Victory at the Scarecrow Festival!

October 12, 2015 By

Usually this time of year, we’re entrenched in all-things pumpkin but due to a dismal season, we’ve all been lukewarm about it. Jamie lost one of his plants early-on and and has had a myriad of problems with the other–from our irrigation system breaking for a week to the neighbor’s dog (literally) eating the pumpkin’s flower.

This stuff ain’t for the faint of heart.

Jamie has put all his normal pumpkin-growing energies into BYU football, and after listening to what feels like 100 hours of BYU Sports Nation’s commentary (he listens to it daily), it almost makes me miss the pumpkins.

Yes, you heard me correctly. Hell hath finally frozen over.

Jamie’s other surviving pumpkin is small but due to a warm fall, he has kept it on the vine for three weeks longer than usual because it’s still slowly growing. He’ll take it to a weigh-off in Colorado Springs this weekend.

The kids’ pumpkins are about half the size as normal. Hadley’s pollinated later but she tended her patch waaaaaaaaay better than Bode and weeded it regularly; Bode’s weeds got to the point they were basically strangling the vines. I tried to help him weed one day but I think we did more harm than good so Hadley surpassed him.

Usually the kids enter their pumpkins in the same Giant Pumpkin Commonwealth-sanctioned events as Jamie but since he’s holding off, we haven’t done any of these festivals this year. The one we can’t miss is our town’s giant pumpkin weigh-off and I’m so glad we did because when we arrived, there were only two other pumpkins and then ours.

Those, my friends, are good odds.

The only other competition was a woman who grown had two beautifully round and orange pumpkins that weighed in around 40 pounds so they saved the kids’ for last. I had to chuckle as the crowd that gathered, marveling “those are big pumpkins” and we muttered back “these aren’t big pumpkins.”

See? We’re ruined for life.

Bode’s pumpkin weighed 170 pounds while Hadley’s was 189 pounds, which is a pretty small margin of victory considering hers felt a lot heavier. Oh, what could have been. 

When I later asked her how she felt about dominating the adult and kid’s division, she blithely replied, “I just cared about beating Bode.”

Game on, Weed Boy.

 

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, Humor, pumpkins

Oh Canada: The Lakehouse Edition

October 9, 2015 By

How can you summarize a glorious week with family at a lakehouse tucked away in the breadbasket in Canada? You can’t, that’s why I prefer to document our family reunion on Okanogan Lake in pictures!

I chuckle when I see other family’s carefully regimented reunions, with every last detail planned. Their perfectly coiffed, matching family pictures. Ours is typical Borowski-style chaos. Wake up. Boat, kayak or SUP. Eat breakfast. Boat, play with cousins, eat. Boat. Eat. Cards. Games. Rinse, lather, repeat. Oh wait. Scratch that because the boys don’t shower.

What I particularly enjoyed about summer 2015 at the lake is the temperature–it wasn’t blazing hot 100+ degrees like last year. With temps in the upper 80s, I deemed it to be near perfect (for me, anyway; the hardcore boaters prefer scorchers). My brother Pat’s family is incredibly generous with their resources, time and patience bringing the rest of us up to their [trailblazing] speed.

A few of our favorite things:

Water play (duh)

Wakeboarding Hadley

Wakeboarding Bode

There’s never a dull moment with cousin Jaxson. Prior to tubing, we asked if he knew the hand signal for telling us he’s done (tapping the top of his head). “Sure!” And he proceeded to do the throat-slitting gesture. That works, too.

Driving to the West Side for our Annual Family Dive-off

Lakeside Movie Night at Todd and Kim’s

First Annual Stand-up Paddleboard (SUP) Competition

When you only have one paddleboard, you improvise and have timed races. Pat won. As always. But he’s almost 50 and we’ll soon dominate him.

