Here are two short stories of people that we’ve met on the trail:
 
Two summers ago, we were hiking up to Bierdstadt Lake in RMNP from the Bierstadt Trailhead. The trail is quite short and with the elevation gain in such a short distance, the trail ends up becoming somewhat steep. The views of Hallett Peak and Flattop Mountain are spectacular!
 
As we were rounding one of the bends, there was an elderly gentleman (75+) stopped. He was having a drink of water and enjoying the view. We noticed that he was hiking with 2 hiking poles and going very slowly. We stopped to chat with him and he told us that he had just had 2 knee replacements. He was so excited to be able to hike again and just be outside. He was in his glory! But, he said he couldn't go down the mountain with his new knees. So, once he arrived at Bierdstadt Lake, he was going to stay for a while and have some lunch and then hike to Bear Lake so he could take the shuttle back to his car.
 
We said our good-byes and continued up to the lake, around the lake and then headed back down the trail to our car…. and he still was slowly hiking up the trail. What perseverance! Got to hand it to him!
 
There was a summit that we always wanted to climb and numerous times, due to weather and stamina, we just didn't make it.
 
About 3 years ago, we believed that the next day could be the day for possible success. The weather forecast looked spectacular. We had been hiking quite extensively and we had a good attitude about accomplishing that feat.
 
We got to the trailhead about 7:00am as we knew we had to reach the first area (4.4 miles up - 2,200' vertical gain) no later than 11:00 and then try to go the last 500' vertical gain on rocks/boulders. We had made the first 4.4 miles numerous times, but it was the last 500' climb that had eluded us. Due to the thunderstorms that roll into the area, you have to make sure that you are below treeline and numerous times we’ve had to turn around.
 
We arrived at Flattop, our first goal, at about 10:30am, delighted to be on target. We knew that we would rest for about 10 minutes or so before attempting the last 500 vertical feet.
 
About 5 minutes into our rest a we could see a faint image approaching us... and moving at a pretty rapid pace... coming from the direction that we needed to go (up the boulders).
 
The image started to come closer and then we realized that the person was jogging (not too fast, but definitely not walking).
 
Just then, the man became the image and he was very close to us. "Nice day up on the summit (on top of Hallett – the last 500’)", he said as he jogged past us. He was wearing a pair of white sneakers, had a small backpack and bladder on his back.
 
We turned and looked to each other. If a 72+ year old man could get to the top, we could, too! We were motivated beyond belief.
 
We eventually made it to the summit and unfortunately it was the only time that our camera memory card failed us. A photo of both of us on top was lost. So, we had to climb to the summit again, a few weeks’ later to photograph the two of us on top.
 
That 72+ year old man had made quite an impression on us and we will always remember that day. It gives us a lot of years to look forward to.