A Utah Family Travel Writer's Adventures with Altitude
Posting will be sporadic for a while because we’re still on the road. Yep, it’ll be three weeks by the time we finally return to Denver after a glorious week in Calgary, another week on the lake in British Columbia and some quality time with more family in Salt Lake City.
H’s initiation jump into the boat’s rooster tail
Our reentry into the real world is going to be ugly, unlike the views we’ve seen here.
Dear Bode,
Despite my best efforts and house rule of “No Growing Up” you’re doing just that. Age six was my favorite year yet that was full of bitter-sweet moments. You are starting to growing wings, which means those bus-stop kisses and snuggle attacks are more fleeting but I’m so proud of the boy you are.
You’re a generous, conversely serious, sober child with a quirky little sense of humor. You live in a world of black-and-white, good vs. wrong, were pre-wired to do what is right and already have a close relationship with your Heavenly Father. I have one of your class assignments pinned to my office bulletin board where you detailed your “needs” vs. “wants” in your economics class. Under “My Needs” you put “clothes, family, air, teachers, house, friends and Heavenly Father.” For wants, you listed “video games, homework (?!!) and candy.” I’d be worried about the latter point if you hadn’t come back from the dentist with yet another cavity-free visit.
Big Time Jump 7th Birthday Party! Back: Noah, Nolan, Seamus, Rowan, Brody, Nickey, Hadley, Vinny. Front: Sean, Bode, Carson
You find the good in people and love to leave little notes for everyone in the family. “Mom, I like you. Love, Bode.” I found this note after I’d been traveling: “To Hadley, You have been good this weakend. Love, Bode.” Your father jokes you like to make rules about rules and he’s correct. Well, with exception of keeping your room clean. Which is a rule so you should follow it. #CuteSlob
You loved first grade and your teacher Mrs. Dorough. You are beloved by all your classmates and since preschool, your teachers have told us you are a great leader who guides by example. You and your new friend Brody were inseparable and I’m constantly amazed at your ability to find instant friends no matter what situation you are placed in.
This year, Hadley started piano and we were not going to enroll you until Fall 2013 because we figured you were too young. We were wrong. Not only did you start teaching yourself to play but you also started sight-reading her music. We enrolled you in January and you have not shut up since. I mean that in a good way but you are moderately obsessed with piano and you are constantly composing new songs or transposing Itsy Bitsy Spider in 100 different keys. I’m not complaining because there are worse obsessions. You know, like growing over-sized orange fruit.
Solo flight to Utah
In terms of your activities, you finished off your third year with your soccer team and their name “Angry Piggies” was a personal favorite. You’re becoming a great skier and tackled your first blue (intermediate) run. You continue to enjoy biking, your new WiiU, building ships and buildings with your LEGOs and blocks, playing with stuffed animals (Tabby is still your favorite), your interactive globe and the ocean.
In fact, you blew away your Aunt Lisa, Dad and me at dinner at The Broadmoor when you gave your sister an informative lecture about the layers of the ocean, starting with the disphotic (twilight) zone. “Where did you learn all this?” we asked. “I read about it,” like it was the most obvious answer in the world for illiterate folk like us.
Space is another passion and Dad bought tickets to go to your first planetarium this summer. On the night of the Super Moon, I couldn’t pull you away from the window and so I let you stay up as late as you wanted watching it. Later that night when I came to close your blinds, my heart strings lurched when I discovered your space book propped up to the ledge as you compared the photographs of the first quarter, gibbous and full moons. I am raising a geek!
You love to travel and your especial favorites this year were Disney World (where you were on TV for the second time this year!), The Broadmoor, Park City Mountain Resort, and of course, your solo flight to see Grandma Johnson in Utah. Hawaii is now the top of your bucket list (you and me both, kid) and as I write this, you are in Canada celebrating your birthday on a beautiful lake in British Columbia.
You have it good and you are so deserving of all the goodness in the world.
Much love,
Mommy
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For a stroll down memory lane, birthday letters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 (though the pictures no longer show due to switching blog platforms).
Mother-son trip to YMCA of the Rockies
Learning to fly. -YMCA of the Rockies
Playground
Bode and Hadley’s 2012 pumpkin
Literal Lap of Luxury at The Broadmoor
We are extremely active in the summers. While everyone else (for some reason) loads up on activities while kids are also juggling school, we save our busy-ness for the summer.
Believe it or not, I think it’s important for kids to have a lot of downtime and so when we are home, I try not to be too demanding.
That said, I still require some structure. You know, like getting dressed, keeping your room reasonably clean, daily reading, etc. They’re both such curious kids that I love to see what they come up with themselves and they’re constantly devising new games and ways to stay entertained. Last week, they each decided to research and do a presentation on different animals. Hadley chose a marmot and Bode, a tiger.