Pat the soon-to-be dominated

Lots and lots of cards and games

Bode’s Birthday

DQ ice cream cake courtesy of Aunt Sue

My favorite moment: globe light + sparklers = a magical birthday eve

Davison Orchard Tours


And their best peach and apple pies. Ever.

A truly epic bike ride on the Kettle Valley Rail Trail

Everyone Flying into the Rooster Tail with Guns Blazing

Not pictured:

A lot of laughter, Jane’s delicious cooking, Emily’s addictive Greek bruschetta, bloodsport croquet (we broke Dad’s new mallets), Hadley’s first all-girl dance party on the boat, early-morning kayak runs, nighttime tales of the lake monster Ogopogo, Tim Horton’s Timbits, Rook tournaments, Screamers (half ice cream, half Slurpee) and the Borowski’s epic wakeboarding moves.

Jamie and I had a competition with my younger brother Jade in surfing (we called it The Worst of the Worst). I thought for sure I would win but after popping up my first try and successfully surfing the wake, I cracked and started regressing while Jamie and Jade got better, even dropping the rope and surfing on their own.

Near the end of the week, I’d only been out a few times and was downright frustrated until my sister-in-law Jane shouted out at me, “Do you know what your problem is? You’re not having fun!” She was right. I was so focused on surpassing the boys that my failures were getting the best of me. That very next attempt, I fought my way out of the water and had my best surf of the entire week. Turns out having fun IS the key!

I loved seeing my kiddos progress on the water–Bode popped back up on his wakeboard and Hadley started carving. She tried surfing by herself on the very first day and with Jane’s assistance in the water, was able to get up and surf a bit. She showed no interest in trying again until the very last night. When you have avid boaters, you have to be bold with getting your own time on the water so I asked Pat if we could do one last run before dark, which he kindly acquiesced. I had a great run and wanted to go again until Hadley asked if she could try surfing again.

This time, she said she wanted to do it completely on her own without Jane in the water and my gosh, if that girl of mine didn’t pop up and surf the wake. It was one of my proudest moments at the lake…and then a reminder that she’ll probably surpass me in the Worst of the Worst surfing competition next year and I’ll still be at the bottom of the bucket.

It’ll be worth it.

======

In case you missed our other Canadian adventures this summer:

Oh Canada: The Lethbridge Edition

Oh Canada: The Canada Day in Raymond and Waterton Edition

Oh Canada: The Calgary Edition

Oh Canada: The Banff/Canmore Edition

Oh Canada: The Lakehouse Edition

Oh Canada: The Kettle Valley Railway Trail Edition

 Oh Canada: The Edition Not in Canada

Filed Under: Bode, Canada, Family, Family travel, Favorite Posts, Hadley, Humor, Jamie, travel

A lesson in puberty

September 14, 2015 By

As we were driving home after an 8-mile hike to Blue Lake, the car permeated with a special glow.

“Hadley, we need to take showers when we get home.”

“Why?”

“We stink.”

“I don’t.”

“I smell like sweat, you smell like B.O.”

“What’s B.O.?”

“Take a whiff of your armpit.”

[She proceeds to do it.] “Ohhhhhhhh.”

 

Filed Under: Hadley, Humor

A return to school

September 7, 2015 By

We’re now a few weeks into school and life is going about as well as expected. Bode has seamlessly transitioned into fourth grade with several of his besties and a solid teacher.  He begged me to come to lunch last week so I obliged and happily won several rounds at Four Square (though it wasn’t my world domination of last spring; I’m out of practice). He’s juggling soccer, Cub Scouts and piano.

Their elementary school has a X-Country team that I convinced Hadley to join because she’s a great runner (though she’s better at sprints and middle distance). I was surprised when Bode said he wanted to become a part of it and that he’d recruited several of his buddies.

“You know that X-Country is running, right?” I queried.

He responded affirmatively and he has somehow forgotten he hates running because they’re now up to 1.5 miles.

