Home (Week 11)

LAST WEEK.

Wow. I remember my first day of work at day camp thinking how much summer was ahead of me - so much time to spend at day camp, spend getting ready for China. It's been a summer full of new experiences, challenging adventures, growing friendships, and unforgettable moments. I'm forever grateful I had the opportunity to live in the Rockies for a second summer and call this magical place home.

Also, I had like the best summer job. I'm so glad I decided to be a teen counselor - it's been a growing opportunity for me for sure because I'm used to working with K-6th graders more. The teens were sassy at times, but I also made really great friends with them and learned the best way to balance fun and camp rules.

Monday

My last week of camp I was placed with the Adventurers which was exciting because I had only been with them once before (and it means I get off early on Friday which is nice for packing and check out). We did the high ropes course in the morning and the teens finished really early, so we headed up to Reucsh porch to eat then play Nuke em at the volleyball courts. They tired of that pretty quickly too, so we played cards for awhile then went to minigolf.

After work I went to a Rockies game in Denver with Abby, Suzy, and Brady. I love going to baseball games - even though it wasn't the Rangers and I spent most of the game looking around, I love the atmosphere and all the action going on at a stadium. We sang to the players batting songs and danced trying to get on the jumbotron and just had a fun night hanging out; totally worth getting back at 12:30am.

Tuesday

Ziplining was in the morning, and once again my teens did that really fast. They're a really low key group that just likes hanging out and talking instead of playing games or doing activities for a long time. We had our cookout and then went mountain biking in the afternoon. I was dreading it at first, because I love biking but am by no means a pro. Our instructor Caleb was super cool though and took us on an awesome horse trail behind the stables and around to the zipline and the front of the YMCA. The hardest part was getting back up to Sweet Memorial from Outpost, that hill is the worsttttt.

After work I took the shuttle into town, hung out in Starbucks for a few hours, and went to the book shop again. I seriously love this little town and the people watching in it is the best.

Wednesday

On Wednesday the teens went climbing at Mary's Lake, an outdoor place 10 minutes from the YMCA. We finished that early and just hung out by the lake for an hour and a half - lakes in Colorado are SO cold! I wish they were warmer for swimming. The teens literally felt like doing nothing in the afternoon so we just grabbed cards and games and hung out on the hempel lawn for an hour.

That evening Suzy, Brady, Abby and I went to Sweet Basilica's in town for Italian food. I'm so sad it was my first time going there because it was so good! (The company was great too, it was sweet hanging with the EXO interns where I was last year)

Thursday

Thursdays are fun day - swimming and horseback riding. And for the first time all summer, ALL of my teens went horseback riding! Which meant I had a little free time in my afternoon :). I started packing after work (bleh), then met Abby, Kiely, and Cathrine in Rustic cafe for pizza and cards. The Republican debate started after that and we watched for a short time before playing volleyball with a group from Sweet and visitors. I MISSED VOLLEYBALL SO MUCH THIS SUMMER. I'm still so sad they never had a tournament and that people didn't come out and play much.

Abby and I left to go to Amanda's house for ice cream sundaes after that and I started getting all the feels. Just thinking about this summer and last summer, all the people I've met and the things I've done, and it was Abby's last night. We had a campfire at the staff ring after we ate sundaes, surrounded by smores and friends and beautiful stars. (Amanda, Elizabeth, Kiely, Cathrine, Valerie, Donovan, Kristina, Rachel, Brian, Abby, a few others and me). On the way back Abby and I jammed to House Party (on the radio right as we got back into the car - it was meant to be) and said our sad, tear filled goodbyes.

Friday

I was up at 5:40 for rafting with the teens - we met at 6am and left at 6:30am. My 3rd time rafting was awesome! Our guide was Caroline this time, and Emily and I were in the front of our boat and got soaked. I actually jumped in at the "swimming" place, where you just jump off a rock into the freezing water and let the river pull you downstream a short way.

After work I finished packing and cleaning for check out at 4:15pm, then I was able to get the 4:35 shuttle into town. I wanted one last evening with my little Estes Park before I had to leave in the morning. I got more gifts for my sisters, talked to Candace for an hour, and enjoyed walking around, watching people fall in love with the town the way I did last year. It was really bittersweet.

Saturday

I was scheduled for the 5am shuttle to the airport, so I was up at 3:50am to drop my bedding and room key off at the RA office and be ready for the shuttle at 4:30am. My flight isn't until 10:30, but I wanted to make sure I had enough time and wasn't rushed. I slept the whole way to the airport haha and now here I am, waiting for the plane that will take me to Texas, and on to the next adventure.

It's been an unforgettable summer. Definitely different than the first, but things never happen the same way twice you know (as the wise Aslan said). It's sad that I won't be back for awhile, because I won't be back from China until the end of June. So it's so long to the Rockies for now, but not goodbye for forever - I'll come back one day. Maybe to do Long's Peak again (LOL), maybe to work at the Y again, maybe just to visit.

We'll see. For now, Estes Park will hold another little piece of my heart and will be a place I call home.

Also, just an updated total hike count:

Eagle Cliff (3 miles) twice
Bible Point (2 miles)
Moraine Park (3 miles) four times
Moraine Park/Cub Lake trail (9 miles)
Nymph, Dream and Emerald (3.6 miles) twice
*Mills Lake (2.8 miles) three times
Gem Lake (7.6 miles)
Sprague Lake (6 miles) three times
*Fern Lake and Odessa Lake (9.5 miles)
Bierstadt Lake (3.5 miles) twice
*Black Lake and Blue Lake (11.5 miles)
Cub Lake (3 miles)
Twin Sisters (7.4 miles)
Sky Pond (9.5 miles)
Bluebird Lake (13 miles)
Chiquita (5 miles)
Long's Peak (15 miles)
= 151.1 miles hiked, not including all the other random hikes around camp, etc

On Top of the World (Week 10)

This is my second to last week, and I still can't believe it. It's slowly hitting me that my days in Estes Park are limited, and there's only so much more time left to do things. It's a different feeling than how I felt at the end of last summer - I'm definitely still so sad to be leaving this beautiful little mountain town, but I'm so excited to begin my final preparations for China when I go home.


