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Tag Archives: hiking

The Golden (um, actually RED) Arches

02 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by anotherbigbite in On the Road Again, Out of Doors, The "Joy" of Parenting

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Tags

Arches National Park, double arch, hiking, moab, outdoors, road trip, Travel, traveling with kids, utah

After leaving Zion National Park, resting up at a hotel in Richfield, Utah and getting back on the road, we beelined it for Arches National Park.

Between Richfield and Arches, we wound through a stretch of I-70 that looked pretty nondescript on the map.  It was actually pretty neat; though we drove through it on the way to Disneyland, most of it was after dark.  We managed to stop at the Black Dragon Canyon Overlook while we headed west; it was dusk and Nathan was aching to see what Eagle Canyon and Ghost Rock looked like during the day.

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On the trip back east, Nathan broke out his GoPro and we snapped away.  In various stages of undress.  Hey; the kids had a complete outfit between them.  And we were literally in the middle of nowhere, so neither Nathan or I much cared.

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Had I been a person with lesser morals; I would have stolen as much flagstone that I could fit in the car.  There was tons of it; everywhere, and it was begging me  to vacation in Colorado Springs.

Once we had filled our bellies with Wendy’s in Moab, we drove through the front gate of Arches.  It is immediately amazing; we wound up the switchbacks until we were happily nestled in its red sandstone towers.  Nathan and I were drooling; oohing and ahhing at everything around us.  The kids didn’t even want to get out of the car.

Whose children are these?  They sure aren’t ours.

Finally, we managed to get Finny out to snap a few pics.

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We headed deeper into the park to check out The Windows and Double Arch.  There were scads of people hiking The Windows Trail and only a few on their way to Double Arch.  Double Arch it was.

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The kids climbed and scrambled up the formations until I couldn’t take it any longer…  And as more people arrived behind us, my stress levels skyrocketed as I imagined them falling, too.

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I never had a fear of heights; but the last few years I’ve suddenly become a nervous wreck anytime I see someone, anyone, getting too close to the edge of their possible demise.

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We gathered the brood as my heart started to pound from the seemingly parentless children dangling their legs over the back of Double Arch (which Nathan made sure to let me know was a sheer plummet to more rocks below).

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The trail back was short, though I made sure the kids and I were downing plenty of water.  I was not going to be waving at any vinyl decals of dogs like I had a Zion.

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We stopped at the visitor center on our way out…  Where Alice fell deeply, madly in love.

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“But I WANT him, I want him, I want him, please, please, please!!”  She has all the making of Veruca Salt, that one.

“Alice, let go of the goat.  We’re leaving.”

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Finn was a little more partial to the bronze crows.

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And that was the end of our journey.  We piled back into the truck and spent the last seven hours of our trip home a little bummed out that it was all over.  All the castles, canyons, waterfalls, arches, mountains, princesses, pixie dust, mice and bronze goats were on the road behind us as we made our way back to reality.

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The Zion King

30 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by anotherbigbite in On the Road Again, Out of Doors, The "Joy" of Parenting

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emerald pools trail, family, hiking, outdoors, Travel, traveling with kids, utah, zion national park, zion national park lodge

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Ahhh…. Hiking and climbing in the hot sun.  The perfect nightcap to three days in Disneyland.  …Right?

We climbed back into the car for the first time in four days right after walking out of the gate at Disneyland.  We planned on getting as far as we could before Nathan and I pooped out.  We made it out of California (a relief after battling CA drivers and their cars on the way to LA), past Las Vegas (but not after my most uncomfortable moment as a parent while shamefully dragging my kids through a casino as quickly as humanly possible) and into Utah.  For as much as Disneyland was for the kids (read: me), the trip back was for Nathan.

Which is as much as a consolation prize as that sounds.

Never in our lives have we lived in a place that is in such close proximity to so many National Parks; and good ones at that.   We have more than a handful of them on our list, and this trip was slated to check off two; Zion National Park being one of them.  You probably have seen pictures of it before; its famed Narrows are amazingly breathtaking and out-of-this-world gorgeous.  Or so I’ve heard.

We have every intention of hiking The Narrows once the kids get a bit bigger; and Angels Landing is on Nathan’s docket.  But for now, when the kids are small, we tend to stick to the easier and less dangerous trails.  This trip marked a milestone; where I had the realization that Finn really needs to be walking the whole time.  We have a backpack that he’s been viewing much of our hiking trips from.  I know he is perfectly able-bodied to walk, but our reasons for using it this far into his young life are pretty selfish.