Bonus points to Hadley for use of the microphone and face paints.
Then, there was Science Day when we did some various Test Tube Adventures including making touchable bubbles and ink disappear.
Confession: Bode was in his PJs all day. Mom score card: science experiments +1; PJs -1.
Last week, I asked Bode to do a few minor things but received no response. Around 1 p.m., I called out to him while he played upstairs.
“Bode, have you done anything I asked you to do today?”
“I made my lunch.”
“That’s good. [But rather self-serving; kid's gotta eat]. Anything else?”
“I remembered to breathe.”
“Nope, didn’t tell you to do that.”
One of my favorite things in the entire world is exploring and discovering trails, particularly in my own backyard. So imagine how thrilled I was to recently stumble upon some new-to-me sites intermingled with my long-time favorites.
The Hike
My church friend Dawn organized a summer hiking group on Tuesday mornings. Early-June, Dawn decreed our first hike would be the Castle Trail at Mount Falcon Open Space, which is is a great, moderate trail for younger kiddos.
One of my favorite memories is when I was REALLY pregnant with Bode, we decided to go for a hike and picnic. We were only a few minutes into our hike when our little 2-year-old cherub decided she was not walking another step. And when stubborn miss doesn’t want to do something, she will not do it. Nice parents that we are, we didn’t give in to her meltdown and so she threw herself onto the middle of the trail and raged for about 10 minutes.
We walked a safe distance away. No, we were not worried about her safety (because who would take her in that condition?) but rather, ours. We pointedly ignored the other parents who judged us while we let her scream it out. If she’d been in a store, it would have been another matter but since we were in the great outdoors, we let her roar with the mountain lions. It ended up working. She eventually gave up, jumped up, dusted herself off and kept on walking. She was a delight the rest of the day.
Here Hadley is seven years later at the scene of the crime. Doesn’t she look so much more docile? 
We’ll compare notes again at this spot during the hormonal teenage years.
The Castle/Meadow Trail had all the makings for a perfect outing: a wide trail, beautiful wildflower-strewn meadow and rocks for climbing. The boys reenacted being chased by Orcs in Lord of the Rings while I tried not to take offense of being mistaken for a sallow-skinned, fanged humanoid.
Our final destination was the stone-wall remnants of the John Brisben Walker family castle that boasts stunning views of Denver. Though the ruins are fenced off for climbing, we were fully engaged as we read about his rags-to-riches story that included the fire that destroyed this early-1900s dream home.
Parmalee Gulch
The easiest route to Mount Falcon is via U.S. Highway 285. Take the Indian Hills turn-off and follow the open space signs up Parmalee Gulch Road. On our return trip, my kids and I were stopped in our tracks at a stunning property just outside of Mount Falcon with a white fence that stretched as far as the eye could see. When we saw the “For Sale” sign, we pulled in.
Because we just happen to be in the market for a multi-million-dollar property.
As we dreamed of having a mountain retreat, we eventually wound back down to a new-to-us part of Parmalee Gulch Road, happening upon a fantastic playground within Parmalee’s town limits. “We HAVE to stop!” my son announced and I agreed.
For the next hour, we scaled logs, climbed rock walls to the top of the slide and climbed on bears at this awesome playground.
Turned out I wasn’t too good at the latter, which is probably a good thing.
Bear Creek Canyon
I frequent Bear Creek Canyon regularly when en route from Denver/Morrison to Evergreen. After driving down the canyon, we landed in the funky mountain town of Morrison, devoured sundaes at The Blue Cow, threw rocks in Bear Creek and I then told the kids we were crossing the street to visit two shops I’ve driven past a hundred times but have never set foot.
Both were love at first sight: Sundance Sensations appealed to my Bohemian side while La Boutique des Bourdreux was a whimsical, vintage gift and clothing shop where Hadley and I were enthralled at every turn and could have spent an hour in there.
If it wasn’t for Bode.
As every minute passed, he grew increasingly inpatient. When Hadley and I started trying on the large selection of hats, I cooed, “Hadley, I want this hat.”
Bode interjected. “Mommy, WANTS ARE NOT NEEDS.”
It would seem he’s been taking lessons from his father on more than just pumpkins.
I recently bought a Groupon for Front Range Adventure Boot Camp (you may recall I did it about five years ago) and spent the entirety of June getting my butt kicked at 6:30 a.m. In fact, I liked it so much I’m trying to figure out how to fit it into our budget starting in August.
Part of my love for this woman’s boot camp is the owner/trainer Robyn Morrisette, who not only coaches but inspires. During the summer months, we leave the gym to climb North Table Mountain Park every Friday.
