The past six weeks since my return from Russia have been a little hectic. Michael has been working at Copper as a resort services agent and I started work as the three year-old teacher at Summit County Preschool four days a week. Between both of our busy work schedules we haven't had many days off together which has restricted us from hitting the trail and doing any serious hiking or backpacking.
But all of that changed about two weeks ago. Michael has taken on a few extra Army Reserve commitments over the coming months, so he decided to start working part time for Copper. The best part is that his awesome boss, Cara, agreed to let him work Wednesday-Friday which correlates perfectly with my schedule. So, for the first time since we lived in Texas (over a year ago for anyone keeping track), Michael and I actually have REAL weekends together!!! YAY!! What a blessing.
In celebration of our new-found multiple days off together, we decided to hike the Mount of the Holy Cross this past weekend.
Mt. of the Holy Cross is named for the cross shaped couloir on the north eastern slope. The summit is 14005 feet and the 11.5 mile trail gains over 5,500 feet of elevation. The most challenging part of the climb is that from the trail head you must hike to about 11700 ft and summit the Half Moon Pass then descend into a valley before regaining the lost elevation and ascending the summit. In light of these challenges, we chose to hike in on Saturday afternoon, spend the night in the valley and then attempt to summit on Sunday... all with Pepper in tow.
Obviously we got pretty used to backpacking during our three month adventure at NOLS, so we weren't too worried about making it through the night; however, until this weekend we had not gone backpacking with Pepper. Initially we had planned for her to sleep in her own little "pup" tent (not that she was very excited about it) but once we got to our campsite we realized that segregation was not going to be possible. We had checked the weather beforehand, which called for .05 inches of rain, but around 6:30, once we got settled and had eaten dinner, it began to rain- and didn't stop until 5:30 am!!! The good news: Pepper slept at our feet in the tent all night long with now whining or disruption.
But all of that changed about two weeks ago. Michael has taken on a few extra Army Reserve commitments over the coming months, so he decided to start working part time for Copper. The best part is that his awesome boss, Cara, agreed to let him work Wednesday-Friday which correlates perfectly with my schedule. So, for the first time since we lived in Texas (over a year ago for anyone keeping track), Michael and I actually have REAL weekends together!!! YAY!! What a blessing.
In celebration of our new-found multiple days off together, we decided to hike the Mount of the Holy Cross this past weekend.
Mt. of the Holy Cross is named for the cross shaped couloir on the north eastern slope. The summit is 14005 feet and the 11.5 mile trail gains over 5,500 feet of elevation. The most challenging part of the climb is that from the trail head you must hike to about 11700 ft and summit the Half Moon Pass then descend into a valley before regaining the lost elevation and ascending the summit. In light of these challenges, we chose to hike in on Saturday afternoon, spend the night in the valley and then attempt to summit on Sunday... all with Pepper in tow.
Obviously we got pretty used to backpacking during our three month adventure at NOLS, so we weren't too worried about making it through the night; however, until this weekend we had not gone backpacking with Pepper. Initially we had planned for her to sleep in her own little "pup" tent (not that she was very excited about it) but once we got to our campsite we realized that segregation was not going to be possible. We had checked the weather beforehand, which called for .05 inches of rain, but around 6:30, once we got settled and had eaten dinner, it began to rain- and didn't stop until 5:30 am!!! The good news: Pepper slept at our feet in the tent all night long with now whining or disruption.
We were truly amazed!! What a great pup!
Sunday morning we woke up early, made breakfast (yay for oatmeal and Vanilla Chai), and hit the trail. We were surrounded by a heavy fog initially, but we had high hopes for an opportunity to summit.
Our first glimpse of sunlight
Rising above the clouds
Cresting the false summit (and running into mean, nasty clouds)
Unfortunately, just as we came over the false summit and began to approach the saddle of Mt. of the Holy Cross, a huge thunderhead rolled in and we (along with most of the nice people we had met on the trail) decided to hightail it down the boulder field and back to safety. We made it back to camp just ahead of the rain shower and waited it out before packing up and heading back to the Jeep.
Although we were disappointed, on the bright side, this was our first 14er attempt that ended without a summit (that's 10 attempts for Mike and 6 for me). The overall experience, though, was super fun!! We spent a bunch of time reminiscing about how much we love our friends from NOLS, all that we learned, and how sad we are that we can't relive the experience again and again. I guess we'll just have to keep on camping!
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1 comments:
Jacksmom said...
Awesome photos! I'm so proud of Pepper! I'm glad you and Michael got to spend some time sleeping in the dirt together. You know how I ADORE things like camping and what is it? Hiking? Yeah. That. But hey...whatever makes ya happy! Miss you like crazy!
Helen