The Goodrums

We decided to make the most of one of our first unplanned weekends in a while. We had both been home for something like two weeks in a row, which indicates a trip of some nature was in order.

On Friday after work, we jumped on I-70 and headed to the mountains. Thankfully we managed to beat most of the traffic and were able to get the last "real" campsite in the campground. We checked out Leadville over dinner, home of ultra-marathons and other crazy endurance sports, as well as the former stomping grounds for the likes of Doc Holliday.















Proof the we actually do use our tent on occasions.

Friday night we got to break in some new gear, including new sleeping bags and Thermarest pads, which make the ground much more comfortable.

On Saturday morning, we got up at first light to attempt a summit of Mt. Elbert, the highest peak in Colorado. The hike is 9 miles round trip and gains/loses about 4,400 ft. each direction. The trail was not technical or sheer (for the most part) but somewhat more aggressive than I expected. Some parts of the trail were at fairly extreme angles (think 45 degrees or more). The trail did not hesitate to remind me that I have not been working out much this summer (excuses have been easy to come by - travel, visitors, surgeries...). It was generally an off hiking day for me, but we eventually made the summit. Highpoint #20 checked off. Now we can say we have done the highpoint in the state we live in. That was getting a bit embarrassing.















Mt. Elbert















Michael at the Mt. Elbert trailhead
(where the Mt. Elbert trail separates from the Colorado Trail)



















Evidence that the trail was very steep in sections
Michael is standing about 10 feet from the camera















At the top


Panoramic View from the top of Mt. Elbert

The descent always takes me longer than the estimates thanks to two uncooperative knees. We made it back just as some ominous storm clouds rolled in over Mt. Massive (the peak next door) and as we started hearing thunder in the distance. We hurried back to our campsite, broke camp and then stretched out a bit from the hike. Just as we got in the car to start our drive back, the rain started to fall.















Storm Clouds over the campground















Storm over Mt. Massive as we drove away

On the way back, we stopped in Lake Dillon at a little sushi place we've discovered. We pulled in to Denver as the sun set - and were in bed within 10 minutes of reaching the house. :)

All in all, a good Saturday in Colorado.















Placing highpoint #20 on our highpoints map















Colorado now has a pin

More pictures from the trip here.

It's so hard to believe that we're still doing family vacations - with all kiddos grown and living across the world. We got together in Denver over the July 4th weekend and everyone was able to come. Amazing!

Mom and Kelly showed up first on Wednesday and helped prep for everyone else.

Teri and Wes showed up Thursday morning and had a power R&R day. I think there might have been a viewing of Hoodwinked (a parody of Little Red Riding Hood) but I mostly heard snoring coming from the downstairs vicinity.

Matt, Dad and Christy showed up Thursday evening (supposedly). In truth, only Matt made his debut on Thursday evening - thanks to the mostly reliable Continental Airlines. Those on United had quite the stories to tell upon their arrival (see also, Mom, Kelly, Christy and Dad, who have sworn off of United forever). We made a secondary run to the airport to pick up Dad and Christy Thursday-night-might-have-been-Friday-morning. Snoozed for a few hours and then we were off to the races.

On Friday, we used our scouting knowledge to treat the gang to a tour of Mt. Evans. We were amazed at how well the non-altitude favored of the bunch did. Everyone made it to the top and no one got sick. The boys of the group gave us some near heart attacks with all their gallivanting off and over the sides of Mt. Evans.















Dad, Christy and Teri hanging off the side of Mt Evans















The Girls at the top



















Kelly and Matt being mountain goats











Brashares Family Photo
Back from Left: Dad, Mom, Christy, Teri, Wes
Front fron Left: Matt, Kelly, Jen, Michael (Goodie)













Someone has to make fun of Christy and Teri's myriad poses















Mom and Dad in front of the Chicago Lakes

We ate lunch at Summit Lake and did some light hiking in the area and then headed home. Again, lots of snoring to accompany the beautiful drive home. Thursday evening we ate dinner and headed up to Daniel's Park Road (the road that runs the ridge next to our house) to watch the fireworks. There was another fire in the open space so we had to use some creative maneuvering to get to our destination. It was well worth the effort, as we had a panoramic view of all the fireworks in the Denver area, including some in the foothills.



















Kelly and Matt walking along Daniel's Park Road into the sunset















The Brashares Girls watching the fireworks

On Saturday, we took US 285 out of Denver and did some hiking in the foothills. Our first hike had some beautiful views of the foothills and Pikes Peak but the trail map wasn't exactly accurate and we started to wonder if the hike was ever going to end (lack of lunch was probably also a factor in what seemed to be an impossibly long second half of the hike). After lunch, we embarked on a second hike, which took us to a lake and a vista over the South Platte River. Wes and Matt brilliantly decided to go for a swim in the river. They didn't regain a normal (non blue) color until we were back in Metro Denver. Saturday night we enjoyed dinner at Maggiano's and a Dulce de Leche cheesecake by Chef Miguel.















We're going hiking now... we're on our way!



















The Brigade



















Teri and Christy along Eagle's View trail















Family portrait
From left: Matt, Kelly, Michael/Goodie, Jen, Dad, Mom, Christy, Wes, Teri



















Can you tell he had no energy?
He got sunburned on Friday and was pretty miserable on Saturday.



















