Lake Isabelle and Isabelle Galcier

Went up to Isabelle Glacier on Saturday, passing Lake Isabelle on the way. Round trip to the base of the glacier and back is right about nine miles. We spent a bit of time practicing self-arrests, getting used to our new crampons(!!) and getting an overall feel for snow climbing. If we practice now we will have a whole world opened to us in the winter when many peaks transition from a regular hike to a snow climb.

The view from the lake was absolutely gorgeous. The mountains surrounding Isabelle Lake are 12-13 thousand feet and add lots of beauty to the scenery. Most people hike to the lake and back down- a quick 4 miles and very little elevation gain. We got to the trailhead at 8:00 and every parking spot was taken. Though we would run into a crowd on the trail, but we only ran into a handful of people approaching the glacier when we were coming down.

We saw another marmot- and they are absolutely adorable. They have the face of teddy bears...Sean is getting ancy to see some 'real' wildlife. Like a bear or an elk. Still fun to see the little high elevation creatures in their element.

On Sunday my agency had a picnic for all of our local families. This year we have brought home a many toddlers and older children and it is important for them to get to see each other and socialize with someone who they knew in Ethiopia. It is also a lot of fun for the parents to get to know one another and create networks to help through the ups and downs of bringing a new child into their family.

I have been looking forward to this picnic all year. Sometime families stop into the office when they get back from Ethiopia, but only a few of them and usually only once or twice. As coordinators we feel like we get to know the children through the pictures and accounts we receive from traveling families, so it is hard never having a chance to meet them or seem them in person. The picnic gives us at least that opportunity. Below are pictures of some of the children that my clients have brought home

Another Week, Another Peak

Hiking and backpacking in Rocky Mountain National Park requires a lot of planning that is not required when camping in other places around CO. RMNP requires permits for any backcountry camping- which means you have to know exactly where you want to camp before you go. Not only that, but the spots fill very quickly so you literally need to know where you are headed weeks in advance. We learned that the hard way trying to secure a permit for a particular area of the park and being laughed at over the phone. We ammended our plans a bit to go to a different area in the northern (less popular) part of the park only to find out at the last minute that - while there were sites available- all backcountry campers are required to have a bear cannister in order to receive a permit.

A bear cannister!??! We have had no problems with bears by simply hanging our bear bags high in a tree where bears cannot get to them. Unfortunately, since some campers don't get their bags high enugh in the trees, etc. RMNP and other national parks are requiring actual bear cannisters. They apparently hide odors and are indestructible by bears. They are also a minimum of 60.00! So this, plus the 20.00 backcountry permit fee plus the 20.00 park entry fee would put us at 100.00 to do something we do every weekend for free...

(this is a bear cannister...it is also CLEARLY not worth $60)

I am not saying national parks should not have a fee- the money goes to protecting the land and paying the rangers and workers who keep the parks looking beautiful. But the double permit/entry fee AND the bear cannister just pushed the whole thing over the edge. So late Saturday morning, after reailzing we weren't going to follow through with the plans we had, we shifted gears and headed back to the ten-mile mosquito range we had visited last week.

Our destination was Crystal Peak. The trailhead was about 5 miles north of last weeks trailhead. It was a stunning, solitary hike from the trailhead to just past Lower Crstal Lake at 12,000ft where we set up a tent for the evening. We summited on Sunday by 9:15 and made our way back down.
View from camp

See our tent behind me? Here I'm sitting 'in the kitchen'. Can't you tell?

View from the tent nearing sunset

Dawn

Adorable pika yelling at us to leave him alone

Final stretch of scree to the summit - that blue speck at the top is me!

Summit!

Crystal is 13,852 ft and the 82nd highest mountain in Colorado.

We have had an amazing few days! Not only was it Sean’s 28th (!!!) birthday, not only did we get to spend another beautiful weekend in the mountains, but PHIL DIXON IS IN DENVER.

Phil was with Sean during his very short foray into mountain biking that many of you know led to a broken neck, a halo brace and a great girlfriend. Phil helped Sean get to the hospital and spent a long few hours in the waiting room before the doctors told him anything about Sean’s condition. So, while they roomed together in mice-infested Geneva Hall during their sophomore year and lived in the same house for their junior and senior years, it is an understatement to refer to Phil as ‘Sean’s college roommate’ but ‘the guy who saved Sean’s life’ does seem a little dramatic.

Friday was Sean’s birthday and we met a crew at the Irish Snug, a great Irish bar close to our apartment. It was a great night with lots of love for the birthday boy!





On Saturday we had an unusually late start (blame the Irish Snug/birthday celebration after effects) but we still got in a full weekend at the mountains. We drove up with Phil and Chad to the Quandry Peak trailhead in the Ten Mile-Mosquito Range where we met up with Phil’s cousin, Nate, and his girlfriend, Casey.

Casey and Nate just climbed Mt. Rainier a few weeks ago. I climbed it about 8 years ago, but I was with an incredible Rainier Guide and rope team leader. They did the ascent without a guide… so they are definitely seasoned climbers. We all car camped(!) which should not be confused with camping near running water, port-o-pottys or any comparable luxury. We did, however, seriously enjoy having our cars and all of the heavy food/equipment that just doesn’t fit in a pack for a backpacking excursion. Like meats! And cheeses! And beer! Another big perk of car camping is that campfires are totally acceptable.



We woke up at 5:00 am Sunday morning to attempt Atlantic Peak (13,841) The hike was (as usual) stunning! It was all quintessential Colorado with meadows of wildflowers, alpine lakes and multiple peaks over 13,000 feet. It was a sunny and between 75 and 80 degrees, so pretty ideal hiking conditions.








We followed the McCullough Gulch trailhead for 2.6 miles and hit a scree/talus field about half of a mile from the summit. It was painful and tricky hopping from rock to rock- but we had no choice! After a serious effort to make it to the top we had to turn around just a few vertical feet shy of our goal. We tried to avoid the snowfield standing between us and the summit, but it was not possible. Had we brought all of our equipment with us (or had we known the conditions before we started the hike) we would have easily been able to make that last little bit. As it was, however, the loose rock and wet snow made Atlantic an impossible climb for a group of six.







We headed down around 11:00 and got stuck in classic Denver reverse traffic- it took us 3 hours to drive what would normally take 75 minutes because it was Sunday and all of us Denver folk were heading east from the mountains. Really, there is rarely traffic during the work week…but there is always traffic on 70 east.