Nojah's 2nd Peak

Nojah has been begging to go to twin peaks every summer since he was 8 years old and was sitting on top of Sawtooth.  I finally found the perfect day and we climbed the 4 1/2 miles and 4500 ft up there today.

I think it took us roughly 3 1/2 hours to get to the top.  On the way we had beautiful views overlooking the wilderness of course and frances lake.

One of the really cool parts about climbing the peaks is being able to sign in to the box at the top and write whatever comes to mind.  It's fun to see who has been up there and how their days were, if they saw goats, sheep or whatever.  We saw one goat while we were there.  On occasion, some environmentalist come along and removes the boxes, so it's a disappointment when you get up there and you have nothing to read or sign into during lunch.  I think it would be SO much fun to read through them and see our names when I am old and frail sitting in my rocking chair reading to my grandchildren, but apparently not all people see it that way.

Our friend Fred came along which was great, due to the exposure.  I always told Nojah I wouldn't take him to this particular peak without another experienced climber/hiker for that reason.  Today we had Fred and he was great with Nojah.  Nojah was a little cautious with the heights for sure and the exposure gave him a few extra heart palpitations, but he persevered.

  

It was a gorgeous day! I am glad I had the opportunity to take him and that my kids both share my love for the mountains.  After all, this isn't an easy climb, up or down.

As we drove away from the trail head we had a good view (bad photo) of Twin peaks and what Nojah can see from town and why he ached to get up there so bad.  It's so fun, to sit in town and point to all the highest peaks you have been too and to know that you are capable of getting up there.  The views and solitude are simply amazing.  

If you follow the little white chimney on the red building to the top of the mountain, that is Twin peaks.  Elevation....9600-9700ish feet.  The rock has been slowly falling from the peaks throughout the years and I am sure one day they will no longer be there, but for now I plan to make more trips in the future.  Pretty proud of my kiddo.  Always a good day with him.  6 1/2 hours overall up and back.  Not too bad.

ER conference in Snowmass Colorado

This summer has been insane for us, especially July.  Tob left July 1st for a dispatch down to Dolores Colorado and during that time I worked 9 out of 14 night shifts.  The kids spent 10 days in LG with my parents and I would visit on my days off here and there.  It was so nice for all of us involved to be able to ship them off for that time.  Tob arrived home the evening of the 18th and then I left the morning of the 19th to re-trace his steps back to Colorado for an Emergency Nursing Conference.

As you can see Barley was quite thrilled his dad was home and hoping that maybe he would remove the cone he had on almost the ENTIRE time he was gone for some ouchy hotspots he developed while romping around in the wilderness with me.  The kids were also thrilled to see their daddy too!  Within 12 hours of him walking in the door, I was walking out.

Myself and 3 co-workers drove the 17 hours to Snowmass/Aspen Colorado over 2 days.  I felt blessed to be able to stop, even if it was only a few moments, by the site where our dear friend Dan was killed in a van rollover in 2002.  5 firefighters were killed in that accident and Dan was the oldest at age 28.  I placed a photo of him there and a mountain dew in remembrance.  We sure loved him and to this day it's hard to think that he is no longer here.  It gets easier throughout the years but we will never forget.  Tob has been fortunate to have stopped by the site 3-4 times over the past 10 years to take a moment to remember what a great man he was.  A necklace and fire shirt he placed there shortly after the accident is still there and intact.

Along the way we stopped multiple times for bathroom breaks.  Mostly due to me.  I have a drinking problem.  I won't hesitate to pound 4 or 5 liters of water on any given day if given the chance.  This was one of the overlooks we stopped at.  2 of the girls had never been to Utah or Colorado so they were enamored with the rock formations and scenery and sheer beauty of the landscape.

I know this may surprise you all but, one of the huge pluses for me to attend this conference with the super long drive was the ER conference went from 8-1pm every day leaving us to explore Aspen and Snowmass Colorado ALL afternoon, for 4 days.  I was in heaven.  I thought because I am fairly decent shape I would be exempt from the lack of oxygen at the higher elevations but, I could feel the difference for sure living at greater than 8000ft for the week. Every now and then even during lectures I would need to take an extra breath.  It was crazy.  I have a lot more respect for my husband and his firefighter cohorts when they are sent over to climb these crazy steep mountains at super high elevations they aren't acclimated too.

