Embrace Your Inner Child at Play!

September 2016: Idaho Springs

Last September we had a friend from back home come out for a beautiful fall visit. As a long time friend of Matt’s, he knew he came to the right person(people) and the right place to find adventure on his vacation days!

One of the nights Matt and I decided to take him to a spot in the hills of Idaho Springs for a fairly easy little hike and his possible first back-country over-nighter – we had been there maybe once or twice for a day hike when there was snow and became fond of it.

As we were ascending, we had come upon a couple of big boulders amongst the trees that we decided to rest at and considered setting up camp.

Oh how I now love the idea of back-country camping for free in National Forest land!! …Who would’ve thought?!

As I sat there looking around at the beautiful scenery, my brain couldn’t help but become flooded with ideas of making a shelter out of the perfectly solid boulders right in front of us. We were surrounded by hundreds of incredibly tall but skinny fallen tree trunks and limbs.

Before I knew it, I was on a mission!!

One by one, I felt like I became Superwoman lifting up these gigantic limbs any way I could and carrying them to the boulders to form a structure. I first started laying them across the top of the two boulders to make a roof; there was a perfect area behind one of the boulders for me to stand pretty level with the top, making it not too difficult for me to carry and lay them up there.

I was EXHILARATED!!

Who would’ve guessed that something as childish as fort building out in the woods would elate me to such a level!?

Doing this all by myself reminded me just how strong, capable and creative I am! It’s easy for me to sometimes lose sight of that or even just lack the energy to give something my all. Well, not this day! I found something so precious within me this day that got me dreaming and playing like a kid again! I feel like this was yet another reminder to me that I finally felt and lived firsthand, just how important it is to never lose not only the voice of your inner child, but your energy of your inner child as well.

Matt shows me this all the time by just being himself :).

After a few hours of hauling trees back and forth, back and forth, I noticed the boys finally starting to take notice of what I was creating and then they quickly jumped aboard. I was indeed very grateful for the help to get my vision moving, but also extremely grateful that I got a whole few hours or so of getting lost playing as a “kid” in the eternally alluring woods I never experienced growing up.

The boys couldn’t believe all that I had accomplished alone while they were off or around doing who-knows-what; the only attention I paid was to what I was doing!

With them now helping, we all ended up getting so enthralled with this project that we continued to work on it into the night – with headlamps lighting the way until 10 or 11pm!

We just HAD to get it done! 

I was truly having one of the greatest times of my life and didn’t want to stop until it was finished! I’m sure the boys could say close to the same – but surely couldn’t be nearly as invested as I was.

We finally ended up calling it a night since I had to work the next day, and I believe his friend was leaving early to go back to Illinois. Matt and I were able to set up our double hammock inside of the fort that night and had our first ever attempt at sharing the dang thing.

Yes, the dang thing…

which is supposedly made for two people technically, but we found out REAL quick that we did not agree with that marketing.

Being the heavy sleeper that I am, I didn’t have nearly as much trouble sleeping as poor Matt. But hey, at least we gave it a try!! At least it definitely looked really cool – ha!

Although, we realized after that, that we may need to try fitting both of our single hammocks in there instead – or just straight up leveling out the ground to have a proper “bed” space.

Here my inner-child goes again…

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One of our greatest ideas was using straightening out our rainfly on the ceiling to prevent any precipitation from seeping through the small spaces in the log roof – genius!

Another great thing is that the inside is so spacious you can fully stand up and walk around in it! We even have a “backdoor” and “balcony” off the back that perfectly allowed us to climb up onto one of the supporting boulders and have a beautiful view out into the hills, directly facing Mt. Evans.

And as silly and ironic as it sounds, this fort also brought light to both Matt and I’s memories of a childhood obsession to one day have a house with a tree growing through the middle of it!!? Both of us!

We have had many of these ironies in the somewhat short time of knowing each other. But anyway, this tree was awesome in so many ways – perfectly just being itself – and just so happened to be the center of attention inside our creation without us initially knowing!

Pure child-like magic!! 🙂 

 

The next day after our friend and I left early morning, Matt was “off to work” and took it upon himself to make the finishing touches to the fort. He spent a good little chunk of time hauling some quite heavy stones to line the perimeter of the fort to make it a little more stable.

After doing that, he definitely ended up putting in just as many hours as I did! In total, it took us short of two days but there are definitely still some upgrades that we would both love to add at some point.