Monday

I was with the Mountaineer group this week! Since it was my third time with this group, I've got their schedule, the kids, and the games they like memorized forwards and backwards. Eric and I had a pretty good mix of local and non-local kids (local kids can be a bit more of a challenge as they attend every week and desire new activities) so archery, cook out, and horseback riding went mostly smooth. We just had one kid <coop> not go horseback riding so we hung out with him in the craft shop and my family got to stop by and say hi to me!

After work I went with my family to Bear Lake and walked around the area. We went into town to Poppy's pizza for dinner then back to the YMCA for more Yahtzee and Cranium, where I learned Erin and I make a bad Cranium team against my parents haha.

Tuesday

I asked off for Tuesday to spend more time with my family and Erin and I got to go ziplining in the morning! We did an archery session as a family afterwards, which my mom and dad really got a kick out of. They left shortly after that to begin the long drive back to Texas, and I enjoyed the rest of my day of doing laundry, running, and going into town to get some things for my hike this weekend (keep reading for juicy hike details).

Wednesday

I rejoined the Mountaineers for high ropes and low ropes on Wednesday, and we ended up playing in the river for the whole afternoon (which was kind of nice tbh, most of the kids have already done the low ropes activities)

Thursday

Swimming, climbing wall, and museum with campers, going into town to get food at Safeway and a head lamp at the Warming Hut. This was Thursday.

Friday

An all day hike to Mills turned into a hilarious event when my middle schoolers started talking about their love lives:

"Three things I look for in a boyfriend: he has to be nice to be, he can't be a drug dealer, and he can't be ugly."

"When I get into highschool I'm going to wear a tuxedo and carry roses around and all the girls will want to date me. I will be the forbidden fruit."

"Ew high school boys. They're all in that gross, smelly stage but kinda cute I guess."

"I asked this girl out after lunch one day and the next day before lunch she broke up with me. We dated for 23 hours and 23 minutes."


That night I went to bed early (or I tried to) for my hike to LONG'S PEAK early Saturday morning.

Here's the deal on Long's Peak. It's the highest peak in Rocky Mountain National Park and the 9th or 10th hardest fourteener to climb in Colorado (out of 50+ fourteeners). 50% of those who attempt the hike don't make it to the summit, because bad weather rolls in or they just can't physically do it. It's 15 miles round trip, 5,000 feet elevation gain, and you have to start in the wee hours of the morning to make sure you get  below treeline for possible afternoon storms.

It was a daunting prospect. I considered doing it last summer but ended up going sky diving instead (no regrets there) and was on the fence this summer. I just heard so many stories - "it's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life" or "people have died on there what are you doing" (More than 50 actually have died doing Long's Peak) so I was nervous. I'm not a fast hiker either, and 13+ hours of hiking would definitely wear me out.

Finally, after much research and weather checking and supply getting, we decided to go for it. This was my Long's packing list: Rain jacket, long sleeve shirt, flannel shirt, sweatshirt, leggings (2 pairs), hiking boots, socks (and extra socks in case of ice or snow), head warmer, gloves, water (recommended 2-3 liters, I had 4ish I think), tylenol, chapstick, and plenty of food (energy blocks, granola bars, fruit, sandwich)

Saturday
 
Myself and eight others decided to attempt the infamous Long's on August 1 at 1:45am. We were nine companions hiking in the dark, and my gosh it was rough. (Yes, I was thinking of Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring the entire time)

1:45am start time at the Long's Peak trailhead

• I was a little worried I overpacked when we started the trail at 1:45am - it was so hot at first and we all stripped layers off like crazy (I was just in a long sleeve for this part). The trail winds you up through the woods, switchbacking around a river and gaining altitude. It was similar to the beginning of Twin Sisters.

2:20am Goblin's Forest sign

3:54am The Boulderfield/Chasm junction above treeline

• We stopped for about 20 minutes here to take a little break - there's a privy (bathroom here) and it's good to take advantage of those when you find them. This is when I also started to feel the higher altitude chill - it was significantly colder up there out of treeline and I put my sweatshirt on) 
• After this part, I was walking by myself for awhile and had the most beautiful little time with just me and God in the mountains watching the sky slowly change from black to blue to feint oranges. I played an ABC game with myself, going down the alphabet and thinking of things from this summer that I was incredibly thankful for and praising God for them. I really enjoy going at my own pace during hikes and find I enjoy them more when I'm not killing myself to get to the top.
  

5:02am The Boulderfield/Boulder Brook/Bear Lake junction sign

• The sun started rising more during after this junction sign. The path leads you around Mount Lady Washington and it's such sweet relief to finally make it around and finally see over the edge.

5:58am BOULDERFIELD

• I definitely see why people break this hike into two parts: up to Boulderfield, and past Boulderfield. Once I made it to Boulderfield I just wanted to lay down in one of the tents pitched and sleep for hours. It was about 5 miles up to Boulderfield, and quite a bit of elevation from the trailhead.

7:13am I reached the Keyhole

• I can't even tell you how much I hated scrambling up Boulderfield to the Keyhole. I started thinking though, each part of Long's isn't that awful, it's just that they're all added together testing your physical strength, but mostly testing your endurance
• The Keyhole connects you to the Ledge, a narrow area that takes you around the mountain. You follow these targets painted onto rocks and have a great view of Mills Lake and Black Lake. It freaks some people out who are afraid of heights, but I didn't really mind this part because it was a nice break from scrambling.

