Sartor Stories: Bierstadt Hike

Wow, it's been awhile since we've updated this- sorry! At least we just recently saw most of you so you know what's going on.

The last Saturday in August a few of us- Eric, Me, Heather, Scott, Joe & Matt- decided to hike a 14'er. A 14'er is a 14,000 foot mountain peak. Hiking these is very common and it's on that list of things you must do if you live in Colorado.

Bierstadt starts around 11,000 feet and goes up to a summit of just over 14,000. The hike was intense- lots of up and towards the last few hundred feet to the summit it became a scramble on loose rock. I was not loving that part because I could definitely see myself catching bad footing and sliding down a rock slide. Joe and Scott kept telling me that I could do it and I had to get to the top. (They were both in on it! Joe hiked wine up to the top so we could toast after I said yes!) I was tired and made that known to Eric, but even he was being patient. Slightly odd, but I truly thought nothing of it. I was more worried about rock burn on my face if I missed footing.

Taking a breather about an hour before he popped the question!

Looking across to the ten mile range

The rocky climb to the top I was not loving

All of us finally got to the summit and sat down. Being on rock that wasn't moving was great! We started to take pictures and Eric sat down next to me so Heather could get a picture of us. Eric randomly mentions after the picture about how beautiful of a place this would be for a proposal. Me thinking, wow you're weird, I look to Heather for reinforcement. As I turned my head to tell Eric he was crazy, the sparkle of a shiny engagement ring resting on his pinky finger caught my eye. I looked at him and he then asked me to marry him! I screamed, grabbed the ring and lunged at him to give him a huge hug. The scream did however, scare some other hikers at the top of the mountain and they thought something was wrong. Scott clarified for them that it was a proposal and they all clapped for us. I was in complete shock but so thrilled. The hike was still grueling and the way down really killed me, but it was totally worth it!