Kelly



















Teri



















Christy















Mom and Jen at the Pine Lake overlook















The Brashares Family Women



















I believe this was taken just following the Bear Necessities Dance



















Masters of the River















Recovery
or inmates... your call :)

Sunday began the mass exodus that would eventually leave me all alone in Denver. After church in Castle Rock, we headed downtown to the REI flagship. I always think that one is going to get old among visitors and somehow it never does. We spent a good two hours there before making an airport run with Dad, Christy, Teri and Wes. Matt and Kelly stayed at REI for a couple more hours of fun. Post airport, the remaining crew rejoined Matt and Kelly for an exploration of downtown, spot-a-Starbucks contest, use of some port-a-potties in Civic Center Park, an art museum sighting and a scrumptious dinner at Proto's.















Reminiscing of our childhood
Hanging out in the 12 passenger van!















In front of the Denver Art Museam, aka DAM

Matt and Michael (errr Goodie) left early Monday morning to their respective destinations. Mom and Kelly stayed to help regroup (which was so helpful!) and left Monday evening. The house was so quiet Monday night - from 9 people 24 hours prior down to one.

I'm so thankful we are still able to do family get togethers like this in spite of the distance we live from each other now. We're also glad to live in a place that people enjoy visiting. It's so much fun! Thanks for coming! Come again soon! :)

P.S. Sorry for the lack of pictures. Our camera had terrible timing and took a trip to the warranty shop during this visit. :( I took it upon myself to be the keeper of the family camera (although I eventually found it too hard to use and gave up). I downloaded the initial pictures I took but, for the rest of the trip, I have to wait on pictures from my sisters. I already stole some from Christy (most of what is showcased here!).

More pictures of Mt Evans

The peak we look at directly from our house is Mt. Evans.















Mt Evans from our house

There is a scenic byway that travels to essentially the top of this 14,000 ft. peak. Since we moved to Colorado, we have seen the signs for Mt. Evans every time we drive into the mountains and comment that we need to go do that drive sometime.

A few weekends ago, we finally got around to actually making the drive. You start the drive up Mt. Evans from Echo Lake. The drive is not for the faint of heart, as it is quite sheer in some locations. We drove straight to the Summit Parking Lot, where we made the short 1/4 mile hike to the summit (only 130 vertical feet - although it's at altitude and you feel it the first couple steps). We snapped a couple pictures at the top and then headed down to Summit Lake for lunch.















Michael in the Summit Parking Lot















On Top of Mt Evans



Mt. Evans 360















Summit Lake
There were people actually hiking up and skiing/snowboarding down some of the areas with lingering snow. That's dedication - or else living in denial that ski season ended 2 months ago!

We checked out a couple trails and some scenic views from summit lake and then drove down to check out the M. Walter Pesman Trail. We encountered an interesting obstacle both at the summit and along this trail - massive snow drifts still in effect. It was quite reasonable given that it was still in the 30s at the summit. My running shoes and Michael's cowboy boots weren't the most appropriate footware for pursuing this hike. Thus, we continued our drive past a very friendly bighorn sheep.















Why Hello There

We stopped at a bristlecone pine grove to check it out as we continued the descent. At the bottom, we spent a few minutes at Echo Lake to gaze at where we had been.















Echo Lake

Beautiful scenery and a cool way to view a 14er with minimal effort. I think we'll be bringing visitors back to this one.

For the full picture portfolio for the trip, click here.

Warning: I am not the best videographer. You may get seasick watching these videos.

Views from the top of Grays Peak



Views from the trail to Grays Peak

Note: These videos are brought to you by "the brick;" thus, there is no sound and the resolution is quite poor. But hey - you get the picture in spite of its downfalls.

On Tuesday, my dad and I became the first (we think) Brashares to hike a 14er. Of course, we summited Pikes Peak as kids (family vacation) but we took the cog railway there so I don't know that it really counts. :)

Grays Peak is the 9th tallest mountain in Colorado at 14,270 ft. The hike to Grays Peak is about 6 miles round trip and has a 3,000 ft. elevation gain to the top.

We started out from the house super early in the morning. It's about a two hour drive to the trail head - mostly due to the last three miles (which took 30-45 minutes to cover). At times it seemed that the road was in worse condition than the trail. Thank goodness for an off-road vehicle. We arrived at the trail head about 6am and started hiking shortly thereafter. It was a beautiful and peaceful morning and we were able to enjoy fields of wild flowers and lots of beautiful views.

We made the summit of Grays Peak mid-morning. Before long the summit got very crowded, so we didn't linger too long. We hiked the saddle-area toward Torreys Peak and then headed back to the car.

I love hiking with my dad. He is a very experienced hiker and having someone with that kind of hiking knowledge around just makes you rest easy. Plus, he is the best pace-setter in the world. We weren't going to win a race up Grays Peak - but I made it (without any real conditioning beforehand) with my knees intact (which is saying something given my terrible knees) and I wasn't the slightest bit sore the next day. I was amazed - that's not exactly your easiest hike! In addition to all that, my dad is great company and it was so fun to get to spend some one-on-one time with him. That's something that is a rare commodity now. I loved every minute of it!















Starting from the parking lot









Views of Grays and Torreys
Grays Peak is in the center of the picture. You can catch a glimpse of Torreys in the right hand corner peaking out from behind Kelso Mountain (the green hill - looks like a hill in this picture anyway).















At the trail junction between the trails to Grays and Torreys
Looking back over the hike so far. The mountain pictured in the foreground (upper right corner) is Kelso Mountain.















The basin between Grays and Torreys















Dad and me at the summit















View to the southwest from the summit
If you look closely in the center of the picture (over the first ridgeline), you can see all the slopes at Breckenridge.















Looking back at the parking lot from the summit
The parking lot is back where the evergreens are (and this picture is zoomed in).















A mountain goat
There was a certain song from Sound of Music being hummed for a good while after this encounter.





























Wildflowers



















Signing out



















Bridge to the parking lot