I’ve been worried about Hadley adapting back to her public school and being really far behind after her three-year stint with Waldorf. The jury is still out on that but we’ve been blessed with the best teacher in the school and that is making a huge difference. Her bestie Alex is in her class and has been loads of help.

Hadley is a kid who needs time to just be. To create. To dream. Though she loves being with friends, she treasures her alone-time and will spend hours on the trampoline and in her room by herself; if we lived on a big property with trees,trails and streams, I’m sure I’d never see her.

I’ve never once heard her say she’d bored (one of the blessings of an imaginative visual-spatial kid) and she hates being rushed from activity-to-activity so piano and X-country are her only activities. I’ve been thrilled she’s also been helping with the VBC, the school’s broadcast journalism program that teaches how to write scripts, film and interview.

Last week was back-to-school night, during which time I had a nice chat with her teacher who is attempting to fill in the learning gaps between the two schools.  I was surprised when she told me the area in which she is most behind is technology. And yes, it’s pretty ironic that two computer-savvy parents have a computer-illiterate kid but that has been by design.

Waldorf schools are anti-technology and I’m anti-social media for kids/tweens so between those two, she has had little-to-no exposure. So, though I’m still vehemently opposed to social media/cell phones/texting, I’ve started helping her with typing programs and Microsoft Word today.

She was doing fine until we turned to geography. Rote memorization is tough (and flash cards are her worst nightmare) so I tried to find some fun websites to help her learn the 50 states but that fueled her frustration because she hates the computer. This made me frustrated about her bad attitude and unwillingness to learn. After she stormed off, I sat thinking about her struggles. It’s not that she doesn’t want to learn, it’s that she doesn’t know how to learn.

Imagine being stuck in a world that values round holes when you’re a square peg. I know there are thousands of kids like her but you’d think there would be more options to help. If I had a million dollars, I wouldn’t blow it on a fancy house or cars but on yanking her from school and hiring a private tutor who can teach to how she learns because I certainly don’t know how to do it– otherwise I’d homeschool her. It’s not her failing, it’s my own.

All the sixth graders had a self-portrait and description hanging around the classroom:

I found her quick biography fascinating. “Fast, creative. Curious.” She is curious but how to foster that curiosity in an educational system that quells the creative, out-of-box kid who can’t sit in a classroom all day?

We’ve both got a lot to figure out regarding how to go beyond just surviving but thriving the next six years.

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley

And so it (school) begins

August 21, 2015 By

The first day of school for the kids was a success! Or rather, it wasn’t a complete failure, which is almost the same as being a success, right?

Both kids have excellent teachers, which is such a relief after Hadley’s academic nightmare last year. Bode was excited about everything regarding fourth grade while Hadley was just excited to come home after. They were both excited about doughnuts for breakfast.

Their mid-morning sugar crash is no longer my problem.

They usually take the bus but I took them to school. Bode happily posed with his teacher. 

  You can get away with this in fourth grade but not in oh-so cool sixth grade.
I waited outside the doors with Hadley until the bell rang as she nervously surveyed the crowd. She was one of the tallest girls but some boys are finally starting to catch up. It’s been three years since she was at this school and though she recognized a lot of kids, she wasn’t really friends with any of them. How do I know? She would have ditched me in a heartbeat. The good news is one of her best friends Alex is in her class and I’m hoping she gets settled sooner than later.
As for Bode, he had the time of his life and knows every single kid in his class (a bonus of being at the same school since kindergarten). He’s reunited with his bestie Brody as well as his friends Curtis and Noah.
Each of the kids was asked to share two interesting things about their summer. He talked about going to Canada to visit his cousins. Fine. That makes sense. And then he could have divulged any number of things. Doing an Adventure Race. His birthday. Going to Cub Scout Twilight Camp. Flying home from Utah all by himself on an airplane.
But noooooo, Item No. 2 was that he was bitten at the same time by two different wasps on my parent’s deck.
I guess he was going for dramatic effect.
Filed Under: Bode, Hadley

The final countdown

August 19, 2015 By

The kids are finally back in school, which means I’ll be able to spend some much-needed time getting caught up on this blog about all our summer travels, right? Probably not. I’m celebrating my friends’ birthday tomorrow with lunch and a hike, I leave Friday morning with some other friends to do Mudderella in Aspen and then next week, my brother Pat and his wife Jane are FINALLY coming to visit us in Denver. The only other time they’ve been here was for our wedding so it’s long overdue.