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Sure, it is nice to teach your kid to behave and listen on the trail.  But it is NICER to be able to strap him in and enjoy it for yourself.  He’s too big for it; I know.  And I’m hell-bent on him not riding in it any longer.  Go ahead and judge.  There are some things I just don’t care if people think I’m parenting incorrectly… And the backpack is one of those things.  But the time has come.  Now it is just about getting Nathan on board as well…

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We hiked the Emerald Pools trail up to the middle pools.  It was pretty well-traveled (which was a bit of a bummer), but once we settled in for a snack next to one of the pools, it was all forgotten.  Most folks turned back at the lower pools and we had relative peace and quiet while we noshed on Pop Tarts.

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After we got into areas where Nathan could contain his overprotective side, we were nearly back to the Zion National Park Lodge.

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We checked out the tadpoles in the stream… (While balancing on one leg)

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Just in front of the Lodge, an enormous tree shades an even bigger lawn.  All of us were starving and we headed inside to have our first sit-down meal of our entire trip.  Naturally, we smelled (and ate) like livestock.  But everyone was happy.

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Alice had a hard time containing her excitement; it was the first time where both kids had room to run and play without either of their parents trying to keep them from getting lost in a crowd or plummeting to their deaths.  All four of us were pretty happy, come to think about it.

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After having absolutely nothing to do but run and scream for nearly an hour, we packed up the kids and headed back to the visitors center.  After getting a couple of little souvenirs, we headed back to the car.  The moment I realized I probably should have drunk more water was when I caught myself waving to a dog in an RV…  Which I immediately realized was only a sticker of a dog.  One of my prouder moments.

After driving through to the other end of the park, we wisely decided to crash at a hotel for the night.  One with hot showers, soft beds and an endless supply of drinking water.

Next stop…  Arches National Park.

 

 

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I totally get John Denver right about now.

03 Friday May 2013

Posted by anotherbigbite in On the Road Again, Out of Doors, The "Joy" of Parenting

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camping, colorado, estes park, fern lake, hiking, parenting, rocky mountain national park, rocky mountains, Travel, traveling with kids

 

 

Yes, we went out-of-town two weeks ago.  And yes, we did it again last weekend.  We are gypsies.  Gypsies, I tell you.

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Finally we had a weekend where the weather in Estes Park was going to be nice.  We jumped at the chance; only to realize that as nice and sunny it was going to be, it still isn’t tourist season.  You’d think that would be a good thing.  And it is.  Only problem is that half the campsites at Rocky Mountain National Park aren’t even open yet, and the ones that are have zero running water.

Not that we let that daunt us.  When we went to the sand dunes two weeks ago I (unintentionally) went two days without brushing my teeth.  Surely I could handle peeing in the wilderness.

For being ahead of tourist season, the place was crawling with people.  Don’t get me wrong, it is beautiful, but if it gets busier than THIS, I’m not going to be back until the fall.

I’m happy to report that our journey out there (by night, the same as last weekend) was delightfully uneventful.  When we woke on Saturday morning, it was beautiful as we expected, but both Nae and I were in serious need of caffination.  We ventured out into Estes Park proper and hit up Coffee on the Rocks for breakfast – oh, yes.  All four of us left happy campers; Nae and I got the buzz we needed, Finn got the bacon he has been so desperately craving since we went veggie/vegan.  Alice had a very hard time concentrating on her breakfast; we were seated next to a duck pond stocked with water fowl…

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After we ate, the kids had a ball feeding corn to the ducks and geese.  I, however, could have done without the damned Canada goose biting my finger.  I have a deep-seated hatred for these animals – I was attacked by one when I was a little older than Alice, and I think it may be my first memory ever.  Those ugly winged bastards.

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We headed up the Fern Lake trail to get a good hike in.  It has been forever since I broke out my hiking boots.  So long, in fact, that I had completely forgotten to take the proper precautions…  Lo and behold, I got a blister on my heel, therefore cutting our hike down by half.  Alice fell asleep and Finn was stumbling away before we even hit the trail head.  This was NOT what I had pictured when we set out, but I ended up carrying him the entire first leg anyway.

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When I was about seven, my dad stayed up with me all night while I had the flu.  (I think it may have had something to do with guilt; he made me take this medicine that I am pretty sure was Barbasol and it made me puke even more.)  He told me about him and my mom in high school – how she refused to take her coat off at a concert once and he dubbed her Susie Snowflake; a name she despised.  The furry mice on my bed whose Velcro-laden arms perpetually embraced each other; she gave them to him senior year.  And one time the two of them went hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park…  It was warm enough to wear shorts, but there was snow on the ground.

I grew up in Chicago, yo.  There is no such thing as wearing shorts in the snow.  I was in utter disbelief.  The image of my parents tramping through snow in summer garb was so fascinating that it stuck with me.  I thought of it when Nathan, my dad and I went backpacking in the Cascades many years ago.  And I thought about it again on the Fern Lake trail.

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We settled in for lunch overlooking “The Pool.”  We ate peanut butter, strawberries, sugar snap peas and an cartload of Goldfish crackers.  Filling?  For the kids, yes.  For us?  Not so much.  We were nothing but pack mules to them.

