Seven women, five from the Ruidoso area and two from Denver, returned recently from reaching the 14,199 foot summit of Mt. Yale in Colorado. There was a 20 year age difference and a varied range of climbing and backpacking experience within the group. The one thing Shippen Salas, Sue Morris, Lori Lamphere, Devonna James and Ann Ellis agreed on when interviewed this week was that they came back changed people.

Salas had taken backpacking trips to Colorado since 2012. She invited friend, fellow volunteer trail crew and co-worker at Ski Apache Adaptive Sports Joanne Habelt to accompany her on a subsequent trip. More women were invited to join the group, now dubbed the Wild Women of the Wilderness. This year Habelt was unable to go, but Pam Schmidt, Salas’ sister and Pam Hanson rounded out the team.

The team planned to climb three mountains with elevations over 14,000 feet, also known as fourteeners. There are 58 such mountains in Colorado, some that skirt the Continental Divide in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness. Mt. Yale is located outside of Buena Vista and, according to www.alltrails.com, is recommended only for very experienced adventurers. The team decided that it would be the first mountain they would climb.

During the planning stages, the individual women’s skills and abilities emerged. There was a communal atmosphere from the beginning with shared equipment and duties assigned.

“There was some gearing up on everybody’s part,” Salas said. “We wanted to go as light as possible.”

The packs weighed approximately 35 pounds.

“At the most a pack should weigh one-third of your body weight,” Morris said. “That is about what a hiker can comfortably handle.”

For Lamphere who had less backpacking experience, preparation for the trip included practicing setting up her tent and cooking the food to taste it in advance and make sure it would not upset her stomach. She and Morris also hiked Sierra Blanca peak three times, once with a loaded backpack, to make sure she was ready.

“I was afraid that I would be the weakest link,” Lamphere said. “I didn’t want to let anyone else down.”

Ellis, who had never backpacked or climbed before, was also a little apprehensive.

“I camped with horses before,” Ellis explained. “But this was the first time for me to be out on my own for that length of time. I felt like I might be biting off more than I could chew.”

The six-day trip was divided into two parts: the first hike would be up Mt. Yale, and the second hike would follow the Pine Creek trail.

On the first leg, the team hiked to 11,000 feet and set up camp. To reach the summit and come back, they ditched their heavy packs and replaced them with lighter, smaller ones. The route covered five miles.

“It took all of us looking the cairns (small stacks of rocks that act as trail markers),” Morris said. “The last quarter mile to the top was very technical. We really had to watch our heads and legs so they would not get banged up as we used our hands to grab onto slabs of granite.”

The team did not realize it, but Mt. Yale has a false summit.

“We thought we had reached the top after we climbed the last ridge but then we saw that we had to go around the backside to get to the top,” Morris said.

The ascent was challenging, but the return was also treacherous.

“I was watching for the shuffle as we all came down,” Morris continued. “The switchbacks were covered with pea gravel, making it like walking on marbles. The shuffle happens when a hiker brings one foot to match the other rather than moving it forward. When I saw someone doing it, I stepped in to show how to use poles to create a four-point daddy long leg stance that would allow that person to pick up her pace.”

In all, the five miles took the women three and a half hours.

Morris grew up in Colorado and had the most experience climbing, having bagged 36 fourteeners. This was the second time she climbed Mt. Yale. She was instrumental in understanding the pace required, given the terrain and weather patterns and when to stop and take off packs to rest. She also developed a routine for communal chores such as filtering water and hauling it back to camp. Her expertise earned her the nickname “La Capitana.”

“We didn’t know the translation of the female noun ‘captain’ in Spanish,” Salas said. “So we made a name up.”

Nicknames were assigned to other women as well.

James was “Q” short for Queenie for her outdoor knowledge and being “queen of the campground.” She showed the group how to build a trench using logs, dirt and rock to divert rain and keep the tents dry and how to burn horse manure to keep the mosquitos away.

Lamphere was called “Gazelle” for her wide stride.

“When we needed to make time, Lori led the group,” Morris said, laughing.

“Being in the rear was just as important,” Lamphere interjected. “We were kind of like an accordion, stretching out and then coming together.

“We promised to never lose sight of one another,” Morris added.

Everybody contributed and looked out for one another. Ellis led yoga exercises along the trail, Hansen sent the other climbers notes from a class she took on climbing fourteeners and Schmidt was given goddess treatment for her no-bake energy bites recipe.

“We made the commitment when we planned this trip to ask every morning how everyone was doing,” Salas said. “We’d ask: ‘Did you sleep well? Are you tired?’ That way, we knew who was strong and who might need a little more care.”

“In some ways, I’m sure we all had our own personal weaknesses, but that pressed us to help one another,” Lamphere added.

Unfortunately the weather did not permit the women to climb anymore peaks. They did hike through a canyon flanked by steep hills and were able to catch glimpses of a marmot, pica and snowshoe hare.

“I wanted to see a moose so badly,” Salas said. “We saw sign and we also saw evidence of beavers with their dams and gnawed off trees. But no moose.”

The women covered 40 miles during their trip.

Having just returned, Salas admits to experiencing something akin to re-entry.

“What I realize is that though the trip was physically challenging, it was also restful, for my eyes, my senses and, of course, my mind,” Salas explained. “Being back, I am so much more intentional about what is coming into my senses. It’s funny: I tried to read. I don’t ordinarily use glasses but everything was so blurry. On the trip, we were long-visioned, looking out, but now I’m more aware of the man-made noises that surround me. The trip integrated my mind, body and spirit. I just don’t know how long it will last.”

“I usually check my email, read the news, see what the weather will be like and do a little Bible study,” Lamphere said. “Now I have no interest in my iPad.”

What really impressed Lamphere after the trip was how little she needed to survive for that long.

“It is amazing that we can carry all we need on our backs and that the needs of your life can weigh less than 30 pounds,” she said.

For Morris who had not spent much time camping overnight, the trip forced her to slow down.

“Lori and I are hummingbird people,” Morris said. “We are always moving. I don’t sit well. One night I was in the tent from 6:30 in the evening until 5:30 the next morning. I’ve never stayed in one place for 11 hours in my life. But here I was, listening to the rain and the birds. I came home, hopefully, with a little more patience.”

Morris also commented on the reflective conversations she had with the other women during the trip.

For Ellis, a self-proclaimed thrill seeker, the trip tested her personally but she, too, came away with a deeper appreciation of friendship, a feeling echoed by James.

“To spend seven days in God’s beautiful creation backpacking with my wonderful, strong friends whose love for the outdoors is just as great as mine was an experience of a lifetime,” James wrote in an email. “I love how on our way home we started planning our next adventure.”