On Wednesday last week I sat with my coworker Carole in my office discussing our Labor Day weekend plans. It also happens to be her boyfriend Chuck's birthday. Her question to me "You're a guy, what would you like to do if it was your birthday?" Now you have to understand how excited I get when I am asked such a thing. You see I have a beautiful wife and two awesome daughters. At work I am one of a handful of men. In other words I am outnumbered. Males are in short supply and I am often reminded of my minority status. So I fight back every Christmas by buying my girls something that is not pink or purple. I prefer to buy remote control cars or soccer balls etc. I jump at the chance to buy a boys gift if the need arises just so I can say I did. Ok off subject... anyway Carole and I began discussing Aspen and the Maroon Bells because my 4yr old's soccer teammate had gone there the week before. Of course I heard it from her mother because that is my circle. She explained how there is a bus that takes you to the top and they had an awesome time with their 3 kids hiking up there. Therefore I Googled Maroon Bells and we were quickly entranced by the beauty. Not to mention my realization that as a Coloradan born and bred that I have never been to Aspen in all my 38 years. That was it. Carole was excited and so was I. The challenging part was I have four people to get ready for the 2 hour drive while Carole had 2. Did I mention both of those were adults?
Any parent will attest that it takes at least twice as long to do anything with kids especially when one is a 4-year-old pre-schooler. The plan then was to get up early because we needed to get there BEFORE lunch and certaninly BEFORE nap time which is around 2 p.m. Well we left Junction at 10 which put us in Aspen approximatley noonish. We still had to find the bus stop and the bus that would take us up to those majestic peaks of which I had been dreaming about since Wednesday afternoon. Something you should know about me. Once I have a plan stuck in my head that is the way I want things to go. So we left late. No biggie. Again I have not taken into account my preschooler. The entire trip I am thinking of the breathtaking beauty of a place called Crater Lake. Its approximately 3.6 miles round trip from the parking lot where we would be dropped off. Everything I read said it would take 2-3 hours. In pre-school steps that is definitely a 3 hour hike maybe 4 and again I am still confident we will accomplish my goal.
The Maroon Bells are everything I had seen on the web. Their peaks at over 14,000 feet jutted with rocks reminded me somewhat of the Grand Tetons. In those shadows we ate our peanut butter sandwiches and talked about the hike that was about to commence. That was my first warning from my wife. "You know we are not going to make it to Crater Lake today." What I heard was "We might not be able to make the hike to Crater Lake." Its my wife's job to keep me grounded and my grandiose plans realistic. I simply replied "We'll see." As we walked down toward the lake at the bottom of the bells I could only think how beautiful it was and how I was glad we had made the trip. We trekked along the scenic loop trail as I was trying to ascertain if I could push my luck on the bigger trip.It was windy and partly cloudy so I had a watchful eye on the sky. In the high country those clouds could unleash rain, sleet, hail, whatever. We have been caught more than once in such weather and it was usually because of my set ways. Just a few more steps. We'll be at the top and back before it gets here. Inevitably I was eating crow hiding under pine trees shielding my girls. Just as we were about to come to the crossroads it happened. Left we go to Crater Lake which I was sure was more majestic than what we were seeing and posssibily fewer people. Right would take us back to the dreaded bus and down the mountain. As I was about to start my diatribe about we should give Crater lake a try nap time hit. With her arms extended to be picked up Ava says "Mommy I'm tired." That's it I knew I was done for. Four years old and 35 lbs we would not be carrying her four miles. One mile for each year she was alive! Its an awkward age to attempt hikes with her. She is too heavy for the backpack carrier but not quite big enough to do more than a mile or so with. Granted we gave ourselves all the disadvantages by starting late. The one thing I cannot say about my daughter is that she is wimpy. I truly believe in my heart of hearts that if we had been up there a few hours earlier the day would have turned out differently.
So we hiked back to the bus station or really trudged. My wife carrying our little love while I carried my disappointment at such a short hike for such a long ride. I kept saying "man a 4 hour round trip for a little over an hour hike. So not worth it." I told my oldest who is 13 that we would return just the two of us so we could accomplish my goal. She's a teenager so I could literally see the excitement in her eyes about getting to leave her friends behind so she could hang with her old man for an entire day. That was it we loaded up into the truck and started for home. I technically had still not been to Aspen. Aspen is a little more to the south from where we were. I did get to see the Maroon Bells though. We had not even hit the highway and my little baby was out. No complaints just downright tired. I headed for home and trying not to be disappointed. I mean I got to see half what I had came for. I was able to spend the entire day with my family, no cells, no computers. As we rounded into the Debeque Canyon knowing that we were only 20 minutes from home I still had that nagging thought, "Was it worth it." My answer came shortly when my baby woke up after almost 2 hours and the first words out of her mouth were "Mommy we had fun hiking (she pronounces it biking) today." Yep there was my answer. Traveling with family has its challenges but their experiences make it all worth while.
