Mt. Elbert

Saturday August 27 found us in Leadville for a late summer mountain adventure. My dear friend Jim from college invited me to join him for a hike to the top of Mount Elbert, Colorado's tallest peak.  This was to be my second "14er" (14,000+ foot peak) after successfully climbing up and back down Long's Peak with my friend John back in ca. 2002.

Dana and the kids came along to support me, and also to ride the train that runs from Leadville.  Jim's Dad Dan and brother Matt joined us, as did our friends and neighbors Eric and Cody.

At 6am at the trailhead parking lot, we spent some time to ourselves, questioning the necessity of climbing this mountain

The first couple of miles offered shady forested hillsides and pleasant conversation as we adjusted our packs, drank water, and enjoyed ourselves

Views thru the trees back to Leadville

Eventually we broke thru treeline, still with the toughest part of the climb ahead of us.  The views only got better as we climbed!


So up we hiked ..



and up...





and up

Dan (Jim's Dad) pushes on

and up

Our fearless, tireless leader Jim urged us on the whole way, never uttering a single doubt!

Let it never be said that the Rocky Mountains were not aptly named

At long last, as our wits were failing us, we reached the summit.  No injuries, no thunderstorms, no problem!

Jim, at the summit, with sign

I made it!

As you might expect at a couple of miles up, the views were absolutely stunning.The photos do not do it justice, however allow me to recommend that you enjoy the photos and consider very carefully whether you want to actually make the hike!

The guys - Me, Cody, Matt, Dan, Jim, and Eric

As is typical, a thunderstorm began to assemble as we were eating lunch.  High time to get low again!

I would like to point out that my coverage with a certain mobile phone carrier was incredible from the summit.  3G and all bars.  Much better than our coverage from our home in Ft. Collins.

It should be noted here that Dan, though almost twice my age, easily lapped me, especially on the way down!

Matt making his way down, no doubt wondering as we all did whether the trip up justified the trip down

Celebrating with pizza back at the hotel after a shower and a rest

Dana has some photos from their train ride, which I will add as soon as I can find them. 

Summer Fun

I just realized that I've not posted any pictures in a while. We have had so many adventures this summer!  Here are some highlights from just a few.

We've made a few trips to Fort Fun, and no visit is complete without riding the Go Carts.  Thanks to our friends Mike and Nico, we had an outstanding ride.  It was Genevieve's first.  It started to rain, making the track really slick!

Alex with his co-pilot Nico getting ready to turn some hot laps at Fort Fun

Genevieve, about to take her first go-cart ride.  Daddy is at the wheel, probably laughing maniacally

We have been getting a lot of use out of our zoo membership too.  The kids have enjoyed getting to know the animals.

Alex and Genevieve enjoyed a recent visit to the Denver Zoo, where many of the big cats were active

As the weather warmed up, we began to meet some of our new neighbors.  The highlight has been our next-door neighbors, who have a daughter Alex's age, and a son Genevieve's age.

Alex has been building a great friendship with our next door neighbor Kaylin.  Here they are relaxing at "the beach" (our back alley)

Genevieve's birthday on 7/15 was a subdued affair -- we had so much going on -- but she enjoyed every second.

Her first piggy bank.  She's so serious about money!

And her new baby doll, who also came with a baby stroller.  Alex likes it too

We went camping last month in Routt National Forest above Steamboat Springs, CO.  We rented a 31' motorhome and lived it up, joined by our good friends Kim and Tom, and their 3-year old son Dean.

Take me home, country roads!

We camped at a place called Meadows, which was quite pretty, and did not seem to have suffered heavy loss from Colorado's pine beetle epidemic. We refreshed ourselves at the sylvan and serene Strawberry Park hot springs on Saturday, then rolled into Steamboat Springs for a fancy Italian dinner.

 

Dana, Alex, Kim, Dean, and Tom at the grill!

At the beginning of August we visited Ali and Eric in Utah.  Ali is expecting a baby boy in October, and we were lucky enough to time our trip to attend her (second) baby shower hosted by her friend Jen.

On the drive out we stopped for a break in Evanston, Wyoming, and were pleasantly surprised to find a charming downtown with a scenic river walk.

Genevieve visits a Chinese shrine in Evanston

Someday the kids will inevitably ask us, "What is a phone booth?"

Grandma Carla was visiting at the same time, so we got lots of time with her too.

Genevieve tried out the skid steer loader parked in the dirt lot behind Ali and Eric's house

Grandma and Genevieve shopping at Soda Row

For my birthday, Grandma Susan visited for a long weekend.  We enjoyed a very relaxing few days taking walks with the kids and catching up.

Walking with Grandma Susan - why is she pulling an empty wagon??

Looking forward to school

Today we filed Alex's application for the Poudre School District's "School of Choice" program.  This puts us into the lottery to enroll Alex in the core knowledge school down the street called Traut.  It's a great school.  To be fair, just about all of the schools in Fort Collins are great.  Our neighborhood school is called Bacon (we love that name) and it's supposed to be great too - plus if we enroll in the neighborhood school then Alex can take the school bus.  Of course if he goes to Traut he can walk to school.  So there's really no bad options.

He'll start Kindergarten next fall (August 2012) so we have a little time.  We won't get the lottery results until February 2012.  We are very fortunate to live in a town, region, and state that offers such outstanding public schools.

Meanwhile the kids are getting a taste of school.  Ryanne is going to start doing lessons with them - Alex in particular - but Genevieve is hard to ignore.  They just got new backpacks.  Alex has a Finneaus and Ferb backpack, and Genevieve has a purple backpack with a monkey on it.  They are very proud of their new "gear".

This weekend we're heading to Leadville, Colorado.  I am going to hike Mount Elbert, Colorado's tallest "14er" (mountain peak above 14,000 ft).  I'm probably not completely ready, but I have been working out a bit.  The last 14er I climbed was Long's Peak back in 2003 or so.  Regardless of the difficulty of the hike, it should be fun - I'll be joined by one of my best friends from college, Jim, plus his father and brother, and my friend Eric.  So between huffing and puffing, we'll probably have a great time. 

Meanwhile Dana will be taking Alex and Genevieve for a train ride on the Leadville, Colorado, and Southern railroad.