8:30am A little ways up the Trough

• So I thought the Boulderfield sucked, turns out the Trough sucks more. It's a higher elevation, and takes much longer to do than Boulderfield because there's some icy parts and loose rocks falling. People will yell "ROCK!" if one slips loose and it terrified me every time like "where is it!? will it knock me off?" There were also a ton of people hiking Long's this weekend so you have people moving all around you (but I met many nice people here and ran into my friend Chandler on his way down the mountain)
  

9:13am Almost to the top of the trough and the Ledge

• The top of the Trough narrows down into a small funnel so you had to wait in line to finish the scramble to the top. Once you make it to the top, you immediately take a left and are thrust onto the Narrows. Much like the Ledge, it's a narrow part against the side of the mountain that you have to cross. Pictures make this look scarier than I felt it actually was. As long as you're careful and stick close to the side, you're not going to slip and fall off of the drop off. (People have died at this part if they're not careful or it's dark though)

9:53am A little ways up the Homestretch

• The sweet blessed homestretch. Once again, I feel like pictures make this look worse than it is. I was worried about the homestretch above all else, because it's a 275 feel incline and looks like straight up climbing a wall with cracks in it. I was relieved to find that it has a slight incline to it - while you do have to do some class 3 scrambling for awhile, it's better than totally vertical.

10:15am THE SUMMIT OF LONG'S PEAK

• I remember peering up the homestretch and seeing Abby's excited face at the top, cheering me on. Then I was there with her, standing ON TOP OF LONG'S PEAK, the mountain you see from everywhere in RMNP, the gargantuan I've been hearing about the past two summers. It was amazing, and I was super excited to take out the sign I made and actually get to hold it proudly up in pictures. 

After an hour of celebrating with pictures and a snack we began our descent. Everyone told me that going down would almost be worse than going up, but I told myself if I could just make it to the top, I wouldn't care how long it took to get down. Wow I underestimated the time and the tiredness and the pain I would be feeling.


First, going down the homestretch was almost harder than going up. It takes less strength moving you up, but it's hard to control yourself moving down at such a steep angle. We slid on our butts most of the way, hoping we wouldn't slip. The Narrows didn't take too long, but then we hit the trough and immediately slowed down. It was so hard to navigate around lose rocks and ice for so long. I was so sick of rocks at this point.

12:06pm Down The Trough
12:57pm On the Ledge
1:37 The Keyhole and Boulderfield

We took a short break in Boulderfield then started the long 5 mile walk back to the Trailhead. I'm going to spare you the hours of misery and pain I was in, but let's just say around 5:45pm I hopped in a car, went back to my room, crawled into bed, and slept for 13 beautiful hours.

Sunday

I haven't slept that well in so long - I was so physically and mentally exhausted! But I woke up feeling so accomplished (and sore). I facetimed a friend and hung out in admin for awhile before meeting up with my college roommate Jessica and her boyfriend Rob for the day! We hung out at Coffee on the Rocks then went to this Trout Haven place and went fishing for a few hours. (I sadly didn't catch anything but still had fun). We went to the Tiki Room for dinner and walked around Estes Park (grabbing ice cream at Hayley's of course) and then crashed a hotel bonfire. It was the best most relaxing post-fourteener day I could have asked for, and it was so much fun hanging out with them!

More Texans Take Colorado

This week was super exciting for me because my family came into town on Saturday! They had never up in the Colorado mountains before and it was so fun sharing my little Estes Park town with them. I was also on support for the week, so I'm going to combine a few days and save a little time.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

Filled up dozens of water balloons, taught archery classes, set up scavenger hunts, helped with cookout supplies, took outpost dishes to Spruce, and did whatever was needed for other groups basically. Being on support for the third time, I definitely had a groove and knew how to pass the time and also jump in with groups.

Tuesday deserves special note - right after work, Abby, Liz, Abby's friend Victoria, and I drove to Red Rocks Amphitheater to see SWITCHFOOT and NEEDTOBREATHE. The entire night was amazing - the venue, the bands, the sunset. Ed Sheeran will always be my favorite concert, but this one is a close second. We got back at 2am, and it was so worth it. Luckily Wednesday was my late arrival day (on support you have one day where you go in at 9:30 instead of 7:30)

Thursday

I hiked with the Explorer group on Thursday which I enjoyed soooo much! The explorers are going into kindergarten, so most of them are 5 years old and they are precious. I miss being with little kids more, and I loved having a chance to hang out with them. They were the sweetest - wanting to hold my hand, sit in my lap, make me ice cream (rocks and dirt), nap next to me.

We did a little loop around Bear Lake and it took a while, bless their little hearts. One kid got hand sanitizer in his eye in the bathroom and another girl forgot her lunch, but they all came back alive and happy (but very tired, they were asking for naps like crazy and I was like yes me too I want a nap as well) We had story time when we came back and my pal Haley curled up in my lap and I just died.

When I got back, I was asked to go on the rafting trip with the Adventurers the next day (um YES) and then I grabbed dinner with Abby and Elizabeth before going over to the international fair which is always super fun.

Friday

I woke at 5:35am to be at Sweet Memorial at 6am to meet for rafting. It was a fun group, and I ended up in a raft with 8 people so I didn't end up actually paddling. After rafting I went running, then shuttled into town for the evening - I was in Starbucks for like two hours working on China stuff and figuring out lesson plans (!!!!!!) I also visited my favorite book store - I just loved having the evening to myself.

Saturday

I went for a run into Moraine, cleaned my room, checked into the Rainbow room and then waited because my FAMILY was on their way! My dad and sister Erin picked my mom up at the Denver airport and then made it to the YMCA around 3pm. We unpacked them, then played minigolf, yahtzee, ate at the YMCA, and then played volleyball and Clue.
 

Sunday

I was really excited to take my family up Trail Ridge on Sunday - they've never been in mountains like that, and Trail Ridge is such a cool experience. We hung out at the Alpine Visitor center and Erin and I climbed the steps to the top, took lots of pics, and then went back to the YMCA. We decided to hike Eagle Cliff while my mom and dad played more minigolf. We met up for dinner at Babba's then walked around town and grabbed icecream at Hayley's (of course), then played more minigolf and yahtzee in Sweet Memorial.

A few things about my family:
We love board games.
And apparently mini golf. They play minigolf competitively

FRIENDS (Week 8)

Week 8 was AWESOME.

Firstly, I was with the Mountaineer group again and it went SUPER well. Secondly, my friend Jenna came to visit for several days. Thirdly, I found out more information about my China flight and visa!!

Monday July 13


The Mountaineers played capture the flag in Boulder field, did archery, and rode horses today and it was all relatively smooth.

