Howdy Colorado!
Mom and Dad got to spend another fantastic week in Colorado while the kids spent some time with their Auntie Sov and Cousin Sarah. We decided to go back to Colorado because we've made it our goal to bag all of Colorado's 55 greatest 14ers. So far we've climbed 8 peaks - on this last trip, we climbed 4.
We decided to warm up with Gray's & Torrey's in the Front Range. There was still quite a bit of snow on the mountain but not enough to require crampons or ice axes. The highlight of the trip was definitely stumbling upon a family of peaceful mountain goats. These animals are beautiful and we feel so lucky to have encountered them up close because by the time we reached Torrey's Peak, the crowds pretty much drove them into hiding. Gray's and Torrey's are very popular peaks to climb because of their close proximity to Denver.
Our next destination was the Sangre de Cristo Range to climb Blanca Peak and Ellingwood Point. After about a four hour drive, we decided to make a quick stop at Great Sand Dunes National Park before heading over to the trail. We liked what we saw so much that we decided to come back after the climb. The trail to Lake Como is considered Colorado's worst road. Seriously, it's so bad that no car can make it to the lake without monster truck tires. Really. The hike up to the lake is about 5 miles but it actually wasn't that bad - maybe we were just so excited about the climb that we didn't think too much about how hot it was or how steep the road was.
We got an early start and hiked under a full moon. Both Blanca and Ellingwood are considered Class 2 peaks but there were sections of the climb that were very exposed and required Class 3 maneuvering. It didn't help that it was extremely windy that morning. Poor Robbie was worried that I might be blown off the mountainside. The thought did cross my mind too! We spent a few minutes at the summit of Blanca to enjoy the views before heading over to Ellingwood. The traverse over to Ellingwood was straightforward and once we reached the summit, we decided to break for an early lunch. Tuna never tasted so good!
It would end up being a 16 hour trek back to the car due to the thunderstorm. We headed back to the sand dunes to our campsite. But since it was already dark, we didn't get to enjoy the views from our campsite until the next morning. However, we didn't linger around too long with all the blood thirsty mosquitos aggressively attacking us. The plan was to go sandboarding but because of the rains from the night before, the sand was too wet to even try it. So we ended up just hiking up to High Dune and Star Dune which is the highest point in the dunes. It was still pretty early in the morning, so we were the first ones to make tracks in the sand and reach the top. The dunes are quite impressive with the Sangre de Cristo Range in the background.
After spending the morning in the dunes, we hopped in the car and headed up to Boulder to visit Steve. We made a quick stop at the Garden of the Gods which were very pretty. It reminded me of Bryce Canyon in Utah. The last few days in Colorado we spent taking it easy which is hard for us to do. Steve invited some of his other friends over and cooked us all an incredible lobster dinner. We also rented mountain bikes and cruised along Boulder Creek and up through the canyon. In just a week, we managed to do so much - some planned, some not - but we had the best time! We're looking forward to our next trip out there!
Of course, we were very eager to see Mason and Cadyn again. It's always difficult being away from the kids, especially when we saw so many kids while we were vacationing. Sov and Sarah did an excellent job taking care of the kids. We truly appreciate all their help.
We decided to warm up with Gray's & Torrey's in the Front Range. There was still quite a bit of snow on the mountain but not enough to require crampons or ice axes. The highlight of the trip was definitely stumbling upon a family of peaceful mountain goats. These animals are beautiful and we feel so lucky to have encountered them up close because by the time we reached Torrey's Peak, the crowds pretty much drove them into hiding. Gray's and Torrey's are very popular peaks to climb because of their close proximity to Denver.
Our next destination was the Sangre de Cristo Range to climb Blanca Peak and Ellingwood Point. After about a four hour drive, we decided to make a quick stop at Great Sand Dunes National Park before heading over to the trail. We liked what we saw so much that we decided to come back after the climb. The trail to Lake Como is considered Colorado's worst road. Seriously, it's so bad that no car can make it to the lake without monster truck tires. Really. The hike up to the lake is about 5 miles but it actually wasn't that bad - maybe we were just so excited about the climb that we didn't think too much about how hot it was or how steep the road was.
We got an early start and hiked under a full moon. Both Blanca and Ellingwood are considered Class 2 peaks but there were sections of the climb that were very exposed and required Class 3 maneuvering. It didn't help that it was extremely windy that morning. Poor Robbie was worried that I might be blown off the mountainside. The thought did cross my mind too! We spent a few minutes at the summit of Blanca to enjoy the views before heading over to Ellingwood. The traverse over to Ellingwood was straightforward and once we reached the summit, we decided to break for an early lunch. Tuna never tasted so good!
It would end up being a 16 hour trek back to the car due to the thunderstorm. We headed back to the sand dunes to our campsite. But since it was already dark, we didn't get to enjoy the views from our campsite until the next morning. However, we didn't linger around too long with all the blood thirsty mosquitos aggressively attacking us. The plan was to go sandboarding but because of the rains from the night before, the sand was too wet to even try it. So we ended up just hiking up to High Dune and Star Dune which is the highest point in the dunes. It was still pretty early in the morning, so we were the first ones to make tracks in the sand and reach the top. The dunes are quite impressive with the Sangre de Cristo Range in the background.
After spending the morning in the dunes, we hopped in the car and headed up to Boulder to visit Steve. We made a quick stop at the Garden of the Gods which were very pretty. It reminded me of Bryce Canyon in Utah. The last few days in Colorado we spent taking it easy which is hard for us to do. Steve invited some of his other friends over and cooked us all an incredible lobster dinner. We also rented mountain bikes and cruised along Boulder Creek and up through the canyon. In just a week, we managed to do so much - some planned, some not - but we had the best time! We're looking forward to our next trip out there!
Of course, we were very eager to see Mason and Cadyn again. It's always difficult being away from the kids, especially when we saw so many kids while we were vacationing. Sov and Sarah did an excellent job taking care of the kids. We truly appreciate all their help.
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