Long's Peak Summit Climb

It's been a while since I posted. I have been having a blast here in Colorado, it's kind of sad that it's almost over with. The most recent adventure is I climbed Long's Peak yesterday morning! I didn't reallly get any sleep the night before, we left the trailhead at 2 in the morning. And let me tell you, we hiked so fast! We were passing people left and right, we would have been the first people on the summit but three really fast hikers passed us right before the summit. Therefore I was the 6th person to summit Long's that morning. We hiked the 7.1 miles and 1 mile ascent in 5 hours and 15 minutes, making it to the summit by 7:15 in the morning. We made incredible timing and had a lot of fun! We made it to the Keyhole to watch the sunrise, and at the summit we hung out there for an hour and a half. My legs are really sore right now but it was sooooooooooooooooooo worth it! Check out some pictures!


We made it to the Keyhole by sunrise!


The trough--the hardest part of the climb


The narrows--the steep drop-off wasn't that scary


The homestretch--my legs felt like jello at this point

The group at the summit

What a huge sense of accomplishment I felt

early july happenings

That picture, is the view from the hike to Teddy's Teeth (a foothill/mountain by the YMCA). We hiked it the night of my birthday to watch the fireworks. A storm blew through and created some amazing views of the storm. Last evening I was on a volleyball tournament with some people. We didn't win the championship, the Ukrainian team won. But we were definitely the coolest team and the best dressed. Check out the picture of our team!


Dan, Chris, David, Hannah, Me, Calvin, and Christopher

a wedding and FHOT

hey y'all
i was gone for a week for my brother's wedding but now i'm back and it feels great to be back in estes park, colorado being daring and adventurous. my brother's wedding was so much fun and so beautiful--i cried! here's a picture:


so i got back to colorado monday evening, and wednesday i hiked four mountain peaks called FHOT (flattop, hallett, otis, taylor). i was a little worried about getting altitude sickness from not being totally acclamated to the altitude but i was fine. although it's friday and my body is still recovering, i'm a bit sore. the hike was amazing. the morning sky was so clear and once we got on top we were looking out onto a blanket of clouds. we had a bit of a scared, one of my friends Jessica when she was hiking up to the top of Otis stipped on the rocks and cut her mouth--it was a scare but she was alright. the clouds started looking a little scary before we climbed taylor. after taylor we slid down Andrew's Glacier which was really really really fun! but then the thunder came. i got scared and hence freaked out irrationally but i had some great friends to calm me down and keep me composed :-) we made it down alive to tell the tale too!! here are some pictures!


the clouds to the east of us

the whole gang on top of hallett peak


that's me on top of hallett!!!

that's the glacier we slid down--can you see the scary storm cloud? that's why i got scared!


hope y'all enjoyed the post!

Rach

catch up post

Sorry it's been a while since I posted. A lot has happened, I actually haven't downloaded pictures from my camera since last Thursday so these pictures are from last Wednesday's hike to Mills Lake and attempt to Black Lake. Once we got to Mills Lake we attempted to go to Black Lake and ran into many snow fields. It got pretty bad so we had to turn around.



The picture above is the steep snow field that I fell down--don't worry I was fine, just a little shook up. Saturday night a bunch of people went to Old Man Mountain (located by the northeast entrance to the park). There's a cave--more like a tiny crack within the boulders that a person can shimmy through. I wasn't going to go through it because I was advised against it since I'm kind of claustrophobic, but then I ended up going through it and it was so much fun! It was really tight but very adventurous! That's what I'm about this summer--facing my fears, taking risks, and being adventurous. Sunday evening I organized a hike after work with a bunch of people to Emerald Lake, it was a lot of fun--I'll put up those pictures once I have them on my computer. Well--I'll post again when I have more things to say. I love it out here!

Rach

Eagle Cliff

I forgot to mention that I have been seeing herds and herds of elk. Wednesday when we were hiking in Moraine Park there were many groups of elk. When we drove through Horseshoe park there were more and more elk too. Last evening after dinner I went with some people up Eagle Cliff. It was amazing! There are two false tops...meaning you think it's the top but it isn't. Once we got to the top we could see the front range beautifully and if we looked back we saw Estes Park, even through the canyon to the plains. Here are some pictures. Oh wait I forgot. I had two ticks on me: one I caught when we were hiking down it was just on my pant leg but then when I got ready to shower there was one on my leg. It's now natural that after hiking in brush to perform a tick check :-)

Rach


Moraine Park from the first false top.

