тrappər laĸə

When was the last time you truly unplugged and enjoyed your family?

We got to do just that last month. We packed up and drove up to Trapper Lake where there was absolutely zero cell signal. It was amazing!

We camped a couple nights, rented a boat to explore the beautiful lake, saw our first Moose since living here, had a storm dump rain on us, played lots of UNO while the rain took place, ate s'mores and just enjoyed each other and the 30 degree weather we woke up to. It was the best weekend of the summer...minus the insane swarm of mosquitos. ;)

We ran out of eggs... good thing we had Pop Tarts as a backup for the boys.

möuᏁᏆ söᏢᏒᎥs

Oh. My. Goodness.

We hiked Mount Sopris.

This is the major peak near Glenwood Springs that I have loved since the day we moved here. It's so majestic. It's stands just short of 13,000 feet...it's called a "twelve-teener" since it's so close and it's actually tougher than a few 14ers out there. Mt. Sopris looks totally different up close than it does from afar. It literally looks like a wasteland for rocks. And it's these loose rocks that you hike up with a very unclear path. Just a big pile of rubble.

I think we left the house at 5am to start our hike by 6am...it's a long drive, only because the road that gets you to the trailhead is narrow and very rough terrain.

About as awake as we could be. Here we go!

Thomas Lake-we've hiked here several times. It's about halfway up...such a gorgeous lake.

This kid is born for hiking. Seriously, he's never been my super active child, but put a mountain in front of him, he is determined to conquer him. He makes it look easy!

Reece was forced to go along with us... not a big hiking fan these days.

Near the top. Elk Mountain Range in the distance with snow.

This is snow on Sopris... I'm convinced it won't melt before winter comes with new snow.
This brings up our big goof of the day. It was going to be a hot 90 degree day with no chance of rain.
Well... when you get up this high, it's going to be cooler. Then the wind was outrageous, which only made it colder. We should have packed more layers. Mommy fail.

Looking down at one of the Thomas Lakes. Bea-U-Tiful!!!

We gave Reece the selfie stick... and my hair shows the wind struggles. It was real.

Back down to the lakes...

Defeated. Multiple factors...we technically summited Mt. Sopris. It has 2 peaks... but the wind and the cold made it pretty unbearable. You are on an unstable ridge of rocks the entire way up, but the gusts of wind felt like they could have swept you up and taken you for a ride. We made it to the first peak and took shelter while some crazy wind zipped past. Soon after we started down that peak to start ascending the final peak, but Reece was done. He was cold from the wind and the crocodile tears started. We were so close!! I think we only had about 300 feet to go up, but it was going to be a task. The conditions were very rough. So we went down. Jake was upset. It happens. Is it a hike we will attempt again? Probably not!! It was rough and I have no desire. I'm glad we tried, because I would have regretted living here and not trying. It's Mt. Sopris, after all. But one time is enough for this one. 

ṣöṳṯḣ ḋāḵöṯā & ẉẏöṃịṉḡ

Day 7

Day 7- we packed up our campground and drove to Deadwood, South Dakota.
Our first stop was the Broken Boot Gold Mine to tour the caves.

Hard hats required!

We learned "Deadwood" was named because a fire had gone through and there was a lot of dead wood when they came to settle here. Original, huh?

Reece got to collect some gold afterwards.

Then we were off to explore the historic town. They take their history seriously...it was so fun!

Reece needs to lay off the Krabby Patties...my boys would get that, hehe!

This was fun! Nothing like wrapping up 4 days of camping and rolling into photo shoot. Oops! Aren't my boys handsome... Riley admitted he was bummed were weren't driving straight home, but this quickly changed his mind. He loved it!

(These are scanned images, so the quality isn't great. The actual photos are great!)

After lunch and watching a gun fight in the street we were off to Wyoming for our last adventure.

 

Devil's Tower. Bizarre and amazing!!

Close up of the texture...so odd!

We actually saw people climbing. What a task!

And the next day we drove home. We saw an incredible amount of beauty on our trip, but I'm not going to lie...the Glenwood Canyon is a sight I'll never get tired of!  Home sweet home!