By Claudia Loucks
Geneseo Current
Kevin Akers didn’t just go “over the hill” on his 60th birthday, he actually conquered it!
Akers and his two sons, Corey, 38, and Collin, 34, flew to California on a Friday, climbed the Cactus to Clouds trail on Saturday, and returned to Illinois on Sunday.
It was Saturday, Oct. 24, when the trio trekked up and down Cactus to Clouds, beginning in the Palm Springs desert (cactus) and hiking 21 miles up to the snow and clouds.
The Akers group started hiking at 2 a.m., with headlamps lighting their way, and completed their journey about 6 p.m.
Akers said the hike took 16 hours, but that included some long breaks and taking their time…”My goal was to do it in 12 hours, but you never know what challenges you will face throughout the day and on a hard hike like Cactus to Clouds.”
Online states the elevation is 10,700 feet to the top, but Kevin and sons totaled 11,700, “because we summited at the top and then hiked back down a mile to get my son and then hiked back to the top together to get our photo!”
The climb begins in the desert and Akers said it was “very hot, and that is why if you hike from the bottom, most people start very early in the morning. There were some people that started at 11 p.m. the night before, but the higher you go in elevation, the cooler it gets and there was a half-inch of snow at the top and the winds were blowing and the temperature was around 30 degrees.”
Cactus to Clouds trail is ranked as the hardest day hike in the nation, and is one of the most strenuous and iconic day hikes in North America, ascending from the desert floor of Palm Springs to the summit of Mount San Jacinto.
When asked “why this difficult a challenge,” Akers said he wanted to do something “hard” for his 60th birthday…” The boys grew up with my taking them and doing hard things. RAGBRAI when they were in grade school, TOMRV (Tour of the Mississippi River Valley) – two-day bicycle tour, Tough Mudder races, Spartan races, 5Ks, and on my 50th birthday, I took them to China and we ran a marathon on the Great Wall of China.”
Even though he admits that the recent hike was “one of the harder climbs, Akers said, “None of them have been easy and that is the way I like it. There is not other hike in the world that does that much elevation gain in one day, let alone 16 miles. I would say the hardest thing I have ever done was the Marathon on the Great Wall of China. It was brutal terrain, and it was 103 degrees race day. That heat was a killer!”
Kevin and son Collin were on, and won, the Fear Factor reality TV show in 2006 when Collin was 12 years old.
“I am looking forward to taking my grandchildren and exposing them to the same kind of experiences,” Akers said. “I have been running 5K’s with my oldest granddaughter, Estes, since she was three years old.”
Cactus to Clouds is not the first mountain climb for the elder Akers as he said about five years ago, he and some of his “hiking buddies,” decided to do a ‘guys hiking trip’. It was 2022 and we decided to hike Pikes Peak in a day, 26 miles round trip.”
And in addition:
-2023 – Rim to Rim – Grand Canyon – 24 miles.
-2024 – Half Dome – Yosemite, California – 20 miles.
-2025 – Mt. Whitney –located in the Sierra Nevada range - 14,500 ft. in elevation, 22 miles.
-2026 – Paintbrush Canyon – Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming - 21 miles.
He chose Cactus to Clouds to hike on his recent birthday because he had read it was ranked as one of the most difficult day hikes in the nation and in the world.
“I wanted a challenge, and I wanted to do it with my boys,” he added. “We have done a lot of hard things in the past and have created great memories. They are in a very busy time of life right now with young kids and careers, so I am grateful that they took the time to do the trail with me to celebrate my 60th birthday.”
“They felt the need to tell everyone we passed on the mountain that it was my birthday, so at one point I had a group of hikers singing Happy Birthday to me! We also met a woman from Ottawa, IL, on the trail.”
“This hike was no joke and at times it did not seem like we would ever stop climbing, up and up and up,” he said. “There were times when we had to climb over boulders hand and foot. The first nine miles are the hardest and then you get to a tram station that you can take back down the mountain.”
Even though many of the other climbers did take the tram down the mountain, the Akers trio had decided to go another six miles up the summit before heading back down to the tram station to take it back down to the bottom.
“That would make it a 21–22-mile hike, and I had considered hiking all the way back down to the bottom for a completed 32-mile hike, but ended up taking the tram and just wanted a burger and a beer!”
He said, “I am really proud of the boys as they were not able to do a lot of training before the hike, and I am grad that they are both mentally tough because it was an internal mental battle in the end. At the top of the summit, it was beautiful and the clouds rolled in and blanketed us so we could not see anything for a while.”
Akers admits the way back down the trail seemed like the longest six miles, but he said they made it back in the dark to the tram station and took the tram down. They stopped for that burger and beer before heading back to the hotel to crash.
“It was a very special time for me to do this with my boys and I told them that they will never know how much it meant to me,” Akers said. “This is not that last hike or adventure that we will do together, but in some sense, it was a passing of the torch as they create their own memories with their children.”
When asked if he had plans for a future hike, he answered, “Yes, for sure. I have already found a few more similar hikes that I would like to do. I will be hiking Kilimanjaro in February of 2028, but I would like to get a couple big hikes in before that one.”
Those who know Kevin Akers are aware that keeping fit is important to him, and when asked how he makes working out part of his life, he said, “I have been active all through my life. I played sports all my life, football in college. I always knew I wanted to be an active Dad and now I want to be an active Papa (grandpa). It has always been my stress relief and a way to keep grounded and focused. But also, in the back of my mind I want to stay active and in good shape so that I can be actively involved in my grandchildren’s lives, so that I can play catch, run, and do hard things with them also! My hope is that they can see the way that I stay active, and that they will make it important in their lives. I enjoy life so much more by being active.”
In addition to their two sons, Kevin and his wife Jody, have two daughters, Caitlin Pauley and Carlye Akers.
