Colorado Trip

Sorry for being so late on getting these last posts up. There will be 3 posts (this Colorado post, Superior Hiking Trail and Prom/Graduation). Please don't stop after the first post or you'll miss out on some fun.

Our last trip before Fabi returned to Germany was to Colorado. We spent a few days in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) before heading to Boulder. In RMNP we got in a lot of hiking. We camped in the campground in the park. This was nice because it allowed us to do day trips without having our fully loaded backpacks. Since we had just done a backpack trip the week before, it was nice to not have to lug all that weight around -- especially in the more mountainous terrain.

The hiking in RMNP was beautiful. We had a lot of hikes that we weren't able to do because of the snow, however. Evidently the snow stuck around much longer than it has in previous years. We drove up Trail Ridge Road and as you can see from the photos below, the snow was REALLY deep towards the tops of the mountains.

The first night we arrived we stayed at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, which was the inspiration for Stephen King's novel The Shining. We went on a ghost tour in the hotel. It was maybe a little on the lame side, but it was still neat to see all the different parts of the hotel and learn about the history of the area. Estes Park is now a big time tourist town, and the stores lining the main street illustrate this.

On our last night in RMNP we went to a pizza place where I'm pretty sure we consumed more food than is recommended by reasonable standards.  It was, however, delicious.

In Boulder we stayed at an Airbnb that was absolutely beautiful. Our hosts were retired and had an architecturally amazing house in the mountains outside of town. They were extremely gracious in sharing their family's art and history with us.

While we did do some hiking in Boulder, the real reason we went there was to climb. We climbed on the famous Flatirons. This was the first time any of us had climbed outside, so needless to say we were a bit apprehensive. The climbing itself was pretty easy, but being exposed on the side of a rock wall all day got to be pretty exhausting. In retrospect, we wish we would have just signed up for a half day. Overall, though, we were happy to have the experience and I'm sure it is something all three of us will look back on with a laugh for years to come (note: when proofreading post Krissy said she would never laugh about this). Our tough day of climbing was topped off by eating what may have been the largest submarine sandwiches I'd ever seen. Fabi took the challenge and had no problems polishing off the entire thing.

Once we got back from Colorado Fabi only had a few days before his time in America was through and he had to get on a plane back to Ahrensburg. We helped him get everything packed up and then said our tearful goodbyes at the Des Moines Airport.

We had a great year with Fabi. Sure, there were times when we all were on each other's last nerve, but that is the case with any family. And that is what we call Fabi after our fun-filled year -- family.

We were lucky enough to find a license plate for Polk County, Iowa in Colorado

Inside the Stanley Hotel. Ghosts, or something

Lots of these big boys roaming about

I told you there was a lot of snow

Better get a shovel

Great scenery in RMNP

I need to just not work anymore

Looking for a bouldering problem

What are you looking at? Fortunately did not seem to be a bad omen

Seriously, how many s'mores can one person eat? Turns out quite a few

Flowing streams everywhere

Snow melt

Notice the top of the hiking sign. Snow probably over 5 feet deep here

Fabi and Seth decided to make the climb up here. Krissy came later when she decided she was missing out on some beautiful views

Beautiful lake

Putt-putt. Seth won, most likley

This was actually expressly prohibited, which Seth was adamant about. 17 year olds don't listen well, it seems. 

In Boulder

The first pitch of our climb. Total climb was over 1000 feet.

Nervous?

Off to a sketchy start. Krissy and Seth both had problems with our fingers not being tough enough

Like a pro

Our view for 9 hours

Almost there

You can see our guide waaay up there

Nice water hose, dork

Last pitch

Rewarded with a rainbow (after some nerve-wracking lightning)

Our rappel off the back side of the Flatiron. We had to bail slightly early due to the lightning

The reward

Superior Hiking Trail, Minnesota

A big reason that we selected Fabi to stay with us was that he enjoys doing outdoor activities. A favorite place of ours to hike is on the Superior Hiking Trail located along Lake Superior in northern Minnesota. The trip we did was 36.5 miles (59 km). We hiked for 2 full days and two partial days with 3 nights in the tent. While not anything like the Rocky Mountains, the Superior Trail is pretty in its own way and one has ample opportunities for beautiful vistas overlooking Lake Superior.

Luckily, Fabi brought most of the needed gear with him -- we only needed to rent a sleeping bag. We picked this up at REI in Minneapolis on the way -- it was about a 7.5 hour drive to our starting point.

One advantage to hiking in the spring is that the rivers are usually pretty high, which makes for some nice waterfalls. One disadvantage to hiking in the spring are the bugs -- for some reason, the mosquitos really seemed to like Fabi. He probably had 3 times as many bites as Seth and me.

There was a bog and wetlands along the route, which was one of the prettiest areas on our trip. Fabi felt pretty fortunate because he had waterproof hiking boots, whereas Seth and I had trail running shoes. Needless to say, we bought waterproof boots before our trip to Colorado.

One of the memorable parts of the trip was the day that it rained from morning through the evening. It made the next day without rain seem like a breeze.

After we were done hiking, we spent a night in Duluth. We visited the harbor, checked out the museum along the lake and did a little shopping. We stayed at an Airbnb which allowed us to get recommendations from someone who lived there.

Overall it was a great trip -- and we only had one left before Fabi returned to Germany.

His typical state while in the car

Pre-hike

Stopping for some water before we got to our first campsite

The rock where we enjoyed our supper. The view was much prettier than it seems

Our first campsite. I think this is the only fire we had. Thanks for the chairs, Annegret!

In the enchanted forest 

One of the many streams feeding into Lake Superior

Watch your step

Fully-loaded

Ragin' river

That's Lake Superior in the background. Stretches as far as the eye can see. Truly a huge lake

A steep section

Spring rains and winter melt made for full rivers

Lake Supeior

Only a few more miles!

Just take the picture already!

I think we all felt the same way, Fabi.