(I sadly have only mostly videos at this point in time which can’t be uploaded onto this platform; will eventually change that!)

 

We now have a lasting memory and physical space in the mountains we can return to! It’s so neat visiting it during the changes of every season. It will hopefully also inspire and give shelter to any other adventurers who may stumble upon it!

Who knows – maybe we will become The Mysterious Serial Fort Builders……. ;).

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~~ My challenge to you is to go get out in nature TODAY – even if it’s only just for 15 min!!~~

Go to as secluded and peaceful of a place as you can find and just sit and listen.

Meditate; see what comes to you!

Maybe you will start feeling nostalgic and end up freeing and embracing your inner child?

Have fun, reflect, and enjoy this time! 🙂

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Steamboat Springs, CO

February 2017: Fish Creek Trail & Strawberry Hot Springs

Photo Credit: Kirsten Shoup

 

My birthday is in early February, usually the same exact week as blizzard madness in the Midwest and Superbowl Sunday. Not being a big fan of either, I’ve always shown my true Aquarius colors by gravitating towards water.

Growing up I had birthday after birthday spent at an indoor pool with friends, usually at a hotel of some sort. Ice cream cake was the only way to make those hotel pool parties even cooler! Pretending like there was no snow always seemed to do me well for being “stuck” with a winter birthday.

This year now being in Colorado, I immediately found myself in search of water all over again! Water to swim in isn’t nearly as available in Colorado without icky chlorine or it being ice cold because it’s snow melt. However, having a birthday in February here is not even half as bad as it is in Illinois. You can’t escape the snow, ice, and face-stinging temperatures in Illinois! They are there to stay. Here you have the most beautiful winter wonderland you could imagine, with the sun still so hot and shining so bright that you nearly get amnesia three days later after the snow has all miraculously disappeared and you’re getting too hot in the sun!?

Anyway, I decided that is was finally time to seek out a natural hot spring that I was eyeing for quite some time. Another couple that was joining us agreed that the spot in Steamboat Springs seemed perfect. Strawberry Hot Springs was near a hiking trail called Fish Creek Trail, around 4.6 miles. We figured we could go for a quick hike and then relax the rest of the day in the warm springs!

The hike alone was hands down the coolest winter hike I have ever done; Steamboat had just gotten a huge dumping of snow the day before, making it somehow look almost like a fairyland! The creek was alongside the trail, which had snow piled up so high on what I assumed were rocks beneath, that it looked like numerous layered snow “bubbles” coming out of the ground! You could only hear and barely see the brief openings down into the icy cold water flowing below. How cool.

What made it even more fun was the sketchy and steep bear-climbing we did to get up to the high point of the largest – and completely frozen – waterfall I have ever witnessed!! We snapped a quick pic, and slid on our butts back down to then head to the springs. It was so. much. fun. I bet this hike is AWESOME in the summer as well!

Best Adventure Friends!

Layered “bubbles”; Photo Credit: Kirsten Shoup

Frozen Waterfall; Photo Credit: Kirsten Shoup

 

 

After making it to the hot springs, I was quite surprised at how many people were there; given that it was Superbowl Sunday! There was still plenty of room though for us to enjoy our time. What a crazy feeling it was though to be freezing your booty off in your bathing suit(when in the shade) while looking at all the snow-covered ground surrounding you. You start asking yourself what the heck you’re doing… almost just like when you find yourself on the top of a mountain 14,000 ft + above sea level and in the clouds! It definitely wasn’t as extreme as that though as you may have guessed…

Sucking it up, I started to follow my friends right into the “medium” pool as we called it and quickly jumped back; holy hot water!! Was I really that naive that I didn’t realize that natural hot springs are as hot, if not hotter, than a hot tub?! Due to my fair and “sensitive” skin, I have always had issues with real hot water; it has always taken me what seems like 15 minutes just to dip a toe in! Eventually I was able to tolerate it and was super thrilled just to be able to relax in the comforting water and watch the beautiful sun setting.

The springs had 2-3 other pools connected to it; a quite chilly pool flowed into the medium pool, with a very tiny hot tub shaped area for two in between that was more my preferred temperature, and then another bigger pool that flowed from the medium pool and was even hotter.

WHAT?! Who are these freaks of nature that can tolerate THAT hot of water??

There were definitely not nearly as many people in the hottest pool, and most were just dipping their feet or legs in. No comfort here. I did also see someone with what looked like the cupping technique marks on his back, so I believe there are some type of spa services offered there as well. Next time I would love to check into that!