I can’t begin to share just how breathtakingly verdant this place is right now, particularly because I mountain bike its lackluster brown hills all winter.
Hadley has been intrigued by boot camp and so she asked me if she could come. I mentioned we hike on Fridays and she was game.
“But you’ll have to wake up at 6 a.m.”
“OK!”
Apparently she forgot what dawn feels like; I’m able to do it because I’m barely sleeping anyway with Denver’s blistering temperatures. To her credit when I went to rouse her that Friday morning, she popped right off the couch (we’ve abandoned our too-hot upstairs rooms) and 20 minutes later, we were on the trail.
I’ve biked the North Table Loop countless times but when Robyn mentioned there was a hidden waterfall off the Mesa Top Trail, Hadley and I set out to find it. And I’m telling you that girl did a fabulous job keeping up and surpassed everyone in the group for distance hiked that day.
After an hour, we discovered the waterfall, a curious phenomenon on that desert mesa tucked away behind lush foliage. We bush-whacked to the base and, though the upper-90-degree temps have reduced the waterfall to a trickle, Hadley doused herself with water before ultimately deciding to climb the cliff up the waterfall to a small cave.
Adventure Girl is waaaay crazier than I ever was.
I relished our time together. We spotted deer and their fawns (“they’re doing a mother-daughter hike like us!”), I discovered Hadley has learned to whistle (my heart melted as she belted out “When You’re Happy and You Know It”), tried to identify the wildflowers in full bloom and attempted to catch butterflies with her hat. We picked out our future dream home, a million-dollar horse property bordering North Table and Hadley hilariously asserted, “We need to become friends with those people.”
Two hours later, we were starving as we made our way back to the car and she suggested, “Let’s go buy a doughnut.”
Now that is my kind of boot-camp gal.
I have extensively traveled throughout Colorado since moving here 10 years ago—from soaring the state’s 14,000-foot peaks to its gleaming lakes. Through it all, one of my favorite destinations is just 20 minutes from my house: Chautauqua.
Located at the base of the Flatiron mountains in Boulder, this National Historic Landmark has charming rental cottages that are surrounded on three sides with open space. Its 48 miles of hiking trails and thousands of acres of natural lands beg to be explored.
I had been living in Colorado less than a year when I hiked Chautauqua’s Enchanted-Mesa Trail with my daughter and I was, well, enchanted. After my hike, I explored the grounds and was smitten by the newly
Remember our adventures atop 14,265-foot Mt. Evans and how I vowed to go back to the eccentrically charming Echo Mountain Lodge’s gift shop and restaurant? Two days later, it happened.
Upon returning home, I checked my email. My friend Dawn organized a summer hiking group with gals from church and I was shocked to see that Tuesday’s hike was to Idaho Springs Reservoir and the trailhead was right at Echo Lake. We skipped swim lessons that day and I declared yet another mountain adventure was in order. On previous hikes, there were plenty of kids but no one Hadley’s age so we invited her bestie Alex along for the ride.
Besties at Echo Lake
Idaho Springs Reservoir
Though I’ve hiked 90 percent of the trails on the Front Range, the Chicago Lakes Trail to Idaho Springs Reservoir is over an hour from my house and deep in the backcountry so I was not familiar with it. As we started hiking, a mom whipped out her guidebook for directions and lo-and-behind it was Best Hikes with Kids, the book I was contacted about revising a few years ago!
The publisher shipped me a copy when it came out last year and I was mostly relieved I turned down the project and pleased that the author did such a nice job with it. Mind you, if I was contacted about doing something similar now, my kiddos are of a more suitable age for me to take it on.
The guidebook is thorough but here’s one thing the author neglected to mention: this hike is not great for young kiddos. For about 12 minutes, we skirted along a narrowish ledge with a steep drop. We had a few preschoolers, which made for an ulcer-inducing time. Even more stressful was I was up front with the older kids while the other moms helped the youngin’s at the back. My friend Dawn has two darling twin boys who are Bode’s age and let me tell you, those boys are mischievous. One of them tried climbing DOWN the steep cliff while the other tried to race past us while still on that ledge.
We eventually sent them back to hike with their mom and everyone was much happier. Well, except for them.
The guidebook suggested we start at the Echo Lake Campground but the host said it was quicker to commence from the north side of Echo Lake. There was a simple map in the guidebook but we had no idea how far our altered route was. We stopped a lady on the trail who had a topographical map and lo-and-behind, the Idaho Springs Reservoir wasn’t even on it. You know, OUR DESTINATION.
Echo Lake, the group at the creek and that lovely ledge.
We kept blindly hiking for another 15 minutes with glorious views of Mount Evans looming in the background. Upon reaching a creek, we opted to turn back. Who knew if we were even going the right way and we had already been hiking an hour.
