Colorado

Taking advantage of the Memorial Day weekend, Garrett and I drove west with dreams of 14,000′ mountain peaks in our heads.   We arrived at the trailhead to Crestone Needle around noon on Friday and started the 8 mile hike to its base.  About 6 miles in, we found 8′ snow drifts – something we didn’t prepare for.  It was so easy for 80 degree days in Kansas City to completely remove snow from our trip planning efforts.  Needless to say, we didn’t get to climb the mountain!  On the way down we set up camp and spent the evening with a fire spinning hippie, a Delta Force Army soldier with a rifle and large axe, and his nice wife.  Saturday included a visit to the Royal Gorge and Sunday was spent rock climbing at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs before driving back Sunday night.  As the small town newspapers say, “A good time was had by all.”  We also learned to climb 14,000′ mountains in sunny August!