Climbing Kit Carson Peak, Colorado 14er Summit, via Willow Lake Hiking Trail! [4K UHD Cinematic] 

This was one Tough 14er Mountain Climbing Adventure for me, as spectacular as it was! The mosquitos swarmed me from the moment I opened the truck door at the trailhead, and gathered reinforcements as I made my way up the BEAUTIFUL Willow Lake trail, Waterfalls Galore! The Waterfall at Willow Lake proper was stunning as were the incredible rock formations adorning the high peaks in the sunset's orange glow.
The climb up the North Ridge of Kit Carson Mountain was a huge and classic ridge scramble with epic views and exposure, if you enjoy it, by staying on the ridge proper, and staying right of the ridge offered more security if desired, still some class 4 climbing, be prepared for it. . .Nate and I hit all 3 high points in the area, Columbia Point, Kit Carson, and Challenger Point with zeros issues aside for the death of my drone, hand launching and "releasing" prematurely. It bounced once at my feet before tumbling off a vertical section of the ridge and exploding at the base, easily retrieved with tweezers 200ft down along with the SD card inside.
On the final steep descent I choose to slide down a steep snow filled gully to save 500ft vert of walking down, I asked Nate to go first with his axe, no issues and proceeded to unknowingly LAUNCH down at speed, bouncing while struggling to self arrest sans Ice Axe and tearing a biceps ligament off the bone in my elbow. Not too painful but disabling my left arm for the descent, non issue. . . I was home safe in normal time and style. . . Thank god, I know it could have been MUCH worse, I started using my elbows to dig into the snow while on my back the moment after I lost my lower arm use, then I grabbed Nate on the way by slowing further and meeting the ROCKS at a manageable speed. . . I lost my GoPro during the violent bouncing descent and Nate retrieved it for me from 500 feet lower after I regained my senses enough to realize it was missing, was in a bit of shock for the first few minutes, THANK-YOU Nate! I have already had reattachment surgery and happily completed a couple climbs before surgery, Grizzly Peak & Mt. Lindsey were AWESOME as is the video I captured!
I am planning my next adventure now, for 3 weeks after surgery, Class 2+ will be a non-issue as I have been hiking and climbing very short class 4 scrambles already, with minimal use of my left arm. I am healing Surprisingly fast and the surgeon did and excellent job of minimizing his impact while completing a complex procedure, running the ligament through a hole he drilled in my bone and securing to a button to it from the opposite side of the bone, then all tightened back up re-extending my biceps muscle, WOW. I was warned of a tough, slow recovery but. . . I feel great. and YES I will be extra careful and move cautiously, I am very experienced with that practicing over the last month+! Now, if I can just get a window in this smoke!!!
I was scared and worried through much of this experience but never gave up hope, and I am so grateful for my health, for those who helped me and for my own ability to persevered.
Music: Coalescence, Omni, and Keep it Wavy by THE AWESOME Punch Deck / punch-deck Music promoted by www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License creativecommons.org/licenses/...
DISCLAIMER: The Expedition(s) documented on this channel are for entertainment purposes only, NOT FOR Explicit Instruction or Route Execution. I have had MANY NEAR DEATH experiences and a couple serious accidents over 30 years of Backcountry adventures, the RISKS are very REAL. I do not recommend or encourage attempting the routes or strategies shown in these videos, and assume no personal responsibility if you choose to do a similar outing. As always, hike, bike and climb at your own risk. Know Your LIMITS and stay within them if you expect to avoid any accidents. even then. . .

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