Tuesday July 14

Today we did a short hike into Moraine Park and made bottle rockets and the Mountaineers loved that. I also had a kid from Chile join our group and had so much fun learning/teasing him about his country and trying to get him to speak Spanish.

Wednesday July 15

The Mountaineers did high ropes and low ropes today. One of my girls got really frightened going down the zipline and came down crying, but luckily once I got her talking about her favorite book series (Mortal Instruments) and TV show (Vampire Diaries) she calmed down and told me the entire plot line from beginning to end.

Jenna came today!! I met her and Erica in Sweet Memorial and we worked on a puzzle together and caught up before going to dinner at Ed's Cantina in town with Abby, Sarah, and Chandler. I had never been there before but it was pretty good! Erica and Jenna spent the night with me after that so they could get an early start hiking Flattop the next morning.

Thursday July 16

Thursday we played groundies (a tag game on the playground), went swimming, did the climbing wall, and visited the museum to make superhero puppets.

That afternoon I met up with Jenna and Erica after work and we hung out in Admin for awhile then went to visit Chandler at work with Abby. We discussed the crazy idea of hiking Long's that weekend then grabbed food and icecream at Mickey D's.


Friday July 17

I went on a hike with the Mountaineers on Friday - we took the fire trail up to Mills Lake and made it in an hour (we were booking it) My kids (Jack, Nicholas, Reese, Sofie, Adam, Mia) all played "What are the Odds", daring each other to stick their feet in the cold water.

After work I picked up my CHINESE WORK VISA information (basically the legit papers that will allow me to apply for a Chinese Visa)!!! I also got an email with my flight itinerary - I will be flying out August 23 from DFW to San Fransisco to Hong Kong to Changsha and return June 27 or 28 next summer.

Friday evening I went out to dinner at the Rock with Jenna, Erica, Chandler, Abby, Catherine, Sarah, and Sarah's friend. It was such a fun evening hanging out and dancing to a bluegrass band Chain Station.

Saturday July 18
It was my first day to sleep in for awhile in a long time which was super nice. We went to breakfast at this place called Notchtop Cafe in Estes Park then wandered into Moraine for a few hours.

That afternoon Abby, Jenna and I went into town to see Jurassic World (AMAZING) and eat dinner and Hayley's ice cream (of course). We played games in Rustic afterwards (I became a secret agent in the game of life.)

Sunday July 19

 I slept in again and it was beautiful. We ate lunch then drove Jenna to the airport. It was so sad saying our goodbyes but I'm so glad we had the few days with her that we did!

Abby and I explored the University of Denver afterwards then hit up the original Chipotle (right next to a marijuana shop. Hello Colorado) before driving back to Estes to relax the rest of the weekend.

Sorry this week is so minimal! I really haven't had time for blogging lately and just wanted to get this down before I forget things.

CHIQUITA BANANA (Week 7)

Week 7 already?! Unbelievable.

This week was characterized by sassy high schoolers, 4 days of pouring rain all day, and an exhausting but awesome hike-filled weekend.

Monday
I was with the Adventurer group this week and on Monday we had 20 of them. TWENTY. It's the biggest group of high schoolers we've had all summer. If you've ever tried to get 20 different teenagers to hang out you know what a struggle this is. But I was really excited to be with the Adventurers because it was the only group I didn't have before, and I wanted to see what being with high schoolers would be like since I'm used to working with younger age groups (and they do really fun things).

It started out great - we had high ropes in the morning until it started raining, and we ran for cover under the picnic pavilions to eat lunch and play bibbity bop bop bop for like an hour. The Adventurers enjoyed the game a lot more than the Mountaineers and actually had fun adding in new layers and even having two people in the middle. For the afternoon we played Nukem, this volleyball-like game, and hung out in Hempel Auditorium. We also lost a camper (I don't want to talk about it.)

That evening I went out to dinner at The Rock with Erica, Chandler, Abby, and some of Erica's friends that were visiting! It was a great way to relax after the day.

Tuesday

My co-counselor was sick on Tuesday (as were many other day camp counselors sadly because of a stomach bug) but we carried on and went ziplining in the morning. Most of my teens did it once and stopped but you bet I rode that sucker four times (ziplining for free, come on.)

We were supposed to go mountain biking in the afternoon but it rained again, so we ended up playing cards in Hempel (capitalism is their favorite game). The teens have now split into two groups, the sporty guys crowd, and the chill girls crowd.

Wednesday

We went climbing at Mary's Lake in the morning - the girls climbed once then wanted to play BS instead so we did that for awhile. Back at camp we hung out on Admin porch and played Mao, a really fun card game with unspoken rules you follow. It's hilarious to play with people who have never played before because they have to figure out what the rules are.

Wednesday was a good day for me to catch up on China fundraising, sending thank you notes, etc. I leave in about SIX WEEKS and found out they're sending me papers for my Chinese Visa soon !!!

Thursday

On Thursday we played Nukem and cards some more, went swimming, and then half the teens went horseback riding while the other half played more Nukem and a game called Infection inside Hempel. They love playing games in the dark inside the auditorium.


Thursday evening Abby, Elizabeth and I went to Amanda's house to play games, make brownies, and watch Parks & Rec. It was so fun playing cranium and just relaxing for the evening! Shannon and Katie came later but unfortunately Abby and I had to leave because we both needed to be up early the next day.

Friday

WHITE WATER RAFTING!! The Adventurer group goes every Friday and I get to go for free since I'm their counselor (job perks amiright?) We met at Sweet Memorial at 6am, left around 6:30 and drove down the Canyon past Loveland towards Fort Collins. I was in a raft with 4 of my teen girls and we had the coolest instructor named Leah. We rafted 3 miles, then had to lift the raft out and put it in at another spot for 3 more miles. The girls nominated me to sit in the front and I was soaked and the water was freezing but we had a blast.