Better luck next month on updates.

The kids and I have spent our last few days cramming in all the ugly things we should have spread out all summer like assessment testing, organizing their rooms, the dentist and a failed attempt at Water World.

Le Dentist

I’m exceedingly thrilled that Bode has 3–maybe 4–cavities and that Hadley needs braces. When two self-employed people pay almost as much for health insurance as they do their mortgage, that leaves no room for dental insurance. Can you say: payment plan.

Hadley’s crooked teeth are a mess so we knew they’d need an overhaul. But sweet, responsible Bode was devastated over his prognosis and has since been hypervigilant about flossing (too little, too late). But I sure appreciate all his prayers that we’ll have enough money to pay for his rotting mouth. Not that I can talk; we just barely finished paying off my last visit to the dentist 18 months ago. 

Water World Fail

How exactly can one fail at Water World, one of the country’s premier waterparks with 50+ attractions? Allow me to divulge:

1) You wait for your husband to get off work so don’t leave until 1 p.m.

2) You get stuck in I-76 traffic for about a half an hour and don’t arrive until after 2 p.m.

3) When you finally arrive, you wait in line for a long time for two rides. For kicks and giggles, you cut your leg on one of them.

4) You wait in line for an hour for Mile High Flyer. When you’re about 15 minutes from the front of the line, the park closes for 60 minutes due to lightning/rain.

5) You cut your losses (it’s already 4 p.m.) and you go home after only riding two rides.

6) Better luck next year.

So Long, Farewell

Jamie’s sister sold her house quit her job and has been living with us this summer. I wasn’t sure how it would work out (we’re a lot to handle) but she was a delight to hang out with, she helped clean, took the kids out and even babysat for us one night so we could go on a dinner and movie night to Mission Impossible.

It was like we were almost human again!

Lisa is soon embarking on a month-long trip to Europe so for her self-off/birthday celebration, we had two fondues: One with rib-eye steak and the other was this Gouda Cheese Fondue with Herbed Crostini beef. Jamie smoked the Gouda in his smoker and the result was Out. Of. This. World. 

She’ll be sorely missed by everyone but Fat Kitty is taking it particularly hard. During all our summer travels, he’s been glued to her side, snuggled up in her soft blanket. She was his one constant and now she’s gone, gone, gone. His only solace is to rip off the heads of mice and leave their innards all over our yard.

We all have our coping mechanisms.

Filed Under: Bode, Family, Hadley, Humor

Kids Adventure Games in Vail, Colorado!

August 17, 2015 By

“Mom, stop being part of the paparazzi. You’re taking too many pictures!” My daughter Hadley joked as I snapped my camera yet again while she soared across Gore Creek on a zipline.

But I couldn’t stop because she kept right on going in the Kids Adventure Games where kids, ages 6 through 14, experience the thrill of adventure racing in Vail, Colo. And believe me, it was thrilling as you can see from our video:

My children have participated in a number of sporting events but never anything that pushed them to their limits while emphasizing the important of teamwork, problem solving and fun as teams of two tackled a variety of challenges.  From the get-go, this race was different. Prior to getting outfitted in their harnesses, a kids-only safety meeting was held as the racers were debriefed on the race course and equipped with a map. Race founder Bill Mattison later told parents  ”Your kids are capable of doing great things if you just let them go it alone.”

