From work I was helping (texting) Nick pack everything that we needed. He had to go REI to buy us feet things..... Also called MicroSpikes.
15 of us, all decked out in our warmest hiking stuff took this great shot "V" before climbing up the side of mount Quandry. There was often snow up to our waist that most of the time we were able to walk on top of, but there is only one way to find out its depth.
Man oh, man was it a tough, exhilarating, adventurous experience. It was very steep, the muscles burned for about 4 hours. Ohh, the lungs burned too.
We did pretty good considering we had never climbed a 14er before and it was the middle of the night and night is always colder than the day time. At 8:36 pm or something like that, the moon was at full peak and shining brightly over the mountains, as bright as the sun. Sadly by camera didn't have the capabilities to take the gorgeous pictures I was hoping to get for you all.
So at about 12 000 feet we were freezing and remembering how long it took to get that high and Nick and I decided we wanted to head back. Feeling slightly defeated, we managed to enjoy the first 10-15 mins down the side of the rocky/snowy mountain. We had stopped along a more gentle terrain and noticed 2 lights walking down the mountain... more of our group had turned around as well.
Feeling slightly better about ourselves for not being the only wimps, the 4 of us took off following the glow sticks strategically placed, but not placed enough. After a short period of time, we were so royally lost! We were no longer on the trail, but anxiously looking for footprint trails in the snow. Blairwitch project crosses our minds as we cried out to God on what was surely one of His busiest days of the year (Good Friday), for him to direct us to a path that would lead us back to the trail or our cars.
When in doubt, down! was always the best option. We came across a creek, and a creepy shed accompanied by a private property sign. We took that as a blessing from God. Civilization, even private is good when your scared a bear is going to find you before you find the cars. More signs followed and as long as "prosecution" not "being shot" was our only worry, we followed the very exciting and very long driveway down to a dirt road, picked the right direction, which led to another road with a sign pointing to the trailhead. JOY!! Relief!
Thankfully when we left, Justin gave us his keys so we got to sit in his warm car while we waited for our group to trickle in. As it turns out Justin, our fearless leader, and Justine were the next to turn around.
Not one person was able to make it to the top, and all but 2 people got lost on the way down. That made us feel soo much better. We finally left Breckenridge at 1:45am, arriving home at 3:33am, showering and in bed by 4:10.
We learned a lot, saw Gods gorgeous creation as very few get to, and plan to never do it again. We did learn a lot about hiking for next time.
Story 2:
Terry is amazing... Last Friday after talking on the phone with Aunt Teppy about my new job while she was babysitting Peyten, Terry called be back. He suggested that he could either live stream or Skype me in to watch the Easter cantata where my dad had his 2nd ever solo! So this afternoon I got to watch the practice before their performance tonight. Wow can I just say "moving".
The production took "take the shackles off my feet so I can dance" and "my chains are gone, I've been set free" to a new real level. The choir was dressed as prisoners all in orange shirts, there was a prison cell on the stage. Soooo powerful.
So proud of my dad, he sang strong and powerful. He was so into the meaning of the words he was singing, had his arms raised.... Soon he'll be out singing my mother!
Added Sunday:
Today I planted 3 plants! I'm hoping they grow!! Here's a picture of them so far!
Excited to see all of your pictures soon.. Sounds like you had an amazing time. So proud of your dad!
ReplyDeletewow, you are super brave! way to go!
ReplyDelete