When we got back around 1pm I was free to clock out and leave so I wouldn't have overtime (it was sooo nice having the afternoon off.) That evening Abby, Sarah and I drove down to Loveland to visit Erica and one of her friends for this Loveland Loves BBQ Bands & Brews event. We grabbed dinner beforehand then went to the event and had fun dancing to this band doing tributes to 70s & 80s hits like Boogie Wonderland and September.


Saturday

Bluebird Lake: 12 miles round trip (13 taking the campsite route) 8:45am - 3:45pm hiking

We woke up and met in Spruce around 7:30, then left for the Wild Basin trailhead to begin our redeption hike to Bluebird Lake. Abby and I were so pumped to finally be doing the hike again and we had Michael with us, who had done the hike before, so we knew we would make it. Our friends Catherine and Laura also joined us and we made great time to the sign that marks 2 miles from Bluebird.

The last two miles were rough, no lie. But I was excited to see where we went wrong last year and how close we were to making it to the lake. We hiked through a gorgeous wildflower field and up steep rocks and an awesome snow field when we finally looked down and saw the beautiful blue lake.

Da Bluebird Crew

We hung out for about an hour (and I took a mininap) before turning around, sliding down the snow hill, and trekking back 6.5 miles to the trailhead. We ate burritos and relaxed the rest of the evening because of our hike the next day.

Sunday

I woke up at 6am, was picked up at 6:30, then drove up Fall River Road with Abby, Christina, and Amanda to conquer CCY (Chapin, Chiquita, Ypilon), 3 peaks right next to each other. It took awhile to drive up Fall River Road, but it was gorgeous. It was the road that used to connect Estes and Grand Lake before it was replaced by Trail Ridge. We started around 7:45, heading uphill through trees, then cutting through a meadow before taking more steps upwards. Eventually you cut to a part of the path that opens up to the valley of the mountains and It. Is. Bea-yootiful.

We cut across Chapin and passed the trail up it, so we decided to hit up Chiquita first. It was HARD. Like gaining 2,000+ feet in elevation over something like 2 miles. And the wind was ridiculous - we were so cold and so exposed on the side of Chiquita but we could see the top and the beautiful peaks around us and pressed upwards. Christina and I reached the summit around 10:20 and joined Abby and Amanda in a wind shelter up top.

We sat and soaked in the view of Estes Park and also made a little marmot friend named Franklin who was very adventurous and came a little too close. (He disappeared for a second and we were like, "Where's Franklin?" Then he popped out on top of our wind shelter a foot away from my head and I had a heart attack. It's okay Franklin I forgive you.)

FRANKLIN WASSUP

Cold. Tired. Windy. But at the top of a mountain.

It was amazing being 13,069 feet up - higher than even the Alpine Visitor Center across the mountain. We napped for awhile and took pictures and ate lunch, debating whether to do Ypsilon or not. We decided to head down to the Ypsilon saddle then head back, just because we weren't well prepared to face the cold and the wind for too much longer. We had to cut back across the middle of Chiquita to get back to the trail which was a huge pain - there were loose rocks and steep cuts everywhere and it took awhile. We connected back eventually then headed back to the trailhead.

"I'm going on an adventure!"

The cool thing about Fall River Road is that it's one way and reconnects back at the top of the Alpine Visitor Center, so we stopped inside before heading back down to Estes Park. Abby and I celebrated our epic hiking weekend with pizza and rest. It was rough not having a chance to sleep in much over the weekend, but I'm so glad we did both hikes. Mount Chiquita is literally one of the prettiest hikes I've ever done and it's now my favorite in the park. (You can also see CCY from the YMCA so you can point it out to people and be like, I climbed that. Yeah.)

Mountains. Marmots. 'Merica. (Week 6)

Whaddup Week 6.

I'm on support for the week - support is both good and bad for me. It's so fun getting to hang out with different groups and see what else is going on at camp outside of our normal teen schedules. It's a little weird sometimes though because of the free time you have - we have a lot of blank space in our schedules and you have to find ways to fill it and it makes me miss being with the same kids for a week.

Monday

 On support schedule you help with early birds at 7:30am everyday, so I woke up a little bit earlier than normal. I helped get supplies ready for cookouts and hung out with Mountaineers for most of the day because my schedule was pretty clear.

Amanda, Abby, Elizabeth and I had planned on hiking Twin Sisters yesterday, but because of rain (and lack of motivation) we decided to do it after work today. Twin Sisters is no little peak, and I felt a little sick going up last year, so I was mentally preparing myself for 2 hours of grueling hiking that evening.

We left around 5pm and started hiking at 5:35pm. Twin Sisters is divided into 3 parts in my head: the first section winds you up and around the mountain through trees to the avalanche site, the second section takes you up many, many switchbacks still under treeline, and the last part takes you out of RMNP into the Roosevelt forest and finally above treeline to a really cool rock shelf (I don't know what else to call it.)

It took us 2 hours 18 minutes to summit (about the same time as last year haha) and we were treated to a gorgeous view of Long's Peak and the sun setting over RMNP. We sat at the top until 8:30 and then headed down so we wouldn't have to hike totally in the dark. We were booking it and made it to the avalanche part in 45 minutes, and by then we had to pull our flashlights out to finish the last leg (walking through the trees always seems to take the longest compared to going downhill).

We made it to the trailhead at 9:45ish and then treated ourselves to some Mickey D's because we just hiked an 11,428 foot mountain with an elevation gain of 2,475 feet (and about 7.4 miles). Not a bad Monday, and I enjoyed hiking Twin Sisters this time a lot more than my first time. It definitely helps when you've hiked something before and know what to expect.

Tuesday

Tuesday's camp agenda included filling up 50 water balloons, making a paper mache balloon, and teaching an archery class! (I really enjoyed today) Support is also in charge of taking the outpost dishes to Spruce to be washed, so had a little trip in the camp van.

I received an email from my church today giving me an update about my fundraising - it's so amazing to see how faithful God is! I have been blessed by people I never expected to give. It's a humbling experience asking others for donations for this mission trip, but I've been reminded of Luke 11:9 - "Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you." I'm prayerfully trying to ask, seek and knock according to His will and so grateful for His faithful people answering.

