The hike up to the top of Mount Sanitas in Boulder, Colorado, takes sustained effort. Ever since I climbed the red-rock Stairmaster for the first time in the early 1990s, it has found new ways to kick my ass each time I face it.
The last time I made the full ascent? It took me twice as long as it used to. I don’t blame the years so much as I blame the fact I hadn’t been living in Colorado at the time. My other excuse? I stop to boulder along the way, and enjoy the scenery rather than cranking the vertical mile.
The first reward I find at the top, with views normally reserved for the birds of prey and the gliders sailing off the nearby Boulder Municipal Airport (KBDU, the best airport identifier ever). I can see clear to Kansas (if I wanted to look that far) or better yet a hundred miles down the Rockies to Pikes Peak. My second reward is the vista of the Flatirons that you get from the top of the fire road on the loop down.
And the final reward? A truly “Only In Boulder” Organic Green Bullet IPA from Asher Brewing Company, started in Gunbarrel (a suburb of Boulder if you can say such a thing). Quenching my thirst locally and sustainably: It’s the right thing to do, and nothing feels better after that climb.
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- View of the Flatirons from the fire road at Sanitas
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- The plaque at the top of Mount Sanitas
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- The Asher Green Bullet IPA: the best reward