Fast Food-less 14er

I'm not a huge fast food person, but there is one time when I must have it: after climbing a 14er. For non-Colorado residents, a 14er is a 14,000+ foot mountain. For some reason, my otherwise lazy self enjoys hiking them. I've tried bringing turkey sandwiches to eat at the summit, but whole wheat bread and lean meat just don't seem appetizing after manually dragging myself up nearly a vertical mile. And so I end up at fast food restaurants.

Yesterday my husband (Peter), pug (Smeagol) and I climbed up Mt. Yale. Only Smeagol and I made it to the top, as we left Peter around 12,800'. Peter smartly packed all the food in his backpack, leaving us tired and hungry at the top. Luckily some nice guys from CSU fed Smeagol and I beef jerky, watermelon and chocolate (the pug didn't eat the chocolate). Still, I looked forward to my post-14er tradition - a cheeseburger and fries.

I picked up Peter on the trail and we started the long trek back to the car. While I'm all enthusiasm on the way up, I'm all misery on the way down. My shoes hurt my feet. I slid in the scree and scraped my knee. I'm hungry. I'm quite the brat.

On the plus side, nothing compares to seeing the 4-Runner at the trailhead parking lot. It's a harbinger of the cheeseburger to come. I typically insist that we wait until we encounter a drive-thru from which to get my greasy, protein-packed burger (hey, I just hauled my ass up a mountain, I deserve to order from inside the car), but I knew that my chain restriction would mean I'd have to get out of the car.

K's Burgers in Buena Vista, CO is where we stopped. They hyped "old-fashioned" burgers (as opposed to those new-fangled ones) and had a crowd outside. I ordered a cheeseburger and fries and Peter, feeling not-so-great after not summiting, ordered a grilled chicken sandwich. I've gotta say, it wasn't the best hamburger of my life. Not really worth getting out of the car for. But hey, it still beats a turkey sandwich.