Wednesday

I enjoyed Wednesday morning immensely because it was my "come late" day on support - because we come in early the rest of the week, one day we get to come in late so we don't go over our 40 hours. I clocked in at 9:30am then taught an archery class, helped with a dance class of kindergarteners, and hung out with the Mountaineers again. Our teen meetings are on Wednesday as well so we stayed an extra hour to figure out next week's schedule (I'm with adventurers and get to go rafting!)

I was proud of myself for my afternoon productivity: I went running and did laundry, and rewarded myself with another half price YMCA movie night seeing Inside Out again (just as good the second time). The theater was so full and it was funny because it was mostly Y people.

our Inside Out crew drowing our feelings in icecream

Thursday

I went on an all day hike with the Rangers 1 group (3rd graders) to Sprague Lake. They were pretty slow so we stopped a lot and finally got there almost two hours later haha. But they were such a sweet group! We played ninja and bibbity bop bop bop with them and I loved hanging out with younger kids that didn't hate the games (unlike Mountaineers). Later they drew all over me and we sang songs and it was the best.

Friday

I was SUPER pumped for Friday because

1. It's Friday, hello

2. I would take over the outpost kids when their counselors had to clock out

3. YMCA Fourth of July Parade!!

I love 4th of July, I love parades, I love getting dressed up (and an excuse to paint my face and go crazy), I love fireworks, I love warm summer weather, I love that patriotic feeling everywhere. It's probably one of my favorite holidays if we're being real. And I love 4th of July in Estes Park. While the sudden influx of tourists can be a little frustrating, I actually really love seeing all of these people come from all over the country to celebrate in the mountains.

my new goat friend

The rest of the day we did game rotations (3 legged race, obstacle course, musical chairs, water balloons, face painting) and ate popsicles and hot dogs. It was great.

That evening Abby and I went to Baba's Burgers & Gyros and it was SO good. Eating hot dogs and hamburgers is just something you need to do around the 4th of July. We walked around town after that, watched a guy blow and shape glass, and met a lot of local shop owners. We wanted a low key night because of our early hiking plans for tomorrow!

10/10 would recommend.

Saturday July 4

Saturday morning I met Abby, Kristina, and Michael in Spruce at 7:30am and then we headed up to the Glacier Gorge Trailhead! Unfortunately we didn't make it up there until 9ish so we couldn't find a parking spot, but we caught the shuttle from the park and ride and hit the trail by 9:30am. I was SO excited about our hike today because we were doing SKY POND. It was one of my favorites last year and I really looked forward to doing it again. We made great time past Alberta Falls (.9 miles), wound our way around to the junction (1.3 miles), then sped up the dreaded switchbacks (there were only four which was good news) up to the Loch (.8 miles). The Loch is absolutely gorgeous!

From the Loch there's a stretch of hiking that's a mix of flat and sets of stairs until you hit the stairs up to Timberline Falls. 

You climb up the waterfall (how cool is that) and see the Lake of Glass and a spectacular view of the Loch. 

It's only .4 miles and two snow fields from there to Sky Pond, a beautiful little lake tucked into the mountains.

We ate lunch while marmots eyed us hungrily and explored the area before heading back down. We reached the trailhead around 4:30pm. We took showers and rested before heading back up trail ridge road to watch fireworks from rainbow curve. While you couldn't see or hear the fireworks up close, it was really cool to see fireworks from Denver, Boulder, and Longmont, as well as lightning in the distance (God's own fireworks show)

Sunday

I slept in Sunday then decided to take the shuttle into town. I had some awesome Jesus time in the morning reading more of "The Me I Want To Be", then wandered in an out of book stores (got another book) and coffee shops (Kind Coffee, Inkwell Brewing, and Starbucks).

We also counted up our hiking days left and were very shocked by the low number! So we made a list of the hikes we want to knock out this summer if possible

1. FHO (Flattop, Hallets, Otis - 3 peaks in an 12 mile hike)
2. CCY (Chapin, Chiquita, Ypsilon - also 3 peaks in an 8 mile hike)
3. Bluebird Lake (we want to make it all the way this year)
4. Long's Peak? (The 14'er here. I keep going back and forth. I'm here so I might as well try it, but people also die doing this and that freaks me out a little bit)

All of the hikes I've done total this year:
Eagle Cliff (2 miles)
Bible Point (2 miles)
Moraine Park (3 miles) three times
Moraine Park/Cub Lake trail (9 miles)
Nymph, Dream and Emerald (3.6 miles) twice
*Mills Lake (2.8 miles)
Gem Lake (7.6 miles)
Sprague Lake (6 miles) three times
*Fern Lake and Odessa Lake (9.5 miles)
Bierstadt Lake (3.5 miles) twice
*Black Lake and Blue Lake (11.5 miles)
Cub Lake (3 miles)
Twin Sisters (7.4 miles)
Sky Pond (9.5 miles)
= 96.5 miles hiked

Black & Blue (Week 5)

It's Week 5, meaning its week 4 of day camp, meaning this summer is almost halfway over! WHAT.

I've found my groove back in Estes Park again, which is really nice. Summer time here is such an interesting time for me here because it totally rattles my normal Harding groove. I don't have time for Netflix here (I barely get wifi in my room here, so if I want to watch shows I have to go somewhere else anyways, and Netflix is best watched in your own bed, hello) When I'm not working 8-4pm, I'm outside or playing games or hiking or hanging out with friends or blogging, like I'm doing now. I seriously love my me time here - whether blogging or reading, sitting on admin porch or people watching in Rustic, I love it.

Anyways, Week 4. Here ya go.

Monday June 22

First off, June 22 is blowing my mind. That just feels so late in the summer. I'm with Mountaineers this week, our 7th and 8th grade group. Eric and I had sixteen (SIXTEEN) of them on Monday. That may not sound like a lot, but just think about SIXTEEN sassy, sarcastic, obtuse, eye-rolling, unmotivated MIDDLE SCHOOLERS rolling around day camp. It was brutal. I have a new appreciation for middle school teachers. Of course, not all of the kids were bad. They really like to take a part in the planning of their day, and they'll let you know if they don't want to do something. I quickly realized I needed to change from my Outpost mindset to a different strategy.

