On top of Searle Pass (12,034 feet) on the Colorado Trail Segment 8

Marcy and I left on our backpacking trip on Monday morning. We hiked 51 miles over four long days, completing Segments 8, 9 and 10 of the Colorado Trail. The first day was the toughest, gaining over 4,000 feet of vertical with full packs on. We didn’t find a campsite until after sunset so we were eating dinner in the dark that night.

Olive and I on the trail

Marcy did really well the whole trip. She is so strong and I slowed us down for the most part. Olive didn’t do that great, we have decided she is more of a day-hike dog. She loved being on the trail but whenever we stopped she was on high alert, never really relaxing. And she didn’t really eat, having only two meals (instead of a normal 8 meals) over the four days.

I am glad we did four days because by the fourth day I was starting to feel strong again. Except for one blister on my right big toe, my body held up really well. We are already planning next year’s trip, which will also likely be on the Colorado Trail.

Enjoying a celebratory beer after four days of hard work (Earned It IPA)

On Friday we picked up Jude from his camp. He didn’t really like it much this year, the people were not as fun and he thought the counselors were weak. The different sports were fun, though. They did rock climbing, mountain biking, stand-up paddleboarding, kickball, tubing and more. He was ready to get home when I picked him up.

Anna’s cabin mates at Geneva Glen (Anna is middle front row)

Anna, on the other hand, loved her camp. At 13 years old, she is considered a “senior” camper and as such has a less structured camp and is able to pursue what is most interesting. She did a lot of archery, softball and ropes. Marcy picked her up on Saturday morning.

Jude on the driving range

I decided to get to the driving range this weekend as I haven’t swung a club all year. Jude joined me and actually hit the ball pretty well.

The Avalanche win the Stanley Cup!

Jude and I don’t watch much hockey during the regular season but come playoff time we take a keen interest in the Avalanche. Both of us missed games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup finals because he was at camp and I was backpacking but we watched the other four games and were ecstatic that the Avs won tonight. It was super fun watching the playoffs with Jude the last couple of months.

Jude goes off to camp

This week Anna was away at camp, and so it was just the three of us. Jude had soccer training three mornings this week and they made the kids work really hard. Lots of serious fitness was the order of the day.

On Tuesday, Marcy and I took the afternoon off work to go for a hike in the foothills. We did a six-mile hike on Green Mountain, a nice warmup for our big hike this coming week. Then suddenly it was Sunday and it was time to drop off Jude for his Avid camp. He is heading to Wyoming for five days.

After dropping off Jude Marcy and I got all our camping gear ready and then drove to our end-point at Mount Massive trailhead to drop off Marcy’s car. Then it was back to Keystone, where we are spending the night before heading out on our backpacking trip tomorrow. If all goes well, we will hike 51 miles from Copper Mountain. The weather looks good so we are excited to get on the trail.

Anna getting ready to head off to camp (after Cheer practice)

Anna had just over a week of summer break before her first camp. She loves Geneva Glen and has been looking forward to it for some time. She managed to get in a cheer class literally on her way to camp as she is bummed to miss any of her cheer trainings. Marcy took her to cheer and then to Panda Express and to get a boba tea, and then it was straight to camp where it was a full hour wait to check-in. And then it poured with rain so both Marcy and Anna got drenched along with many other campers. But Anna was still in good spirits as Marcy left.

On top of Mount Morrison with Mount Evans in the background

Jude and I decided to go for a hike this morning. We took Olive with us and did the closest really challenging hike to our place. Mt Morrison is just over 8,000 feet and you gain 2,000 feet in elevation in around two miles. It was a warm morning, so it was a hot and sweaty hike to the top. Olive took advantage of the shade every chance she got. We were back in the car in about two hours and forty minutes, a solid workout.

The other highlight of the weekend is all four of us went to a movie for the first time since before covid. We saw the new Top Gun movie, and it was surprisingly good.

Watching a Rockies game with my girl

Jude enjoyed his first week of summer break and Anna joined him on Thursday when Rick’s had their last day of the school year. Anna was one of two seventh-graders chosen to help with the eighth-grade graduation and Marcy organized the finances for putting on a great spread. Anna had become quite close with a couple of the girls in eighth grade and it was a bittersweet time for her. She is particularly going to miss Ella who was her best friend at school.

It ended up being quite a busy weekend. It started Friday night when Anna and I went to a Rockies game, our first since before the pandemic. We had a lovely evening although the baseball itself was not great.

Jude taking a left-footed shot on goal – it was a solid shot but the goalie saved it

This weekend Jude had a soccer tournament to close the season. His team played well and they beat the leading team in their last game. Jude played really well and almost scored a couple of times. It was great to see their improvement over the season as the boys passed well and played as a team this weekend.

On top of Green Mountain on a beautiful morning hike

This morning I decided to get in an early morning hike to test out my new hiking shoes. They are super comfortable. I missed Jude’s morning soccer game but did a beautiful hike on Green Mountain – six miles through lush green meadows.

Once I got back from my hike it was time to take Anna to cheer. She is on the Cool Cats elite team and it was their first practice. They also had a parent’s orientation so we found out what to expect for this year. It is going to be an intense year.