{Mt. of the Holy Cross...

Last Friday Todd and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. Mom and Dad took the boys for the weekend and we headed up into the mountains for an adventure! Over the last couple of years, Todd has really had a desire to climb all the fourteeners that Colorado has to offer. He started last year and has done 8 of the 54. ...it's a start. So I decided to jump on the bandwagon and with only 2 under my belt we chose Mt. of the Holy Cross (which is just south of Vail) as our challenge. Well, challenge it was! I would definitely have to say that I it had to be one of the top 5 toughest things I have ever done (to my body, that is!). My feet must have grown because I had hot spots on my heels and toes climbing UP the mountain. It took us 10 hours to go just over 11 miles. Todd was very sweet and patient with me and my burning feet! The top was absolutely breath taking and once I get myself a new pair of hiking boots, I'd do it again in a heart beat!

I had never seen wild Columbine's in Colorado before so that was kind of exciting!
Todd and I at the summit.

{Grays and Torreys...

This weekend I invited myself on a scout trip with Todd and some of the Young Men in our ward. They had been planning to hike a 14er all summer and I figured I would tag along since I've lived in Colorado basically all of my life and I have yet to hike one! What a cool experience! We left the boys with Brent, Ann and Elaina on Friday night and drove up to the trail head just a little west of Denver. We slept under the stars and even though it was only 35 degrees, I was nice and toasty thanks to these bad boys. After years of FREEZING I took the plunge and made the investment. SO worth it! Anyway, we woke up at 5:00 and headed out. The weather was beautiful and even though I ended up hiking by myself nearly all day (Todd had to stay with the boys and try to convince them to keep going) I had a great time.

Here is a picture of the two peaks at about 6 a.m

Todd and I met up on the summit of Grays peak. Check out the views!

{Todd's big weekend...

Last weekend Todd and a few buddies hiked four - fourteeners in one day! For a guy that's never hiked a fourteener before, I was pretty impressed. He said it was tough but very rewarding. They went up on Friday night and slept in the car (and outside on cots) so that they could start hiking early in the morning. They hiked Mt. Bross, Mt. Lincoln, Mt. Democrat, and Mt. Cameron. 6 hours and 20 minutes later they were thawing out and on their way home. I told Todd that I'm all in next year but we've got to start out earlier in the summer when it's a little warmer at fourteen thousand feet!