14,000 ft. Fun

Colorado mountain top
fourteen thousand feet
early summer morning
at the trail head we meet,
Sun is slowly rising
air cool and clear
beat the crowds again
no one is here,

Wearing boots and Lederhosen
canvas packs for gear
wood handle ice axes
in the creek some Coors beer,
The first four miles
up the trail we go
reach an elevation
where trees no long grow,

Stop for a break
trail mix and sweet tea
I smile across at your
you smile across at me,
Not the Himalayas
Alps or Alaska Range
just big piles of gravel
each with a name,

Fifty-plus in Colorado
over fourteen-thousand feet
loved to death by locals
each tallying their feat,
Out for some exercise
as in the past
making steady progress
not slow, but not fast,

Up the final ridge
just before mid-day
we kiss on the summer
our hands begin to play,
Lederhosen leather
against our private places
still no other climbers
so we’re off to the races,

Vague goal is to do it
on each mountain top
someone asked why
we reply, why not,
After that we eat
more snacks and sweet tea
I smile at you
you smile at me,

It’s three hours back
to our beer in the creek
past a dozen other climbers
the humble and the meek,
Two beers each
creek water ice cold
there’s a hot spring nearby
so we are told,