Tyrolean Traverse

Tyrolean Traverse

And great things they did.  My son Bode and his buddy Seamus were ”Team Awesome” while Hadley competed with his sister Maeve as “Adventure Girls.” Anticipation was palpable as they lined up with their bikes at the starting gate beside Vail Resort’s Gondola One. Racers of all ability levels were staggered a few minutes apart. Adventure Girls started 15 minutes before Team Awesome so the boy’s goal was to catch them while the girls vowed not to be caught.

Parents can observe as much of the race as they want but are discouraged from helping; there were race volunteers at literally every turn in the seamlessly organized race. My plan was to follow the girls while my husband Jamie stuck with the boys. At least that was the plan until Adventure Girls raced their bikes along the Gore Valley Trail leaving me in their dust. A fellow helicopter parent pointed up. “There’s no way to keep up with them on their bikes but you can meet them at Gopher Hill Lift.” I took off up the hill, remiss I wasn’t able to witness the first three checkpoints: Ride through Hay Tunnel, watch them navigate the Slick Wall and then carry their bikes through the Skier Tunnel Obstacles.

heavenWhen I saw Hadley and Maeve round the hill, they were covered in mud and delved into the Tyrolean Traverse where they clipped onto a fixed line and pulled themselves across a river. From there, it was onto the Underground River Hike, a Blow Dart Challenge, Jungle Walk and Balloon Launch. I was breathless trying to keep up as they ditched their bikes, grabbed a tube and PDFs as they wound through the village  to the Covered Bridge where they ziplined across Gore Creek before tubing down the icy water. From there, it was onto a climbing wall, mud pit, a cargo net, and they ended with a Slope-N-Slide where all their mud was washed away in their frothy landing (on behalf of mothers everywhere, thank you for that).

My kids had the time of their lives but was it all smooth-sailing? Absolutely not. Seamus crashed his bike as he attempted to descend the loose gravel trail. Maeve hated crawling through the mud. Hadley dismounted her bike to walk down steep sections of the trail while Bode struggled figuring out his technique on the Tyrolean Traverse. The fastest time from some “seasoned veterans” was 45 minutes. My kids posted times that were right in the mix: Adventure Girls finished in 1:16 while the boys were just one minute behind at 1:17.

As they rested and basked in the midday suns electrifying verdant Vail Mountain’, I asked Bode if he wanted to do it again in 2016.teams

“Yes, but next time we’re beating the girls.”

[Kids Adventure] Game On.

Filed Under: Bode, Colorado, Hadley, outdoors

Camping, hiking and redemption at Brainard Lake

August 15, 2015 By

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Booking the camping trip early, that is. Brainard Lake Recreation Area is a popular outdoor Mecca for locals but you will rarely find any out-of-state license plate in the parking lot–tourists congregate at nearby Rocky Mountain National Park and I’d prefer to keep it that way.

We’ve long wanted to camp at Brainard Lake but the problem is the Pawnee Campground fills up several months in advance. There are a few first-come, first-served campsites but unless you can come mid-week (we never can), you’re out of luck. So, on Dec. 31, 2014, my good husband somehow finagled us a campsite before the reservations opened for 2015. Don’t ask me how he did it; he has his ways.

Set in a glacially-carved valley, the craggy peaks of the Continental Divide are the backdrop for this azure lake that boasts a variety of year-round recreation opportunities in the Boulder Ranger District. It is open year-round but Jamie had reserved the campground’s opening day. There was still quite a bit of snow on the ground and the early-season weather was iffy. Our last several camping trips have either been rained, hailed or pooped out so I braced myself for whatever catastrophe would come our way. Though the temperatures were cooler and the sky overcast when we arrived, the weather held out.

The problem with booking something for June 26 six months in advance is he had no idea that the kids and I would leave early for Canada that year, just one day after camping. It’s rare that I have a bad attitude about getting outdoors but I had one about this trip. I was busy prepping for our month away and to throw in camping on top of it? I got over it really, really quickly.

