Day 2: Green Mountain

Today was good. Really, really good. We woke up early, at just 5:30, and were on the road, heading out of Nebraska by 6:15. We grabbed our first Holiday Inn Express cinnamon roll of the trip, four cups of kinda crappy coffee, and didn’t look back. The drive to Boulder was uneventful, except for when we first entered Colorado. There is just something about this state that seems to make all our complaints, and issues, and grumpiness disappear. I’m actually convinced Trump isn’t even president when we’re here.

We arrived in Boulder and drove past University of Colorado-Boulder. We’ve heard that it’s nicknamed the “Ranger Factory” and it’s been on Ellie’s short list of college goals for many years now. I spent a moment thinking about life with her in college here (or anywhere), then panicked that it’s going to become a reality too soon.

We found our way to the parking lot of the trailhead only to find that every parking spot was taken and we were in a long snake of a line for the few that were becoming available. We scratched the plan of using that trailhead and found a different one a few miles up the mountain. Many good things came from that. First, we found plenty of (free!) parking. Next, those couple of miles that we drove up the mountain came right off of our planned hike. Our planned elevation gain went from 2,000 to 700. Also, the milage went from 5 to 3. Now, there is little doubt in my mind that we could have done 2,000 feet in about 2.5 miles heading to the summit, but that seemed so ambitious for Day 2. Instead, we were able to really enjoy every moment of our first hike of RTXIX and didn’t have to deal with exhausted legs. I hate to say that it was easy, because we did summit a mountain, but it certainly wasn’t difficult.

The hike was beautiful. I immediately felt at peace and knew that I was where I was meant to be. Ellie described the air as light and I tried to convince her that the right word to descibe it is thin. But, after reflecting on it, I think she’s right. Of course it takes us a few days to adjust to the elevation, but everything else feels light. The stresses that we carried this year seemed to disappear. The worries of, well, everything shifted to the back burner. Walking was lighter. Our conversations were lighter and full of laughter. Everything was just better.

Although the hike itself wasn’t too intense, the summit was still so rewarding. We scrambled to the tippy top of Green Mountain, realized that we forgot our summit beer in the car, took a bunch of selfies, and enjoyed the views. At the summit we had our first of many PBJ&C of RTXIX. (Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with Cheetos. Ellie’s the only one who actually puts the Cheetos on her sandwich.) Zak and I enviously eyed other hikers who hadn’t forgotten their summit beers. Rookie mistake of ours. The hike down was quick and enjoyable and we enjoyed the stunning wildflowers and butterflies.

Once we returned to the car, we made the quick drive to Denver and checked into our first Kimpton of the trip. We were greeted warmly at the Kimpton Monaco Denver and were pleasently surprised with a lovely bottle of wine when we used the summer social password. (If you’re staying at any Kimpton this summer, be sure to say “Off Duty” for a fun treat!) We were also gifted a sweet upgrade! This is why we love you Kimpton! (That and the fact you team up with The Trevor Project every June and celebrate diversity, self-acceptance, and inclusivity year round.) It’s also the only hotel chain where I will walk barefoot in the rooms and drink non-bottled water.

Our evening plans are pretty sound. After we finish laying around in our underwear writing these posts we’re heading to wine hour. Then, we’re going to a bar somewhere in Denver for the Dispatch pre-show party. I know Zak has all his appendages crossed that the band actually shows up, but I’m looking forward to hanging out with the Dispatch fan community.

Day 2 was most definitely better than Day 1, so our worst fear didn’t come true!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.