As a 26 - mile daily round trip , boost the 14,115 feet of Pikes Peak is an accomplishment all by itself . In fact , Zebulon Pike , after whom the crest is named , never made it to the top — even aftertellinghis expeditiousness crew that they would be capable to rise the peak and be back in clip for dinner . The first man to climb the " fourteener " did n’t come along until 1820 , when Edwin James capture it . ( James , by the way , also has a namesakepeak . )
And then there ’s Bill Williams , who decided that merely get to the top of Pikes Peak was n’t challenging enough . What would bereallyhard , he figured , was become a monkey nut to the top of the mountain — with his nose . Williams hadalreadypushed a peanut 11 miles in nine days in his hometown of Rio Hondo , Texas , and figured that a like feat up Pikes Peak would n’t be that much dissimilar . In fact , he was unforced to play on it . The Texan accepteda $ 500 wagerfrom a supporter that he could n’t complete the chore within 22 solar day .
So , in 1929 , Williamsgeared upin glove , bloomers with special knee joint pad , and a 2 - base long “ nose prong ” strapped to his forehead that helped him keep the monkey nut in line . The tripper up the good deal ultimately took him 21 days , during which hewent throughat least three pair of shoes , 12 pairs of baseball glove , and 150 peanut . Souvenir hunters were quick to tear up the worn out cogwheel : “ When Bill discard a wear thin - out shoe or a knee pad there is always a fiendish shout of delight and the gang goes after it like bleacherites after a ball that Babe Ruth has grace with a home run trade Deutsche Mark , ” thePittsburgh Pressreported .
Bizarrely , that ’s not the only time a mountaineer has come across fit to shove a legume up the mountain . Ulysses Baxteraccomplishedthe feat in 1963 in a niggling over a hebdomad and hired a rock band to serenade him as he crossed the finish line . And University of Colorado student Tom MillersmashedBaxter ’s and Williams ’s records in 1976 , come the peanut up the eyeshade in a mere four Day , 23 hours and 47 minutes .
