In the mountains

My cousin Ben and his friend came up to Colorado for the long weekend, and we went camping in Estes Park, CO. We had a great time, and I managed to eat pretty well!

Of course, camping food isn't the most healthy, but I did a pretty good job of making good choices. And I learned something about my system post-surgery...I shouldn't eat hotdogs. I ate ONE hotdog, with dog, bun, and mustard, and I paid for it for two days. I couldn't convince them to get turkey hotdogs, so I'll have to try those sometime because I LOVE HOTDOGS!

Anyway, the highlight of our time in Estes Park was hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. We saw a trail to the top of Flattop Mtn that was only 4.4 miles, and figured it would be a good walk, not too far, not too hard. WE WERE WRONG! The beginning of the trail was deceitful, and by the time it got really hard we had already come too far to turn back (I think stubborness runs in the family), so we just kept trucking. I can't tell you how many people coming back down looked at us and said, "Man, you've got a long way to go," but we just kept going. And going. And going.

It took us 7 hours to get up and back down the mountain, and we climbed about 2,800 feet in elevation on the way up. We were exhausted and nearly dehydrated by the time we got back to the car because we figured 4 bottles of water and three large bottles of gatorade would be enough hydration. We were wrong again. We also figured we'd be so enthralled by seeing the view from the summit that we would be energized for our trip back down the 4.4 miles to the base. We were wrong again. We were so tired and grumpy and wet by the time we got back to the campsite that we just packed up and went back to my house where we could get a comfortable, WARM nights sleep!

But, it was a beautiful view, and we are proud of our effort! I have no idea what my intake was these past few days, but I'm going to give myself a pat on the back for only having one s'more the whole time :)

The pictures:

1. Our lunch site- about 1/4 the way up.
2. At the lunchsite.
3. Emerald Lake lookout, about a mile or less from the top.
4. We made it!
5. View from the top
6. See how happy we were on the way down?