End of the 52 Peaks Challenge: Peaks 66 & 67

July 23 and 29, 2022

I am writing this almost 9 months after the end of the challenge, when I realized I hadn’t closed out the narrative. I wont be able to post any pictures as I am out of space and don’t want to pay to post more…my taste for blogging clearly had run its course.

‘Peak’ 66 wasn’t really a peak at all, but a hike in the west Penasquitos Canyon. It was a fun hike, about 5 miles and 750 feet, so enough for a peak by the definition of the challenge. But at this point I was just kind of treading water. I knew I wouldn’t make my personal goal of 70 peaks by the end of July…I had run out of time and ‘new’ accessible peaks in the San Diego area. I was also just looking forward to trips to Chicago in mid July and then to Colorado and training for some hikes at elevation. But I was still hiking on a regular basis and that’s what mattered.

Peak 67 was the real deal. On Friday, July 29th, the last day of the challenge, I was in Colorado staying with SDHL and dear friend Jean Ott, who has a summer home in Silverthorne, CO, near Breckenridge and right off Interstate 70. Kristen had traveled with me on a road trip thru Nevada, Arizona and Utah to reach Colorado and meet Jean and Galia, who was there for a conference. This was our first major hike of the trip. It was called ‘Wheeler Lakes’ and I had not hiked in a landscape like that before. Quoting from my hike journal, “A steep climb from 9500 feet to more than 11,000 feet in elevation in the rocky mountains. I was out of breath! With Kristen, Galia and Jean. Cloudy and and cool, helped with the climb. Jean and Galia were way ahead, but I stayed back near Kristen. I let her have her alone time…she was very much feeling the presence of her mom, and I Alex (or missing him really for me); we both had individual as well as group hikes. Such beautiful flowers; it felt like Austria and I wanted to sing the Sound of Music. Gorgeous views of mountains all around. Have not hiked in these types of places before. Takes your breath away, so literally. Aspen, pine, meadows, lakes, mushrooms, amazing wildflowers. SOOO Green. 7.2 miles, 947.4 miles year to date (from Jan 1, 2022) Last of the 52 peaks hikes!