Rocky Mountain High

Denver is a great town. The majority of folks here are friendly, outgoing, and enjoy being outside. That's evident in the mad dash of traffic heading towards the mountains on Friday afternoon and the equally impressive mad dash back to town on Sunday.
This weekend, Barrett, Lauren and I made like the locals and got the heck out of dodge for the weekend. The plan was for me to drive down to Colorado Springs, pack all our stuff in Barrett's truck, and head to the mountains. Both Lauren and Barrett are big hikers, and as such, they've been tackling some of the better hikes in the area. On the agenda this weekend was Mount Democrat, which is considered a 'fourteener'. These are hikable peaks that have a summit over 14,000 feet. To put that in perspective, Denver is just under 1/3 the height of these summits.
Our plan, as it was revealed to me, was to camp at Kite Lake (near the trailhead for several 14ers), hike to the summit of at least 1 14er, and then head into Breckenridge for some good dinner and relaxation.
Camping Friday night ended up becoming an interesting experience. We arrived at dusk and hastily started pitching tents. In the rain. At 39 degrees Farenheit. Thankfully, the tents went up easily and the rain was never very hard. It did, however, last until several hours after we all crashed. Once the rain subsided and the cloud cover moved on, it got cold. My best guess is that the temperature got into the low 20s overnight.
We awoke early to get up on the mountain as quickly as possible. To fuel our efforts, Barrett made a campground delicacy of maple bacon and scrambled eggs. It was hearty and kept me going the entire hike.
The hike itself started at roughly 12000 ft at the base of Kite lake and ascends up the mountain to 14150. At this altitude, it's hard enough to walk, let alone ascend a mountain! The ascent was difficult at times considering the cold temperatures and high winds. Locals on the trail mentioned several times that the weather was unseasonable. The 4 hour hike really took a lot out of us and we decided not to try the remaining summits in the area.
After hiking, we went into Breckenridge (where a friend graciously allowed us to stay in their ski condo) and grubbed down. Breck is a cool little ski village which has a lot of charm. There's a Brewery, tons of restaurants, and a horde of little shops. I'd definitely consider returning during the ski season!
On a side note, the rotation here has been something of a disappointment. Thankfully, there are only two weeks remaining and I'm in a good city amongst great friends. It's hard to believe that this 8 week adventure is 3/4 complete. I've had a great time out here and would strongly consider returning to the area!