 

Moose in the trees

Following our hot dogs and s’mores dinner, Jamie and I ditched the kids and went for a romantic stroll through the subalpine forest set in a glacially-carved valley.

That’s my kind of date night.

Brainard Lake at dusk

There are two things I hate about tent camping and hundreds of things I love. Hate: Sleeping on the ground in a sleeping bag and inclement weather. If we had a trailer/RV, crummy weather wouldn’t be such a big deal but I have never been able to sleep through the night in a sleeping bag. Stomach sleepers of the world can assuredly relate.

Despite a sleepless night, the next morning dawned bright, clear and beautiful as Brainard Lake looked like a completely different place.

We’ve had four attempts at hiking 6 miles round-trip to 11,355′ Blue Lake.

First Attempt

Jamie and I were newly married and we successfully hiked to this gorgeous area.

Second Attempt

Late-June 2014. There was still a fair amount of snow during our daytrip, which put a kibosh on our high-elevation hiking plans. Hadley used to throw tantrums when she wouldn’t get her way. Now, those fits are about our refusal to hike through muck and snow. We made it as far as the moderate 1-mile hike to Mitchell Lake, which occupies a broad, marshy flat at the base of Mount Audubon before we made her turn back. Cue: Bode’s relief.

Third Attempt

Our trip in June was officially Hadley’s second attempt and I prayed the trail would be more clear so as to avoid tween tantrums. It didn’t happen. Upon reaching Mitchell Lake again, snow was a concern but a ranger we met en route warned us of the dangerous, icy conditions ahead getting to Blue Lake. It was like an episode of Groundhog Day and we made her turn back.  I promised her we’d return late-July and even invited some of her friends to join us. Cue: Bode’s Relief Part II.

 

Mitchell Lake

 

Trail conditions

A girl in her element? No, a tween tantrum

Fourth Attempt

Upon returning from a road-trip to Canada, Bode stayed an extra week in Canada with Grandma. Despite the fact that Hadley bagged her first 14er on that Saturday, she practically begged me to make the 1.5 hour drive back to Brainard Lake to hike Blue a few days later. Our friends we’d originally invited just happened to be camping in the area at the same time but were non-committal about their plans so we decided to go it alone because it was too difficult to coordinate schedules.

The hike to Blue Lake is 6 miles round-trip but the problem is the Mitchell Lake Trailhead has either been closed or full every time we’ve attempt to hike it. So in keeping with our luck, the parking lot  was full so we had to park 1 mile down the mountain. Because why hike 6 miles when you can do 8?

I debated making a final outhouse stop in the parking lot but opted to wait until we reached the trailhead and wouldn’t you know it, my bladder was inspired. As I walked to the outhouse, I heard my friend Lisa call out to me–they were waiting in a wooded grove to hike Blue Lake! Finding the parking lot was full, their husbands had dropped the families off, driven back to the Brainard Lake parking lot and biked back up the road (stroke of genius).

We had such a great time hiking with friends! As soon as we passed Mitchell Lake, Hadley caught fire–we were finally going to summit! There was a profusions of wildflowers as we passed through patchy krummholz before catching our first few of Mount Toll’s conical summit.

After a series of switch backs, we cleared treeline and we were greeted with 11,355′ Blue Lake, which frames a large rocky cirque with Mount Toll, Mt Audubon and Paiute Peak standing sentry.

Hadley and I stayed for about an hour as we soaked our feet in the blue-green water while lunching and watching a lovely waterfall flowing down from the south-side cliffs.

As we hiked the four miles back to the car, I observed, “Aren’t you glad you have finally done Blue Lake?”

“Yes, but now we have to come back and do Upper Blue Lake,” she said, referring to the 0.6-mile scramble up a steep traverse through thick willows, across the snow field, and up the rocky mountainside to see the smaller hidden lake.

I started to protest that she isn’t ever satisfied until I realized she finally *gets* what mountaineering is all about: you’re never really done as there are always mountains to climb.

