Our daughter loves being outdoors. And today turned out to be a perfect day to get her out for her first real hike. We had originally planned to meet up with a group and do a hike up Guanella Pass but after we arrived in Georgetown, we found out the pass was closed due to a rock slide. We all decided to head back toward the city and do a hike just outside of Evergreen. Just a short walk in the woods, really.
A couple miles up and a couple down. The final stretch of the hike is above tree line and it looks very exposed. Luckily, our weather held out and was gorgeous with only a few drops of rain as we approached the cars. The last bit of the climb is a scramble up a large pile of rocks to the summit. The view was tremendous.
Emi did a fantastic job. She rode in a pack on Hope's back while I carried all the supplies in my pack. Gibson did just as he should and we are still amazed at his trail manners. Well, I'm even more amazed now but more on that in a bit. On the hike down, Emi fell asleep and was zonked nearly from the summit to the cars. Not a bit of fussing! She enjoyed her outdoor meal, her conveyance and didn't even seem to be bothered by the flying ants that descended upon us at the summit.
The group we hiked with was fantastic. There was a wide range of skill and age on our hike and everyone made it to the summit without any problems. One man we hiked with has more trail credibility than many in this world. He has summited Everest along with the other seven summits. He's an accomplished climber as well, at home on vertical faces of rock. He rides mountain bikes. He wrestled in high school.
Wait. Wrestling in high school?
Well, it needs to be mentioned that he is the only blind person who has ever summited Everest. And less than 100 people have ever completed the Seven Summits challenge...one of an elite handful that have stood on top of the tallest mountain on each of the seven continents. He's planning a mountain bike trip where he isn't the stoker on his tandem mountain bike.
Blind.
Months ago, Hope's school held a silent auction (they do this every year). She bid us into a hike with Erik Weihenmayer. Erik's daughter goes to Hope's school. I was excited to join in a hike with such an accomplished climber. Of course, I promptly forgot about our plans and was surprised when Hope reminded me to keep this very Sunday open for our hike with Erik.
Erik walks quite like the rest of us. When he is outdoors, he moves more naturally over varied terrain than many of us. On some of his training hikes, he would have his daughter on his back in a Kelty pack...he is that smooth! We passed many hikers on the trail, some going up and some going down. Unless they recognized Erik, I don't think any of them realized that he couldn't see where he was stepping. While on the trail, his wife walked in front of him with a bell attached to her hiking stick. He followed right behind with two hiking poles. The only verbal communication I heard was when there was a low tree that he needed to duck under. Other than that, he found his own way. Even on the scramble to the summit, he, quite simply, followed her up the boulder field to the top.
So while I was in awe of our hiking companion, I was also so impressed with our little girl. Emiko is so comfortable when she is out of the house; it makes us both realize that we need to motivate ourselves to keep her outside and exploring this great state that is our backyard. Now that Emi has hiked with the best of them, she'll need to settle for walking with her Mom and Dad for a little while.
As for Gibson? Well, his trail manners are generally pretty good. But he has the ability to get underfoot sometimes. He stops to smell things and blocks the entire trail. Or he will lay down i n the shade and block the entire trail. Or he just stands there and looks at us wondering why we are forcing him to climb on such a hot day and blocks the trail. He won't move until we walk through him. While he blocks the trail.
This made me a bit apprehensive as we started the climb. Once again, our dog just seemed to know. I spent a good portion of the hike down walking with Erik, his wife and Gibson. We talked about politics, Colorado, education, college, mountain biking and many other things. Gibson meandered down the trail at our side. Sometimes by me. Sometimes by Erik. Never once did he get underfoot. And he never blocked the trail.
A couple miles up and a couple down. The final stretch of the hike is above tree line and it looks very exposed. Luckily, our weather held out and was gorgeous with only a few drops of rain as we approached the cars. The last bit of the climb is a scramble up a large pile of rocks to the summit. The view was tremendous.
Emi did a fantastic job. She rode in a pack on Hope's back while I carried all the supplies in my pack. Gibson did just as he should and we are still amazed at his trail manners. Well, I'm even more amazed now but more on that in a bit. On the hike down, Emi fell asleep and was zonked nearly from the summit to the cars. Not a bit of fussing! She enjoyed her outdoor meal, her conveyance and didn't even seem to be bothered by the flying ants that descended upon us at the summit.
The group we hiked with was fantastic. There was a wide range of skill and age on our hike and everyone made it to the summit without any problems. One man we hiked with has more trail credibility than many in this world. He has summited Everest along with the other seven summits. He's an accomplished climber as well, at home on vertical faces of rock. He rides mountain bikes. He wrestled in high school.
Wait. Wrestling in high school?
Well, it needs to be mentioned that he is the only blind person who has ever summited Everest. And less than 100 people have ever completed the Seven Summits challenge...one of an elite handful that have stood on top of the tallest mountain on each of the seven continents. He's planning a mountain bike trip where he isn't the stoker on his tandem mountain bike.
Blind.
Months ago, Hope's school held a silent auction (they do this every year). She bid us into a hike with Erik Weihenmayer. Erik's daughter goes to Hope's school. I was excited to join in a hike with such an accomplished climber. Of course, I promptly forgot about our plans and was surprised when Hope reminded me to keep this very Sunday open for our hike with Erik.
Erik walks quite like the rest of us. When he is outdoors, he moves more naturally over varied terrain than many of us. On some of his training hikes, he would have his daughter on his back in a Kelty pack...he is that smooth! We passed many hikers on the trail, some going up and some going down. Unless they recognized Erik, I don't think any of them realized that he couldn't see where he was stepping. While on the trail, his wife walked in front of him with a bell attached to her hiking stick. He followed right behind with two hiking poles. The only verbal communication I heard was when there was a low tree that he needed to duck under. Other than that, he found his own way. Even on the scramble to the summit, he, quite simply, followed her up the boulder field to the top.
So while I was in awe of our hiking companion, I was also so impressed with our little girl. Emiko is so comfortable when she is out of the house; it makes us both realize that we need to motivate ourselves to keep her outside and exploring this great state that is our backyard. Now that Emi has hiked with the best of them, she'll need to settle for walking with her Mom and Dad for a little while.
As for Gibson? Well, his trail manners are generally pretty good. But he has the ability to get underfoot sometimes. He stops to smell things and blocks the entire trail. Or he will lay down i n the shade and block the entire trail. Or he just stands there and looks at us wondering why we are forcing him to climb on such a hot day and blocks the trail. He won't move until we walk through him. While he blocks the trail.
This made me a bit apprehensive as we started the climb. Once again, our dog just seemed to know. I spent a good portion of the hike down walking with Erik, his wife and Gibson. We talked about politics, Colorado, education, college, mountain biking and many other things. Gibson meandered down the trail at our side. Sometimes by me. Sometimes by Erik. Never once did he get underfoot. And he never blocked the trail.
1 comment:
Wow - what a great tale!
Post a Comment