Me, Christopher, and Calvin at the first false top. We were ahead of the others.


David, Anastacia, Christopher, me, and Calvin at the top! The whole group with the front range behind us, how amazing!

past few days

I've been pretty busy this week. Wednesday Jennee, Alan, Calvin, and I went on a hike. We were going to do a 16 mile loop starting at the Cub Lake Trailhead to Bear Lake and then a bunch of more little lakes, but it started snowing kinda so we ended up just hiking the 7 miles to Bear Lake. I was so exhausted! Afterwards we stopped at a thrift store and I ended up getting two sweatshirts for 2 dollars each! and they are sweet sweatshirts. I then played ultimate frisbee for two hours. It was a pretty exhausting day. Then Thursday was my project group day, we had an evangelism training which was really good. I'm realizing that I need to set aside an hour each day for quiet time. It's hard working 40 hour weeks and then wanting to hang out with people, but I need to have that quiet time or else the summer is going to slip away. It's crazy how busy I am! Here are some pictures.

Rach

P.S. Nevermind, I couldn't get the "add image" button to work!

pirates

around 4pm Kate and I went walking aimlessly around the YMCA grounds, and found a trail that leads into Morraine Park, so we followed that and were surprised by many male elk!



they just stared us down--haha



then at 8pm we went to see "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," Jack Sparrow was at the movie theater so we got a picture with him. I liked the movie, it was enjoyable, but a lot was going on in the movie and it was long! But go see it and find out for yourself!

tick attack

i went on a hike to the top of a big hill near my cabin with a bunch of people. the elevation gain was 1000 ft, going straight up. it ws difficult. well we got back around 7:15pm and went to dinner and then when i got back i took a shower, and probably around 10:45pm i was blow drying my hair and felt a bump on my scalp. so i picked that thing out and here it was a tick, i freaked out and ran to Emily, Kate, and Jennee's room and screamed, and then they all freaked out and went checking themselves for ticks. i won't go on another hike without putting on bug spray and checking for ticks. but it was worth it to see the view. here are some pictures.

















the people i was with

first night

it was pretty exciting driving into colorado and getting a first glimpse of the rocky mountains. and once we got into estes park, they became big and even more beautiful!

















and below is the beloved long's peak

















we arrived at the YMCA in the afternoon and registered. i thought that the four of us girls would be together two of us roomming in two different rooms but i was wrong. the three other girls were in one room and i was in another. i was pretty upset, probably because i grew so close to these girls and felt comfortable around them, and now i will be roomming with a total stranger. i'm roomming with one other girl who is working at the YMCA but is not part of the LT program. God showed me the amazing opportunity i have to show Christ to this girl. but it's been tough cause i feel kind of left out, not being able to be with the other girls. but i mean we are next door so i can hang out in their room a lot! but i still feel a little lonely but there is a reason for everything :-) i just want the first few days to pass, they will be the hardest getting used to my schedule. but once i'm in the swing of things, its going to be amazing!

rach

p.s. it snowed this evening!

almost there

i'm sitting in ogallala, nebraska, ready to crash. i've been up since 5:30 this morning and have been in a car since 6:30 this morning until 9:30 this evening. i cannot believe i am finally beginning this adventure. the drive was a lot of fun, i was with three other girls in a car and we talked the whole time. here's something to know: if you want to get to know someone really well, spend 10 hours in a car with them! in central nebraska we had to dodge bad weather, there were tornado warnings/watches right where we were headed, but fortunately we missed the bad weather and didn't have to drive through more than 15 minutes of rain. after getting to the hotel i soaked my feet in the hot tub, it felt amazing. but now i'm so exhausted and it's an early day tomorrow. goodnight.

rach

less than a month

In less than a month, I will be in Estes Park, CO, beginning my adventure in the Rockies. I'm definitely scared and nervous. This is a huge step out of my comfort zone. I love comfort and staying safe, this is risky, I'm on my own out in the mountains. But I trust God and I know He wants me to go this summer so He can teach me some things. I am excited for that. I definitely appreciate prayers as I prepare for this journey.

Rach