The mountains are always calling. We can always jet out the door and hit a peak. And it’s so tempting and beckoning. We like it that way.

Living in Breckenridge is a giant playground for us. We take care of business and life like other families. The boys started school and are launching into their own worlds.

We have a lot of things to attend to on a daily basis with business ventures and products. But we are always looking to play.

I was finishing off some calls on Friday, and Sonya saw the bluebird day and mentioned possibly hitting 3 fourteeners – Democrat, Lincoln and Cameron. We missed doing them on a questionable day previously, and the weather was welcoming.

No hesitation. We got out the door with our Marmot day packs, Black Diamond hiking poles and puffies with a bunch of snacks and water. Boom, we got into the mountains quickly and were salivating at the opportunity to hit 3 peaks in one day!

Hardly anyone was on the trail. It was all ours! Click, click, click. We were finding plants for our hiking poles and making our way up the boulder-stricken landscape. I was pretty beat and could not seem to find my rhythm. Sonya was a beast and pushing steady, hard and exuberantly towards our first peak, Democrat.

Lots of questionable footing on our ascent, and my legs were super achy from the steep climb. We hit a plateau before the final peak climb. And then the top was a fantastic reward 360 degrees around.

Fall was in the air. The wind was pushing hard and consistently, and the temperatures were dropping in the early evening. But the sun was hanging. It reminded me of how the horizon stayed put in our Alaska hikes last year.

One down, two to go. We had to dip down and back up between the saddle of Democrat and Cameron. On the way up, we took a refuel break to get our muscles working better using some Arbonne workout drinks. It took about ten minutes to kick in, and they worked.

The trail up had some unexpected swallows flitting around with their nests high up. We also saw some snow drifts and hiked in and alongside them. It was getting colder, but the wildness was awesome to experience. Feeling alive.

We could see Kite Lake and all the little flickers of weekend backpackers staking out far down below.

Cameron looked like the moon on the top. Flat and desolate. We took some quick pics and had our eyes on the next saddle and traverse to Lincoln. Down we went through a rock field and up again to some more textured climbs towards a narrow peak.

Lincoln totally rocked. We could see down into Blue River and other fourteeners in the area.

We saw a couple geological markers and nestled in a crag to avoid all the heavy winds. We ate sausage and drank our Coronas with lime! Such an amazing feeling to be up with beat legs, remarkable views and beer.

We saw a couple mountain lakes in the dusk shadows across the steep valley. We want to hit those sometime.

We had to bundle up with our puffies and head down with flashlights and careful footing. So many opportunities to break an ankle with the crags and ridiculous rockiness.

We got down to Kite Lake in the dark and could see a bright moon with the constellations showing themselves bright and clear.

Our legs were beat. It was time for burgers and beers to refuel. The kids were doing their own things with friends and recovering from a long week of hard work and play.

Sonya and I have six fourteeners down now. We want more. We are grateful that we can simply shoot out and go after one of our favorite pastimes – hiking big mountains and enjoying those magnificent views.

Here are a few more favorite pics from our hike: