Fourteeners

Colorado has 58 mountains with +14,000 feet elevation. That is pretty amazing! Even more amazing, the fact that we have never attempted a summit and we have lived here for almost 3 years. Life is busy, yes. But we should truly take advantage of the beauty we are surrounded by and that is exactly what we decided to do on Friday!

Daycare was closed on Friday and Casey had the day off. I decided to take the day off as well so I could hang with my boys. Casey has to work on Labor Day, so this was our little holiday. Pro: Less people before holiday. Con: Casey doesn't get to hang with us on Monday.

Casey suggested we head up to Mt. Evans; and just in time, as they close on Tuesday for the season. Mt. Evans is the 14th highest 14er in Colorado. It was a gorgeous day! I got everything packed the night before so all we had to do on Friday AM was get dressed, eat breakfast and go! I think I packed our entire pantry, but I wanted to be prepared. You never know what you will find for yourself in the mountains. One thing is for sure - you will always find great photo ops!

Of course, we can't exactly claim this huge feat and brag about our summit since we drove it. But hey, you have to start somewhere. It was a wonderful drive. Spectacular views, but a little nervewracking at times. Hairpin turns at 13,000 feet with no railing. It can make one a bit nervous, but so worth it. I can't imagine how awesome it would be to get that view as your payoff from a whole day of hiking. Here's a little video I took at the top.

Ian had a blast singing, talking and playing with his toys in the back seat. I don't think his ears bothered him too much, but it is hard to tell. He did such a great job keeping himself entertained and he is such a ham! He really digs my old sunglasses. I am thinking it might be time to invest in a pair for him. He just might be ready to keep them on for more than 10 seconds. Ha!

There is a parking lot at the top (elev. 14, 130 ft.) so he could get out and run around once we arrived. It was approximately 40 degrees at the top, about 40 degrees cooler than the temperature at our house (elev. 5052 ft). Ian loved running around the "Castle in the Sky". He bounced all over the place, exploring for about 30 minutes. It was so cool to watch him check everything out. I thought for sure he would be so pooped once he got in the car that he would pass out for a good couple of hours. Yes and no!

We had originally intended to hike the 1/4 mile trail to the actual summit (elev. 14, 264 ft.), but once I saw it I decided not to. It would have been a challenge to get up that slim trail with Ian on my back. We'll check it out when he is older and can walk up himself:) We enjoyed lunch and then headed back down before the storm hit. We drove through snow, sleet and rain on our way back down - where it was sunny and 85 degrees! It was really neat to watch the storm move in too.

Ian was pooped and did pass out, but only for 25 minutes! I guess he wanted to make sure he didn't miss anything. He did amazingly well for that little amount of sleep. We had a lot of fun and are so glad we made the trip. It wasn't our first choice, but a great way to end the summer. We were hoping to make a family trip to Sante Fe for Labor Day weekend, but we had to postpone it since Casey is working all weekend. I would say this was a pretty good replacement and a lot cheaper!