This is why we live in Colorado... Last Friday we picked a random trail and went for a family hike near Mt. Evans, one of the 54 mountains in Colorado that is over 14,000 feet. We began our hike at 9,400ft and finished in a large bowl called "Hell's Hole." The elevations was 11,600. The trip was eight miles roundtrip and took us about six hours, give or take a half hour or so for lunch.

We passed a lot of "snowmelt" streams. The area was so green and lush and covered with wildflowers, a surprising contrast to the desert of Denver.The gray colored mountain in the background is Wolf Mountain, just a little under 14,000. Had we been without kids and no thunder claps in the background, we would have gone for it! Goint eight miles in six hours sounds fairly weak until you consider a 2200ft elevation gain with kids strapped to our backs... and... oh, yeah! I had a baby three months ago!!

We get a lot of funny looks from people who pass us and see the number of kids we have in tow. Our motto: "Kids don't stop your life, they just slow it down a little!" We've just had to figure out a different way of doing the things we love.
One way we manage to get three kids up the mountain is that we've talked Uncle Howard into being our pack mule. The boys love being carried and there is lots of silliness that goes on between them. As you can see from the photo above, they have their own private joke going on. When Uncle Howard is not around, Patrick carries Daniel on his back and Eli on his front. I carry Caleb on my back --- and we do much shorter hikes!