LS: LS’ birthday fell over Fall break. LS loves to hike the CO 14ers with his dad and wanted to do a birthday hike. This year he decided upon the Mt. Harvard (14,420 ft) and Mt. Columbia (14,073 ft) combo hike. It was set to be a long day at over 15 miles of hiking, but turned out to be longer than expected. The family got an early start at 2:30 a.m., walking through the woods. Around 4:30 p.m., they finally came out from the trees and saw all the stars still glowing in the night sky. About 30 minutes later, they began to see the glow of the sun coming up over Mt. Columbia on their way to Mt. Harvard. At 8 a.m. the group finally made their first summit of the day, Mt. Harvard. While still a bit chilly, the sun was finally shining and warming things up. After 15 minutes the group and LS headed out to look for a good place to eat with a nice view. At 14,250, they stopped to have lunch and admired the trees changing colors. After lunch the journey continued through the most difficult part of the day. Trudging through loose rock and hopping over boulders for several hours, LS and company finally made the summit of Mt Columbia at 4:15 p.m.. Finally, it was all downhill back to the car, which left them walking through the woods in the dark once more. But they made it back at 9:20 p.s., completing LS’ 22nd and 23rd 14ers on his way to summiting all 58!!
TR: TR had an excellent time on his break. He and his mom flew to Phoenix to spend time with dad. His parents took him to Sedona and visited the art district and unique stone formations including Bell Rock, Cathedral Rock, and the Chapel of Holy Cross. From there, they went off roading on a 4x4, which TR found amusing with all the bumps and jolts. Then they hiked up the airport Mesa vortex to soak in all the positive energy, with an overnight stay in a Tipi. All in all it was a good trip to learn about native Indian art and culture.
The trip home to Colorado was by car and it was a long drive, with stops at Flagstaff and Durango. While in Flagstaff , TR and his mom visited Lowell observatory to stargaze, but it was a cloudy evening, so all telescopes were closed. TR saw a display of earth and was able to project so many images on it to understand climate and such. The question became “Why only Colorado was marked on the USA map?”
From there, they drove the million dollar skyway to catch some breathtaking views of fall colors in COLORado! Though TR had an adventure, he was happy to be back home and in his routine.
AH: Over Fall break, AH visited the Colorado Railroad Museum! He loved climbing on the trains to explore inside and hear about some of the history trains represent!!!
JC: During his Fall break, JC had a wonderful day fishing with his grandparents, parents, brothers, sister, aunt, and little cousin. He caught several frogs and a little fish. His aunt and cousin came to visit from Myrtle Beach for a few days and the whole gang had a lot of fun.
BS: This fall break was all about family and enjoying time together. BS and her sister took a trip to the Denver Zoo, one of her favorite places at the start of the break. It was fun to meet the new lion cub and vote on his name. She enjoyed some down time throughout the week playing with her puppy and practicing her writing. At the end of the week, her cousins and grandparents flew into town and we enjoyed a Friday evening at the Denver Downtown Aquarium. She also enjoyed a Saturday at the Children’s Museum, where she loves both indoor and outdoor water areas, kitchen, and science areas. It was amazing to see her engaging with her cousins and sister Saturday evening dancing while enjoying some ice cream in the cool fall air.
EsTr: Swimming!
