Six miles later, Mike and I sit on our toes in a ditch underneath a short tree, away from our metal hiking poles and with our rain gear over our heads and packs. Lightning and thunder battle above us.
In moments like this, it’s a wise idea to take time for reflection. If we decided to walk to the summit and ignore the warning signs of the impending storm, which I came very close to doing before Mike’s wise call, there is a strong chance we would have been above tree line when the storm hit, which is a dangerous situation for a hiker.
When exploring Colorado’s amazing attractions, it can be easy to get caught up in the excitement of the moment. Sure, great achievements require risk, but there is no need to take unnecessary risk. Sometimes variables are not what they should be and shouldn’t be taken for granted. When facing dangerous situations, let it be on or off a mountain peak, remember a failure today is not losing forever.
That mountain, that goal or that activity will be there tomorrow. If you throw caution to the wind, you may not be.
We’ll conquer Mt. Sopris another day; in the meantime this will do.