If there’s anything I hate, it’s unfinished business and that is particularly prevalent with hiking. If I don’t summit, I have to go back or I obsess about it. Upon turning around, we were a few minutes from the trailhead when we ran into a hiker. I started talking to him and mentioned our turnaround point. “Oh really? You should have kept going. Idaho Springs Reservoir is only 1/4-mile from that creek.”
I guess the only positive side to that is I’ll be back.
The Scenic Route
As promised, I let the kids each pick out a souvenir at Echo Lake Lodge but opted to hold out to try the restaurant until we could return with Jamie (he was only a little bit bitter about being left behind). Then, instead of heading back on I-70, I announced we were going the scenic route via new-to-me Squaw Pass Road to Evergreen, one of my favorite mountain hamlets. My bribery? I’d buy them ice cream.
Of course, with views like this, it doesn’t take too much arm-bending. 
The great thing about traveling with kids is they have a radar for anything fun. We stopped at Baskin-Robbins in Evergreen and upon sitting on the creekside benches, they noticed a charming area to climb trees and play in Bear Creek so that is exactly what we did for the next hour.
Bear Creek, Evergreen
Oh, to be a kid again. But living vicariously through them is the next best thing.
96-mile journey
Colorado is blessed with some world-class vistas and there is nothing more unique than our 54 14,000-foot peaks (14ers). I’ve hiked several of them, Jamie has summitted even more and in a few years we hope to do them as a family.
Mount Evans Scenic Byway
Out of the many 14ers, only two of them are drivable. At 14,265 feet, Mount Evans is just 60 miles west of Denver and is reputed as Colorado’s “highest paved highway.” So after church, we decided to drive to the top.
That’s what I call a scenic Sunday drive on steroids.
It has been nearly 10 years since I last drove to Mount Evans because I didn’t feel like the kids were ready until now. Why not? If you’ve never been at 14,000 feet you have no idea how much the altitude messes with your head. Every time I see a family up there with young kids (particularly when they’re hiking), I want to yell at them for being irresponsible. People have become lost, dazed and even died on these peaks due to the altitude.
I read the kids Harry Potter (their summer obsession) as the road climbed through nearly 9,000 feet of elevation gain from Denver’s high plains through five climate zones, past Summit Lake to the top of the continent. It. Was. Glorious. While Denver’s temperatures were in the 90s, there was a was a 40-degree drop at 14,265 feet so we bundled up in our winter jackets.
And yes, that made me a very happy Canuck.
When you reach the Summit Parking Area, you are not yet at the top so we hiked the 1/4-mile trail. You’d think the last 130 vertical feet would be a cinch but believe me, at 14,000 feet, your head is pounding and you’re gasping for air. But the views are out of this world. 
Flying atop Mount Evans
All of Colorado’s 14ers have a solid bronze summit marker
But poor Bode felt like his head was going to explode from the altitude so we quickly made our descent down, down, down the mountain.
Note to self: give the boy a couple of years before reattempting another 14er.
Echo Lake Lodge
Near the entrance to the Mount Evans Scenic Byway is Echo Lake, a beautiful jewel-like body of water. And next to that is historic Echo Lake Lodge. Built in 1926, this charming restaurant and gift shop is brimming with souvenir clothing, glassware, collectibles, handmade Native American jewelery, toys, delicious homemade pies and breathtaking views of Echo Lake from the restaurant.
But it was Sunday and we try very hard not to shop on the Sabbath so we made a vow to return very soon for dinner and souvenirs.
Little did I know it would be a mere two days later.
Stay tuned for our serendipitous hiking adventures to nearly Idaho Springs Reservoir. Read it here http://www.themilehighmama.com/hiking-to-non-existent-reservoirs-is-still-a-day-of-colorado-bliss/
In my Denver Post column today, I was given the assignment to write about how to balance short-term family needs with long-term retirement planning.
And then en route to discuss this with a financial planner, Jamie side-swiped another car.
You can’t make this stuff up, people.
The kids and I are spending the next few weeks in Canada with my family.
Something always cracks me up when I go into my parent’s bedroom. I first discovered it last summer when I was hanging out on their bed. From across the room on my dad’s dresser, I saw a picture of me with a guy. At first, I thought it was Jamie but quickly dismissed that when I saw his sandy-blonde hair. I did a mental checklist of my ex-boyfriends and tried to figure out who on earth I was with.
Upon close-up investigation, I laughed out loud when I realized it was not my beloved husband but rather, a picture of me with The Great One, Wayne Gretzky (whom I met–and insulted–when I was at the 2010 Vancouver Games for Microsoft Office).
Even Jamie says he can’t compete with that.
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. Learn More