I taught the kids bibbity bop bop bop and they hated it. They were too cool for the Lucky Charms and James Bond version, it blew my mind. They begged to play Capture the Flag instead, which was totally fine. Flexibility is key I learned. Also, witty comebacks are necessary to counter their snarky comments. We did archery and a hot dog cookout, then half the kids road horses while the other half told me they didn't feel like doing anything but sitting. Which we did for like 30 minutes until I finally persuaded them to play Groundies on the playground and then pingpong at Sweet Memorial.

Mountaineers: 1
Rachel: 0

Monday evening we celebrated Elizabeth's birthday with Hayley's icecream (of course) and a trip up Trail Ridge Road to watch the sunset. It was glorious.

Tuesday June 23

Armed with my nerves of steel and stronger will, I was ready for day 2 with Mountaineers. Luckily we only had 6 campers the second day, which made it so much easier to pay attention to each of them and control the preteen angst.We went down to the river with Outdoor Ed and learned about bugs and Ph levels in the river, then played Gaga ball (which the kids loved, whewww) before song time (which, surprise, the middle schoolers hate song time. Some of them sit on the concrete and refuse to sing.)

Tuesday evening was sweet relief - Abby, Amanda, Elizabeth and I went to see Inside Out, the new Pixar movie. it was SO GOOD. I was laughing and crying so hard the whole movie and 100% reccommend everyone to go see it. We drowned our feelings in McDonald's icecream afterwards and it was fabulous.

Wednesday June 24

I was really excited for Wednesday because Mountaineers do the big high ropes course with a zipline, not Steve's High Ropes (the smaller and less exciting version) We had 11 kids that were great for the most part, and aside from an ankle injury and a locked knee incident the morning went smoothly (and I go to do the high ropes course and zipline!!) We ate lunch at outpost and then did a few low ropes activities like the Log and the Whale Watch. Battle of the wills commenced at song time again, but less kids fought us on the issue so it's an improvement.

Wednesday night I played sand volleyball with other counselors. It's been a little sad in the volleyball realm this summer because the RA office told me they aren't organizing a summer tournament (crying many internal tears) but just getting out and playing again was fun. We had two games going and there was a hard ball and a soft ball, so it was always a hilarious struggle when the soft volleyball would land in the other court.

Thursday June 25

We swam from 9:30-11 today, which was great because the Mountaineers were entertained for the most part (several boys refused to swim so they played outside. We're done fighting them) We then ate lunch and played What Are the Odds. One of my girls had to propose to a strange boy walking by (which was hilarious) and then I lost a 1 in 2 odds to her and had to say "my pleasure" after ever sentence (which was not hilarious and the kids reminded me everytime I forgot). We went to the climbing wall next, which only half the kids did, and then we went to the museum and did constellation activities which surprisingly held their attention. We tried playing games in Hempel Auditorium next, which resulted in a big blowup from a few kids when they disagreed over what game to play.

So God has been having a fun little lesson in patience for me this week. For the most part, I've enjoyed this learning experience though. I've really connected with several of the kids and loved getting to hang with a girl who also knows all the Girl Scout songs I sing.


Friday

Friday was the mountaineer hike day! We decided to take them to Bierstadt Lake like I did with last weeks group. Although it was a little to easy for this group, we would rather not have them whine on a long hike. At the lake we played games like Black Magic, Green Glass Door, and the Stick of Common Courtesy (they love brain games rather than active games)

Friday night I went on an evening hike to Cub Lake with a group of gals. We started around 6pm, got there around 7pm then hung out for an hour singing worship songs, taking silly pics on the giant rocks, and trying to grab lillies without being attacked by leeches.

Saturday

Abby and I did a YMCA guided hike today! And we met at Sweet Memorial at 6:15am for it. SIX FIFTEEN IN THE MORNING. But being awake that early actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We were conquering a little hike called Black and Blue Lake (which actually isn't a little hike at all.)

We started at the Glacier Gorge trailhead at 7am, making great time up to Alberta Falls (15 minutes, .9 miles) then continued our merry little way to Mills Lake (2.8 miles). It was g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s at 8:30 in the morning, with the mountains reflecting in the water.

We rested for a little bit then continued onto Black Lake (5 miles) It was a nice little trek through woods, with varying flat areas and stairs. We made it around 10am and I was feeling pretty good about myself for going 5 miles and not feeling like I wanted to die.

The dying part came next. Blue Lake is a little less than a mile up from Black Lake, and when I say up I mean UP. You hike up steep steps next to this waterfall pouring into Black Lake - we took a break near the top and I was applauding myself for making it so far when our guide Devon said "We're halfway there now!" WHAT REALLY I JUST POURED MY HEART, SOUL, AND THE REST OF MY OXYGEN SUPPLY INTO THESE STEPS. 

We took a left next to the waterfall and bushwacked, crawled, and climbed our way through steep rocks and scratchy plants, and after an hour in total, we arrived at Blue Lake. The lake itself is pretty average (all lakes start looking similar, I've done so many lake hikes recently) What made Blue Lake magical was the surrounding area - there was a magnificent view up top and you could see Black Lake and Mills Lake and mountains in the background. It was definitely worth the hour of pain we endured to get there.

It took 3 hours to get back to the Glacier Gorge trailhead, and then we decided to shower and meet back up with several girls we hiked with to go to Safeway and dinner in town. We tried this Indian place called Nepal's - I haven't eaten much Indian food, and, although it was a little spicy, I was very pleasantly surprised by how good it was (I was also super hungry from hiking 11 miles).

Later that evening as we were resting, Elizabeth texted our group telling us about a meteor shower tonight from 12am-3am and asked if we wanted to watch it on Trail Ridge. As tired as I was, I was super excited and any chance to go up Trail Ridge is a YES. Unfortunately it was very cloudy so we could see much, but we could see some stars and had an awesome time just hanging out on top of the world at 1am.

