Monday, January 19, 2009

Martin Luther King Day Outing

Grace decided we should go and do some outdoor activities. On holidays we usually just sleep in really late and when we finally decide to leave the house it is already getting dark. Today was different. We did some research the night before and scouted out a hike that we could handle. There are choke hikes in Boulder so finding a trailhead is not very difficult. The problem for us is that we NEVER hike, so we needed one for novices. Another problem with living in Boulder is that there really are no novices in the town except for me and Grace. Everybody is in the midst of training for something--whether it be a marathon, a triathlon, or some other type of unreasonable physical activity.
There is some public land in Boulder called Chatauqua Park where we decided on The Enchanted Mesa trail that eventually leads above NCAR, or the National Center for Atmospheric Research, one of Boulder's many claims to fame. We figured we could at least look the part of true Boulderites by outfitting Sloane in the latest contraption designed for families on-the-go (a demographic that we hope to be a part of someday): the Kelty Carrier. Our friend hooked us up with this device and it is pretty fun. We felt like with fit right in with all of the other hikers.
We got an early start. It looks like both Lance and Sloane are overjoyed to be out here.
Grace even got decked out in her exercise clothes. It has been a while since we've seen these.
We are missing the canopy that would normally cover Sloane's head, so we had to improvise.

It's rough being carried everywhere you go.

But Sloane put on a brave face and got back in the saddle. This hike was actually pretty treacherous at times. There was still quite a bit of snow on the ground and it has been compacted into solid ice sheets that are super slippery. Neither of us fell, but it was kind of sketchy.

This was the kind of view that novices like us deserve. After hiking for about 30 minutes we were pretty spent.
The view was decent enough--you can make out the foggy abyss of the great plains off in the distance. This type of hike triggers Lance's agoraphobia and makes us both long for the comforts of flanking mountain ranges on either side, or at least on one side and the isulating ocean on the other.
The road home is paved with blisters
Sloane enjoying a well-earned meal of peaches in the park.

7 comments:

Rian Krommenhoek said...

Sloan is so adorable! It is tough being carried around every where you go, but at least she looks great doing it. Sid is also jealous of Lance's beard... maybe next year.

Linsey said...

Sounds like a nice introduction to the wilds of Colorado. Those backpacks are awesome...we love ours!

K. Crisler said...

Did lance grow out the beard just for the hike so he had the total mountain man look?

Lane said...

I can't ever post on this blog!

Lane said...

yay - it worked! I love the new look of the blog and love you guys too!

Anonymous said...

Nice outdoor pictures. Looks Lance is the one the most "working-out" during the activity. haha
Happy Chinese New year to Lance, Grace and Sloane. ^^

Anonymous said...

Sloane's black eyes are so beautiful~!

By the way, Tate Modern, V&A Museum, Hyde Park, Covent Garden,Oxford circus, Bond street(名品街), Norton hill... 其實倫敦我不會特別覺得哪裡好玩~ 因為到哪裡都有他特別的地方~ 著名的景點像是大笨鐘 大英博物館~ 也都一定要去看看啊!倫敦到處充滿驚奇~ 我還去參觀過佛洛依德的故居~ 也經過大偵探福爾摩斯的住所~ 如果可以到蘇格蘭玩~ 那又是另一種體驗~ 可以去參觀古堡~ 沒甚麼人的小鎮住B&B, 其實我在英國沒有待很久~ 大概可以給你的資料就是這樣~ 我想妳買一本英國旅遊指南~ 想去那裏就去那裏~ 我相信都不會讓妳失望喔!! (可能是我太懷念倫敦了 所以覺得哪裡都好)have a nice trip!