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1 RMNP 7Tummies grumbling, Nathan and I switched kids, hiked back to the car, drove to the campground, put the littlins back down to sleep and noshed on bratwurst (again).  Deeeelicious.

We headed back into town after the kids woke up to pick up marshmallows.  We stopped at the Stanley Hotel for a moment – you might know it as The Overlook Hotel from The Shining (one of the two used in the movie).  Maybe back in the 80’s things were different…  It was more than slightly comical that the fabled hotel, known for its isolation, is smack-dab in the middle of town – a stone’s throw away from a grocery store and a cluster of condominiums.  Ah, movie magic.

Crazy-ass Jack Nicholson or no, it was a little eerie.  Even with the view of the Safeway roof.

We did little on Sunday except for pack up.  Just before we were ready to leave, a group of deer decided to bid us farewell.  It was pretty cool, and again, Alice was completely beside herself.  She booked after the poor beasts, scaring the bejesus out of them; much to the dismay of a herd of picture-snapping onlookers.

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All in all, it was a peaceful weekend.  Another success with the House with Wheels…  But I think we’ll stay close to home this upcoming weekend.  I think we could all use a bit of a holiday from vacation.

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We an inclination…

18 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by anotherbigbite in Out of Doors, The "Joy" of Parenting

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

alice, colorado, colorado springs, finn, hiking, Manitou Incline, outdoors, The Incline

…to hike up The Incline.  Specifically, The Manitou Incline.

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Actually, Nathan and a few friends from work had the inclination; the kids and I were just along for the ride.  If I had known what I was agreeing to when Nathan asked if I wanted to “hike The Incline” I most likely would have bailed out.  The trail used to be a cog railroad track; after the tracks were wiped out in a rock slide, the rails were removed and fitness nuts started hiking up it FOR FUN.  Naturally.

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“Hiking The Incline” sounded pretty lame-o; sure I was game!  As we got closer, I started to worry…  Fifteen minutes before you get to the parking lot, you can see it cut straight up the mountain.  This short, mile-long trail is hella steep.  It climbs over 2,000 feet in elevation, which doesn’t mean much if you aren’t into this kind of thing (Mom).  Allow me to put it into perspective: you know those signs on mountain roads that warn truckers of steep grades?  Like this?

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The highest I’ve ever seen is 7% grade, and with a hill that steep, there is no gas; only brake, and you FLY down those hills.  Going up – even in our peppy little car, the best you can do is down shift and get in the right lane.

The Incline is a 68% grade in places.  Uphill.

Nathan and I did it with the kids on our backs.

At first, we meandered up the base at Finn’s pace, with Alice riding on Nae’s back.  I am not anywhere in the shape I used to be in, but we were still passing folks left and right.  Focusing on Finn’s safety kept me from psyching myself out and after a good long stretch, I had the ridiculous, fleeting notion that maybe it just looked bad from the base, and now that we are right here in the middle of it, it wasn’t so bad.  Which, of course, is right when it really starts to climb.  Life is a bitch that way; just when you get in the thick of something and start to hit your stride, that bastard of a hill reaches for the sky for no other reason than to make you question your sanity for ever wanting to do something as menial as walk up a big hill.

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Finny was such a mini trooper…  He made it halfway up before we forced him into the backpack.  Nathan switched Alice out into my back and Finn rode in the super kid-carrier.  At the halfway mark, (still passing people), a pattern started to emerge…  Folks would comment on how crazy we were bring the kids, how we “better be safe with those little bundles of joy on our backs,” that we were “animals.”  Don’t get me wrong, it was tough, but really?  We weren’t the only ones doing it with kids.  Maybe it’s all those vegetables we are eating.

There's me and Alice!

There’s me and Alice!

All of a sudden I looked up, and whoa… I was a lot closer to the top than I thought.  Like, holy crap, I thought I was getting along at a snail’s pace, literally scrambling up the ties on all fours (I ain’t got any shame).  Turns out I was only two thirds of the way up.  There is a false summit; once you crest what you think is the top, there are only eight million more steps to climb.  Yes, you have been hiking for over an hour, but you turn around and realize that you can STILL SEE THE EFFING CAR.  Alice and I copped a squat, I unhitched her and we waitied a few minutes for Nathan to catch up.  It was hysterical – Nathan was doing what he does best (kicking ass) all the while huffing and puffing and Finn just lazily munches his way through a Granny Smith, all smiley and content while his ass was being carted up the hill like a sack o’taters.

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The good news is this: once we got past the false summit, the tracks were nice and straight.  Even though it was the steepest leg, every step was level.  We stopped a few more times, and Bob’s your uncle – we were at the top.  It only took us an hour and a half.  Only.  Because we were almost the last ones of the group to get to the top, we had a nice little pep squad to welcome us.  High fives all around.

