Mountaineering

www.hikingforacure.com

Some people like to spend their winter holiday in warm places, heading south. We like to head "up" and spend our holiday in the mountains, which is what we did for a few days after Christmas this year, hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. This photo shows Stephanie and Chase enjoying the view across frozen Mills Lake.

First hike of 2018.

Today’s hike was short - a 45 minute late afternoon saunter since Stephanie is recovering from a cold - a 1.3 mile loop out of Blair.

Temps about 30, blue sky, no wind, and a packed snowy trail.

Mont Orford

Took a group of slower students down an easier way to get to the top of this mountain. Slightly harder to motivate them to push on but it's all about creating small goals for them to try and get to. We made our way at a slow and steady pace higher up the ski hill. Which was the easier way due to being much shorter but very inclined the whole way. Nonetheless we made it past the half way mark before the rest of the group caught up on there way down.

Did the full hike last weekend and would recommend it if you're in the area. It really works you're mental strength as the first half is very hard and shows no signs of getting easier! Little do you know you're in for a treat past the halfway point when you realize there isn't much elevation gain after that.

8.5/10 would definitely hike again!

In late August 2016 park officials visited to inspect the first segment of the trail, extending from the head of Tutka Bay to an alpine valley.

Dawn from our campsite

Brief clearing on the mountain.

Low visibility on the hike in.