Sunday

I slept in for the first time in forever (okay like a week) on Sunday. It was a wonderful Jesus, coffee, and admin porch morning. I spent more time reading "The Me I Want To Be" and soaked in the beautiful morning next to the mountains. The first chapter focuses on learning why God made us, and how we can grow spiritually.

Instead of measuring our spiritual life solely by the amount of time praying and reading the bible ("the problem is that by this measure the Pharisees always win") we should ask ourselves "Am I growing more easily discouraged these days? Am I growing more easily irritated these days? At the core of a flourishing soul are the love of God and the peace of God. If peace is growing in me, I am less easily discouraged. If love is growing, I am less easily irritated."

I also really loved a part in Chapter 2 talking about the Me I Don't Want To Be: "Comparison kills spiritual growth...spiritual greatness has nothing to do with being greater than others. It has everything to do with being as great as each of us can be."

After lunch we went into town to check out the Scandinavian Festival - we ate Swedish baked goods, watched in fascination as live owls twisted their heads around 270 degrees for like 15 minutes, and sat in a book store for a long time. It was great. We went to our friend Amanda's house afterwards, made some mac n cheese, and watched a cheesy teen rom com. It was the perfect chill Sunday.

Colorado Spring Adventures (Week 4)

Week four. Has it really been a month already?? ***This post is remarkably short because I didn't feel like writing, and I also typed this all out before and it didn't save the first time :(

Monday

I was in Outpost again this week, which I was really excited about. We played minigolf, cooked hot dogs, played low ropes games, and had a really great Monday with only 5 kids.

Monday night Abby, Elizabeth and I were planning on going bowling ($1 on Mondays!) but the lanes were broken so we decided to go downtown for ice cream instead (the opposite of a problem. Hayley's is never bad option)

Tuesday

TACO TUESDAY. And high ropes, archery, and star lab. (Star Lab days are fun because you kind of get a little nap in lolz)

I went to LT Tuesday night again and loved the speaker and the worship! We sang Everlasting, one of my favorite worship songs in the world. I'm also super excited because I ordered the devotional book LT is going through, The Me I Want To Be" and just started reading it. It's really great, not only as a pre-China preparation but also for life in general.

Wednesday

Eric and Haley my co-counselors

HIKING DAY. I love getting paid to hike with kids into Rocky Mountain National Park. Like is this real life? We decided to take the kids up to Bierstadt because the shuttles started this week. We hiked down to the lake from the Bear Lake Trailhead - I definitely recommend going this way because you get to walk on a flat trail most of the time. It was a little less than 5 miles round trip and so beautiful.

hey this is my job cool

Thursday

Because we didn't have to work until 4pm, Haley and I decided to do a hike into the park Thursday morning. We met in Spruce at 7:20 and caught a ride with some of her friends and followed them up to Emerald Lake (apparently some of the best climbing in the world is up there and I had no idea!) I love doing Nymph, Dream, and Emerald so I definitely didn't mind seeing them again so soon. It was awesome to see how much Emerald Lake had melted in just two weeks.

After our hike we ate lunch and tooks naps before our eventful evening. Our kiddos came around 4pm and we played games at Outpost and cooked the best fire made spaghetti, meatball, garlic bread, and green bean dinner. We performed several songs and a skit for their parents at 7:30, then went to play gaga ball, go swimming 9-10pm, and make smores 10:30-11.

Carly, Ruby, Ashley, Jaden & Luke

Friday

We made chocolate chip pancakes (yummmmm) for breakfast before clocking out around 9am. I went on a hike into Moraine Park and enjoyed having the rest of the day off! Abby and I decided we would road trip to Colorado Springs to see our friend Erica that night, so we left around 7:30 and made it there around 10pm.

Saturday

COLORADO SPRINGS is awesome. We went to breakfast at this awesome place called Over Easy, then went to hit up the USA Olympic Training Center. It was SO cool. For 5 bucks we got to tour the facilities and see several gyms where swimmers, wrestlers, and shooters trained. (ALSO MICHAEL PHELPS TRAINED HERE LAST SUMMER). We saw a super inspirational video about the London and Sochi Olympics, and it also introduced the Rio games coming up next year. I LOVE the Olympics so I'm glad Abby suggested we check it out.

MICHAEL PHELPS SWAM IN THIS POOL

In the afternoon we went to GARDEN OF THE GODS, this beautiful rock formation place I've been wanting to see since last year. It was different than I expected, more paved sidewalks than hiking, but still very cool.

For dinner we went into this cute little town called Manitou, and then celebrated Erica's birthday at this adorable fondue place down the street. I've never had fondue before so I was feeling pretty fancy (but also a little out of place hahaha they put us in a room with two different couples on romantic dates)

We hit the road after dessert and made it back to Estes Park around 11:30pm with the joy of knowing we could sleep in a little the next morning.

Sunday

HIKING GROUP DAY. I love Sundays because they're challenging, exhausting, but so much fun. We typically get a group together to conquer a hike, and today we decided to go for Fern Lake. I was especially excited for this hike because today I got my new backpack and chacos!!! My old hiking backpack was 4 years old and falling to pieces, and my chacos are a little summer present to myself because my other pair is getting old and grody and day camp gives us a chaco pro deal (40% OFF HOLLA).

We left around 1pm and made it to the Pool (1.7 miles) in great time, mostly because the trail was flat and shady :) We got our butts kicked on the second half of the trail though - it was 1.1 miles to Fern Falls and I wanted to die, but we made it around 2:30pm. If that part was bad, the next mile to Fern Falls was hellish. It was so steep, but we saw a llama named Mister and that made things better.

Fern Lake was really pretty, and I made a little chipmunk friend. He jumped onto me and I screamed, thinking he was a huge spider or something (thank goodness he wasn't) He saw me eating my apple and peanut butter and just wanted some haha.


We decided to book it up to Odessa, another lake just .7 miles up from us. It was all uphill and horrible, but so worth the extra 35 minute hike up to reach it. It was even better than Fern!

We turned back around 5pm and made it back to the trailhead around 6:30pm (we were booking it) and then rewarded ourselves with McDonalds (Spruce was closed) and smores at a friends bonfire later that night.