Filed Under: Bode, Colorado, Hadley, hiking, outdoors

Lessons learned with the young women

August 12, 2015 By

I’ve somehow become known as an avid hiker (weird, right?)  So when my friend Sheree, the Young Women’s President in our ward, asked me for hike recommendations, I jumped at the chance to take the group of girls (ages 12+) to one of my favorite hikes in Denver’s Front Range. However, an hour before departure, storms raged in south Denver, east Denver had tornado sightings, and as we were driving toward the mountains, a light drizzle surrounded us so we debated bagging the whole thing. When we arrived at the trailhead, the weather had cleared to cool, overcast conditions that are perfect for hiking so we bit–hard.

Though Hadley is not yet old enough to be in Young Women’s, I brought her along on the hike and she trekked with her friend Alex, my friend Lisa’s daughter who, too is underage but who goes on activities because Lisa is a leader.  We followed a seasonal stream up a pretty valley for about a mile, followed by two forks in the trail, the latter of which led us up some steep terrain to the summit with stunning views of Mount Evans and Continental Divide. We were having a great time chatting and laughing in the outdoors!

When we were going up, the girls were great about staying together and waiting for everyone to get caught up. But as we started descending, Hadley and Alex (the fleetfoots in the group) took off. There were enough winds and turns that I didn’t realize it until we reached the second fork in the trail and they were nowhere to be found. Then panic set in. Had they seen the not-so obvious turnoff? It was growing dark and I can honestly say it was my first major freakout moment in the outdoors with my kids.

We dispatched Sheree and Lisa’s daughter Whitney to run ahead on the wrong trail to see if they’d followed it while another leader Kayla took off the mile down the canyon toward the parking lot. Lisa and I spread out in between them all. Echoes of our pleas reverberated off the canyon walls. “Hadley. ALEX.” I blew my emergency whistle, all of which was met with stone-cold silence. I had a mix of emotions that vascillated between anger and fear. She knows better. How many times have we been hiking and she has been told to stay within sight of the group? And then, guilt. It was my kid who wasn’t even supposed to be here who is causing this horrible emergency. What happens if we can’t find them and we have to call 911? What could happen out here at night?

It was the most panicked half-hour of my life. As I rounded the bend to the parking lot, relief set in as we saw Hadley and Alex sitting there absolutely clueless of what they’d put the entire group through. My anger washed away to relief as I hugged her and let loose a verbal scathing like no other. It was only then that she realized the seriousness of her trespass. Jamie later said he thought we were overreacting but it was nighttime that motivated our sense of urgency.

Remorseful, she apologized to the group. I started to hike back up to find Lisa, Whitney and Sheree and she asked to come along. It was completely dark by this time so I brought out the flashlight I always keep in my backpack until we met up with them. Back in the parking lot, we shared a prayer of gratitude that they were safely found. Stories abound in the news like the little 5-year-old Colorado City boy who wandered off from his family’s campsite this week and was found dead a few days later.

One of the other girls commented, “You see, this is why I don’t like hiking. It’s too scary,” which made me sad because it’s one of the most joy-filled ways to connect with nature. But I didn’t correct her.  We’ve spent so much time hiking and camping lately that it is easy to become comfortable–too comfortable. Last night was a sobering reminder to respect the outdoors, always stay together and to never take it for granted.

Filed Under: Hadley, hiking, outdoors

Hadley’s first 14er!

August 3, 2015 By

My 11-year-old daughter Hadley has always been a strong hiker but I was surprised when she announced she wanted a climb a 14er this summer.

I was a bit worried about her readiness but mostly about my own. I’ve “bagged” a dozen of Colorado’s  54 peaks that rise 14,000+ feet above sea level but it has been several years since my last climb.  In the interim, I’ve grown dazzlingly wiser, impressively slower and more cognizant of my own mortality because, if you’ve ever climbed a 14er, you know there are moments when you feel like you’re going to die (or that death might be more enjoyable than this).