Yeah, walkin’ up a hill, no big deal.  Like a boss.

The pole marks the unoffcial tippy top.

The pole marks the unoffcial tippy top.

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The very best part was hiking the Barr Trail down.  It was georgous, if not a little bit of an ego check.  There we were, all high up on ourselves for making it to the top, and on the way down, there were people RUNNING past us.  I had a hard time not falling on my ass in a few places (I, in fact, did), and though it felt like I was hauling, low and behold, some dude with his running shorts half falling off would come zipping along past us.  Not that I didn’t enjoy his expanse of tan-line.  Cue Nathan’s epic eye roll, by the way.

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After gorging ourselves silly at one of the local Mexican restaurants in Manitou Springs (veggie fajitas and I was so proud that I didn’t even touch the sour cream), we headed home with two very sleepy kiddos and hit the showers.  When we were laying in bed that night, Nae was Googling the heck out of The Incline.  We were completely unaware that hiking The Incline is actually, like, a thing.  The fastest anyone has ever climbed it is somewhere around sixteen minutes, which totally puts us to shame, but lots of non-fitness-y folks climb it in two hours.  Olympic hopefuls use it to train for god’s sake, and here we are; stopping halfway to nosh on peanut butter sandwiches.

I laughed my ass off at one of the guys who hiked it with us.  His Facebook post touted that he murdered The Incline with twenty weights worth of weights in his backpack like the BAMF (Bad Ass Mother Fucker) that he is.  How is this hilarious?  He bitched the entire way and swore he was never doing it again five or six times.  Proving once again that you should never take what anyone posts on their FB Timeline too seriously.  (Yes, he got to the top, just like I did, but…  Let the record show that Alice weighs twenty FIVE pounds.  Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.)

Moral of the story is this; I’m glad I didn’t have the opportunity to talk myself out of it. Whether it be eating vegan or climbing a mountain, I’m starting to realize that the biggest obstacle between me and something big is… Well, me.

I’m almost as proud of myself as I am of Finny.  Knowing that he walked (half of) the same path as world-class athletes is pretty cool.  And he did it without a single complaint.  What a BAMF.

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The Great American Staycation

21 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by anotherbigbite in My Two Cents, The "Joy" of Parenting

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

colorado springs, family outing, finn, Garden of the Gods, hiking, nature, outdoors

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When we first moved to Colorado Springs, it was under the guise that it was “the most amazing place, like, ever!”  I would tell people where we were moving, and instead of the reaction that I got when I broke the news that we were moving to Ohio (“Oh.  That’s uh, great, I guess……  WKRP in Cincinnati!!”), everyone would gush about how awesome it was.  I signed on the dotted line, site unseen.  Literally.

“There isn’t ever a cloud in the sky.  I’m wearing shorts right now.  Shit, Lisa, you are gonna LOVE it here,” Nathan would assure me as I was buried under two feet of snow in Iowa.

When the wagon train rolled into town, however, there were no mountains to be seen.  It was eight degrees out.  Everything was dead.  And Panda Express was my first meal in The Springs.  Not whatcha call a stellar first impression.

“I thought you could see Pikes Peak from everywhere…”  I mused to Nathan.

“You can.  It is right… There.”  He would point off into a white, mountainless abyss. I have crappy eyesight, but he was pointing to NOTHING.  “Behind all those clouds.”  Oh.  The non-native clouds I brought here from Iowa.

The first week we were here, we were slumming it in temporary housing – a hotel room with a kitchen table – and it was fah. reeze. ing.  Yes, you could see Pikes Peak from everywhere, but you better not look at it; take your eyes off your path in front of you and you’re bound to slip and fall on your ass.

Fast forward a few days, and we were practically on vacation.  Every weekend.  It was sixty-five degrees…  Sunny…  My neighbors were sunbathing.  In January.

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Verdict?  Ohmygod.  I LUUURVE it here.

Yes.  I am sporting an unfortunate combination of socks, sandals and unflattering skinny jeans.  Stay-at-home Mom POWER!!

Yes. I am sporting an unfortunate combination of wool socks, sandals and unflattering skinny jeans. Stay-at-home Mom to the RESCUE!!

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We were hella high up...  I may look calm and collected, but I have an effing death grip on those two kids.

We were hella high up… I may look calm and collected, but I have an effing death grip on those two kids.

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Finn does, too.  We have spent many an afternoon at Garden of the Gods.  Finny loves to “go piking,” he’s got his own little Camelbak that he totes around action figures, a Hot Wheel and water.  I live fifteen minutes from all this?  I have stopped dead in my tracks half a dozen times and exclaimed to Nathan; “Can you believe we LIVE here?!”

If you ever have the opportunity to live here, its, like, the most amazing place ever!  For real.

 

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