Meant Green: Colorado trip with the fam

There's something pretty remarkable about returning in different family combinations of people for over sixty years to the same few cabins. Speaking of time, the National Park system is 100 years old in 2016! Thought I'd throw that in there, it's so amazing how far we've come protecting what is so beautiful and perfect. (All pics are my own unless otherwise stated).

The fourteener, Long's Peak. We admired it from all sides, just not the top : /

My grandfather began the tradition when he came to Estes Park for a conference in the early sixties, and decided to come back again with his family of three boys (one of which is my papa!) and his wife. Forward to Sept. 2015 and Cody and I just got back from my fourth trip (his first) to the YMCA of the Rockies.

There's so many reasons to be thankful for trips like these.

Nothing in life stays constant though sometimes things feel slow. We've moved many miles from home for school and work, and my career field of the ever-vast realm of sustainability constantly challenges me. That's why it's so special to recognize the same view of snowcapped peaks and Ponderosa pines once every decade or so from the same cabin porch each September (more now that I'm out of public school, or any school for that matter).

As nice as it was to get out of town and visit some of my family we hadn't seen since the wedding, there was a dark side to the trip! I got hit by altitude sickness for the first time - cue nausea and headaches. I'd say the culmination was an epic vomiting scene in a gorgeous grove of Aspen trees.
ROUGH.

I don't do sick, and there were about three days I wasn't able to hike. My dad got some of it too, genetics I guess! We weren't even able to eat the slow cooker meals Cody and I slaved over for about five minutes each morning. Pulled pork and jambalaya are NOT recovery foods sadly.

Not bad for having puked twenty minutes earlier, right?!

We made three major hikes in the park (~ 6 miles, lol) that were each beautiful and different. It's easy to end up in "green tunnels" in heavily forested areas without a plan, so we aimed for diverse landscapes that included some stunning waterfalls, places to rest and enjoy the view and a riparian (by the water) meadow complete with a trout stream.

If you're going to Rocky Mountain National Park, we recommend these hikes:

Ouzel Falls Hike on the Western side (plenty of streams and a special gray bird that dips and dives along the rapids, the Ouzel!)
Lake Hiyaha on the Western side (giant boulders around a glacial lake)
Driving over Trail Ridge Road (bring oxygen, but the view is worth it)
Big Meadows Hike on the Eastern side (stunning meadow, great napping by the trout stream)

Gear:
September being my birthday month (thanks to mom and dad) I got to try out some wonderfully light and strong hiking boots from Lowa that are going to carry me to the day when we get to hike the Appalachian Trail. I just know we are! They don't have a steel shank so you go far and fast and don't want to throw your boots over a cliff at the end of the day.

Sweet, sweet boots.

I lived in this pullover from Patagonia, Aztec is everywhere and this is no exception - it's so fun for a fleece!! You can see me rocking it in the post-puking pic above the boots. Also, you can't beat Patagonia's business model. As a B-Corporation, they take care of the earth, their employees and their bottom line. Supporting companies like this makes the price 100% worth it for me. Plus it'll last, I just wish it had pockets!