Most mountaineering enthusiasts recommend starting with Mt. Bierstadt or Grays Peak but we opted to hike 14,036 Mount Sherman, a rounded peak that looms above the western edge of South Park. There are no easy 14ers (with the exception of driving to the top of Mount Evans and Pikes Peak in your air-conditioned car). The pitch isn’t the only factor that makes them tough, it’s the altitude. The barometric pressure decreases when you climb, causing air to expand in volume and decrease the amount of air you take in on each breath.

Case in point: We climbed famed Ha Ling Peak outside of Banff National Park in July and the trail was much more challenging, but Mount Sherman’s elevation made us feel like we were summiting Everest without oxygen. Or a sherpa. And with a 50-pound bag of rocks on our backs.

There are two standard routes up Mount Sherman and we chose the route accessed via the Southwest Ridge from Fourmile Creek outside of Fairplay, Colo. The hike is 5.25 miles round-trip from the gate but parking along the road is minimal and our 9 a.m. (relatively late) arrival forced us to park a mile away.  5.25 miles + 1 mile just to the trailhead + that same mile back to your car = seriously considering the virtues of hitchhiking.

My husband Jamie, Hadley and I have very different hiking styles. He is more of a sprint-and-stop kind of guy while I am slow and steady with minimal breaks and Hadley is somewhere in between. We started at about 11,500 feet so there was no time to acclimate to the altitude. Hadley and I slugged along the windy rock-strewn road past Dauntless and Hilltop mines,  gasping for air but after 20 minutes we were breathing more regularly as the trail narrowed. Despite the commanding views at the top, I am not partial to 14ers for their beauty. Part of the reason is you are doing the brunt of the climb above treeline and, call me crazy, but there is little innate beauty about rocks, particularly when that is all you see for hours on end.pond

First glimpse of the summit

First glimpse of the summit

snowfield

However, when we arrived at the snowfields, I was missing those rocks.

We generally carry an altimeter but it wasn’t needed on Mount Sherman–the summit is in view for most of the hike. If you’re not familiar with altimeters, they help you ascertain your elevation and avoid something agonizing called false summits: thinking you reached the top, only to find the real summit taunting you in the distance. For further clarification: Baby keeps you up for first six months of her life. Finally sleeps through the night. Parent thinks HOLY CRAP, BABY SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT. I HAVE ARRIVED! Next night: Baby wakes up every hour. False summit.

There were a number of families hiking with elementary-school-aged children but very few made it past 12,500 feet and many looked downright miserable. Soapbox: Do not EVER climb 14ers with a baby in a backpack. We always take an ibuprofen preventatively when we begin hiking and again at the first sign of an altitude-induced headache. Just imagine how much worse it is for a little one who can’t voice how the altitude is impacting them.

As we hiked to the saddle between 13,748-foot Mount Sheridan and Mount Sherman, Leadville and Turquoise Lake gleamed in the background ensconced by an army of 13,000 and 14,000-foot giants.

view

At that point, Hadley got summer fever and boldly forged forward up the most difficult part of the climb: a narrow ledge of scree. I got an illness of a different kind: altitude sickness. Jamie–knowing he will be stuck with me long after his daughter flies the coop–wisely stayed back with me  to ensure I didn’t become one with the glacier-scoured valley below.  summitpush

When we reached the summit, we joined an elite club of folks whose altitude sickness made them forget the misery of the climb as we marveled at the 360-degree views of the Mosquito Range’s craggy peaks, aspen groves, boreal forests and profusions of wildflowers as chirping pikas played peek-a-boo in the rocks.

summitgirl

summitpano

shermancouple

 

Hadley’s biggest advice for climbing your first 14er? “Don’t die.”

Though those views really are to-die-for and I can’t wait to do Mount Bierstadt with her next year.

Filed Under: Colorado, Hadley, hiking
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