Lily Pad Lakes Trail

 What a great group of hikers! The Lily Pad Lakes trail was a favorite with our group while in Colorado. The kids all found plenty of of great hiking sticks and we managed to avoid most of the mosquitos. The adults also all enjoyed this hike, since the elevation didn't have as much of an impact as some of the other trails.

Schatzy coming across a bridge.

 Caleb and Finn heading out into the woods.

 Vatti and Wyatt were great hiking buddies. They held hands and managed to keep ahold of a walking stick almost the entire hike. Wyatt also shared some great antic-dotes with Vatti along the way. Things like, "Don't worry about butterflies. I will hit them with my stick." and "I'm not a lefty. I'm Wyatt."

 So many beautiful scenes to take in along this trail.

 Gavin is also great at leading cousins on a hike. He loves to be out exploring, and he was very excited about the Lily Pads when we reached the pond.

 Our smallest hiking buddy having a snack and enjoying a break.

 Heidi and Mark taking a break.

 Caleb and I at Upper Lily Pad Lake, and wearing our matching colors... nerds.

 Duane and Jaxson by the late.

 My cute little hikers.

 The super cool tree seesaw that Gavin and Morgan found on the way down the trail. They had such a great time riding it while everyone else caught up. 

Quandry Peak

While in Colorado for our Marshall reunion, Caleb and I decided to take advantage of the excess of babysitters and the excess of large mountain peaks, and go for a hike. We chose a peak that was close to our cabin with a trail just less than 7 miles. It was our first Fourteener, and felt like a great accomplishment.

About a mile up, just out of the tree line, you can see that our weather wasn't exactly clear and sunny.

 The view down to Blue Lake, the drop off was pretty steep for awhile.

 When the sun broke through the clouds for a few moments. The views were amazing.

 We reached a point at which the weather was getting wet and cloudy with the chance of turning to much worse. We couldn't tell how far we were from the top and the effects of the elevation were getting to both of us and we trudged up the steep and rocky climb. We finally made the decision to go on and push to the summit. It ended up being about another 20 minutes though only about a third of a mile... it was very steep. 

Even though there was really no view, it was a great feeling to reach the top and realize we had made it.

At the summit. Great view of the clouds.

 So glad we got a chance to do this. It was well worth the effort and time, and even the sore legs the next day, and a lot of fun to hike it with my mountain man.