Give me some of that wild fox medicine
-Nahko and Medicine For the People
But keep me here in this wild present tense
Fully supported on new lover’s chest
Dawning adventures sparkle, get some rest
We’re back in Colorado! Our first stop was Boulder where we decided to tackle Green Mountain. The drive from Kearney was perfectly uneventful. For some reason we didn’t even have cell service at all today so I spent the entire 5.5 hours singing along with the Road Trip playlilst. And then, once we made it through the whole thing for the first time, the Progressive Dinner playlist. We got our first glimpse of the Rockies as snow capped peaks that nearly blended in with the clouds and caused us to second guess whether they were real. We’d probably been seeing them for miles without even realizing.
As the mountains got larger the spirit of the trip started feeling more present. The endless miles of highway quickly morphed into visions of steep, winding, rocky trails and the indefatigable scent pine in the air. We pulled into our intended trail head and quickly realized that 10:30 on a Saturday morning was not going to give us any time alone in the cathedral. In fact, we couldn’t even find a parking spot.
Fortunately, the paper map I’d printed proved its worth and we were able to locate an alternate trail that would take us to our destination. Mercifully, it would also cut two miles and 1,300 feet of gain off the hike. We’d all been a bit apprehensive about climbing from 6,000 to 8,000 feet after being at 600 for the past many months. The West Ridge of Green Mountain proved to be the perfect starting point for our trip. The trail was perfect. It was rocky, steep in places, lined with wildflowers and trees budding with new growth, and presented views of the entire Front Range.
I did feel the thinness of the air at several of the steeper sections, especially near the summit, but otherwise it was a quick and easy hike to the top. It was a bit strange being on a summit, but still well below tree line. I think this may be the lowest elevation mountain we’ve climbed. The views in some directions were actually blocked by trees! We were able to spot Long’s Peak, the defining 14er of Rocky Mountain National Park, and Mt. Bierstadt the first 14er we successfully climbed. There were also views to the East over Boulder and Denver. We spent a bit of time at the rock formation that makes up the actual high point of the mountain and then came down to enjoy our PBJ&C’s and give other groups a chance to sit on the top.
Another perk of shortening the hike a bit was that we are now soaking in the comfort of Kimpton Monaco Denver with whisky and wine in hand. This evening we’ll enjoy wine hour and then head to the Dispatch pre-party where we’ll do our best to have some dinner, enjoy the special collaboration beer, and get excited for tomorrow’s show.
