Trifecta in White

Colorado is synonymous with mountains.
And yesterday, 
after yet another spring snowstorm
earlier in the week,

             The Morning After the Storm 
                    Earlier in the Week



... the Front Range was draped
in a mantle of dazzling white.

Part of the Front Range of Colorado

The White Clad Mountains Tower 

Over the Foothills and the Metro Area

The Front Range, 

part of the Southern Rocky Mountains, 

rises 10,000 feet above the Great Plains.

It stretches from Casper, Wyoming in the north

to Pueblo, Colorado in the south.

Map of Colorado

The Front Range parallels Interstate 25 to the west or left.

I-25 runs north-south from the Wyoming border through Fort Collins

all the way south through Trinidad to the New Mexico border.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mountains_from_westlands.jpg

 The Front Range (in pink)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Image_Wpdms_nasa_topo_front_range.jpg

Panoramic View of the Front Range

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mountains_from_westlands.jpg

Three majestic peaks anchor the skyline 

when you look at the Front Range

from the Denver Metro Area:

Longs Peak, Mount Evans, and Pikes Peak.

In the brilliant spring sunshine,

these three Fourteeners formed

the perfect trifecta in white.

 Longs Peak (to the north) 

Viewed from Aurora

Elevation: 14,259 feet / 4346 meters

Mount Evans (in the middle) 

Viewed from Aurora

Elevation:  14,265 feet / 4348 meters

Pikes Peak (to the south) 

Viewed from Aurora

Elevation:  14,115 feet / 4302 meters

Coloradans cherish the Front Range for its beauty

and for the recreation it provides year round.

Residents and visitors mountain bike, hike, climb,

and camp during the warmer months, 

and they ski, snowboard, and snowshoe

during the winter. 

Rocky Mountains

Looking West from Lookout Mountain, 

Golden, Colorado

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lookout_Moutain_West_View.jpg

Some Coloradans like to bag Fourteeners.

Fourteeners are mountains 

that exceed 14,000 feet or 4,270 meters in elevation.

Colorado has 53 Fourteeners,

although this number is open to debate.

For a mountain to be considered a Fourteener,

it has to have a unique summit 

rising more than 300 feet or 91.44 meters  

above its connecting saddle to a taller peak.

Source:  http://www.hikingintherockies.com/fourteeners/14ers.htm

Fifty-three Fourteeners make the cut,

but traditionally one or two other peaks

have been counted despite their lack of rise.

I have stood on top of Pikes Peak and Mount Evans ~

but I haven't bagged them.

To bag a Fourteener 

you have to actually climb the mountain.

Riding to Pikes Peak 

on the Cog Railway doesn't count.

Fourteen Thousand Feet Above the Sea!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fourteen_thousand_feet_above_the_sea,

_Pike%27s_Peak,_Colorado,_U.S.A,_from_Robert_N._Dennis_collection_of_stereoscopic_views.jpg

Nor does driving to the top of Mount Evans count.

The Mount Evans Scenic Byway 

Approaching the Summit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EvansByway.jpg

Longs Peak is never going to happen,

for this scaredy cat!

Nearly every year one or more people die

climbing Longs Peak.

Here is a very short video on climbing

Longs Peak using the Keyhole Route.

One look at this will show you 

why it will never happen for me.

Source:  You Tube/James Diezynski

I have bagged three:  

Mount Sherman (14,036 feet / 4,278 meters) 

Grays (14,278 feet / 4,352 meters)

and Torreys (14,275 feet / 4,351 meters).

Until, and if, things change,

I'll just enjoy the trifecta's beauty

with my eyes instead of my feet.