Andie and I spent our time running and hiking, some alone, some with the other girls.  On one trek into the Maroon Bells Wilderness at about 4.5 miles in and 10,000ft we ran into a local who pointed out the bear to us on the hillside.  We watched him (the bear, not the local) for quite sometime and then headed back up the trail.  On our way back down he had made his down the trail as well and we ran into him again.  He was gorgeous and fun to watch.

Goose mama who is lucky enough to live at Maroon lake.

Maroon Lake.  We did an evening hike up here on our last night.  Loved it.

 The wildflowers were in full bloom and Andie was a WEALTH of knowledge teaching me the proper names of all the flowers we encountered, as well as the birds.

Hula hooping (I look pretty serious) at 11,200 ft after riding the gondola up from Aspen.  After lunch Andie and I walked 5 1/2 or 6 miles down to town.  Pretty cool views.  I am aching to go back with my mountain bike for sure.

Group photo Deidra, Andie, Wendy and ME.

One of the best parts of being in aspen were ALL the incredible aspen trees of course.  Some were super old and BIG, but I love trees.  My top 3 are probably the redwoods, joshua trees and aspen.

Oh and to stay on the topic of WHY I went to Colorado (Emergency medicine, if you had forgotten).  Here is their sweet Ambulance.  Their fire trucks matched.  I was tempted to call 911 just so I could take a ride.  The conference was great and location even better!  Now we are home and looking forward to quilting, 4H (fair), a wedding, hiking, and maybe a quick backpacking trip before the kids head back to school.

My Happy Place :-)

If only everyday we could play in a beautiful meadow munching on flowers.........

Barley and I ran/hiked to go up to 6 mile meadow for the first time ever and loved it.  Super great for trail running.  We probably ran about 3/4 of the 13.5 miles we covered that day.  I also had the opportunity to spend the day with my friend Loring, who I have to say I don't get to hike with nearly enough.

Apparently my feet hadn't had enough by that night, so I convinced the kids (didn't take much) that we should hike the 18+ miles (round trip) up to the Matterhorn the next day.  We left the trail at 7am, an hour later than I wanted and it got HOT.  98ish degree's I believe.  

The west fork river is super high right now (well, all the rivers are) with all the recent rain and now hot weather and snow melt off.  It didn't bother them much at all to cross this and Lex heard all about it from her mother when I saw her run as she was nearing the end of the bridge.

 On the way, about 4.5 miles in we ooohhhed and Awwwhhed over the enormous niagara falls like water flowing from the mountain top.  We encountered the falls several times over the next couple of miles.  It's pretty spectacular this time of year.

 The roaring thunder of the water was way more impressive in person than through photo's.

The lake is about 7 1/4 miles in and sits at 7800ft and it took us roughly 3 1/2 hours to get up there.  The Matterhorn is in the right hand side of the photo and the route up still had more snow than I was excited to see despite the super hot weather.  

My friend Fred had been the one who "invited" us to come along.  I told him since I had the kids and it would be hot we would leave before him.  Since he was running up there I was sure he'd catch us before the lake.  This is the kids waiting for fred.

After we waited for Fred and dipped our feet, hair and t-shirts in the icy cold lake for an hour we decided we couldn't wait any longer.  Mid way around the lake we hit this ice patch which prevented us from going any further.  We tried to go up around it but it was a little sketchy and added too much time to the trip so we bailed, much to the kids dismay.  Nojah kept saying "I didn't come up here to see the lake, I came to climb the Matterhorn"  I told him another day.  They were bummed and so was I.

On the hot trek down they were pleased to find some natural air conditioning and moved from rock to rock, Nojah airing out his pits and Lex enjoying the cool break.

We later found out Fred ended up with a motorcycle flat and couldn't get to the trail head and he felt terrible.  I told him the kids said they were never hiking with him again but they forgave him after a sincere apology :-)  He also said he never crosses the snowfields like that because of a friend that almost died after sliding down into one of the icy lakes.  Just not worth it.  Nojah and Lex learned a good lesson as hard as it was to turn back.

This has been a good week off.  The kids have been keeping up on their chores, the house is staying clean and we get to play a lot more.  So far they have put in close to 40 miles with bike rides, hiking, and golf.  I love that they are getting stronger each year and enjoying doing things like this with mom and dad.  They are truly great kids and friends to have around.  I can't imagine my life without them.