A hangout cove; Photo Credit: Kirsten Shoup

“Medium” and Hotter Pools; Photo Credit: Kirsten Shoup

As the sun was setting, we decided that we were as relaxed as relaxed could get, so we headed back home before seeing what the “night life” was like at the springs. More and more people were still entering as we were leaving. Must have been the “nudists” that I had heard about ;-P. Might also be fun for the next time…

Overall, this trip is highly recommended- even in the winter! I would actually prefer the hot springs only in the cooler months, as I can’t imagine being any hotter in general, unless it’s during a cooler night. I WILL be returning!

Go and check Steamboat out for yourself! Let me know your experiences!

Strawberry Hot Springs

Fish Creek Falls Trail

 

Allenspark, CO

My hammock & rainfly set up over the only snow-free ground in sight.

April 2016: Sandbeach Lake Trailhead

After moving to Colorado in February of 2016, we were anxious to spend our first night out in the wilderness backcountry camping as official Colorado residents! For me, it would be my very first backcountry trip ever, and as for Matt – he couldn’t say the same. He left the destination of the trip up to me this time, and I of course was searching the map for any sign of water (Aquarius – represent!). Sandbeach Lake: north of Nederland, 8.8 mile round trip, backcountry camping – sounded good to me!

This would also be the very first time I was completely loading up my brand new pack, sleeping bag and all, although it was extremely gracious of Matt to take the heavier 0° bag and let me carry the slightly lighter 20° one. My bag ended up weighing in a little over 30 lbs and Matt’s nearly 50 lbs. Mine was definitely a load, but didn’t seem like it would be too bad!

We started the trail at Sandbeach Lake in the increasingly warm sun, with close to no other hikers in sight. It was a beautiful sunny day with a cool breeze. I was starting to remove layers early on in the hike with much shock at the warmth and dryness April was already bringing. No. snow. in. sight.

I was definitely getting excited at how well I was carrying my new pack with all my different weather gear! Until — about a couple miles in we passed a couple of hikers, maybe in their 50’s or so, with trekking poles that casually warned us of the snow ahead. No problem, we thought. Must not be THAT bad if THEY are coming back from it just fine, considering their age and all…

So we kept hiking, and sure enough ran into that snow they were talking about. DEEP snow too. It seemed to have almost come out of nowhere! The path itself wasn’t even in visibility, but we decided to not let that deter us and kept going. Luckily, with the slight openings in the trees and a previous snowshoer’s faint marks on the ground, we had enough faith that we could still find our way to the lake.

Step after step, we continued to fall through the snow; it often was reaching up to our mid thighs! At this point it was getting quite tough and quite tiring, but also made for a fun challenge! With even less faith now of ever making it there, we for whatever reason persisted. This 4.4 mile one way turned into a near 5.5 hour trek into the unknown.

But alas, the snowshoer didn’t lead us astray after all! We found ourselves right at the mouth of what must have been Sandbeach Lake. With my ignorance, I still expected to actually see a lake; instead, snow covered everything in sight. However, it was FAR from a letdown! The stillness, remoteness of location, and breathtaking beauty of this snow-covered winter wonderland far exceeded my expectations. It was absolutelybeautiful. . .

After that long, tiring journey I was ready to not move for a bit. We were able to find a front and center spot by the lake in a couple of trees next to each other to sleep near. The only, I repeat only, patch of ground in sight that wasn’t covered by snow just so happened to be the perfect place for my hammock to be set up over. Matt didn’t get as lucky with his spot, but he didn’t seem to mind much. We set up our hammocks and rainflys, chowed down on what we wished was a hot meal, and then collapsed. As night hit, we were bundled up with every last warm layer of clothing and feet warmers that we had. It was a coooold cold night, but we made it through.

I was waking up here and there throughout the night due to the coldness, but was also restless with images in my head of marmots, bears, and other wild animals nibbling on my fingertips that were sticking out of the hammock – I hadn’t even heard about mountain lions at this point, but was definitely glad looking back that it was one less thing I had to worry about!

It didn’t help that my mind was probably drawing this illusion of nibbling animals from an actual real-life event: There is a duct taped patch on the top of my sleeping bag from a marmot that tried chewing a hole through to get to a food wrapper inside! I was luckily not the one using it when this happened, but am apparently living with the PTSD every time I use it now! Ha. I now know why it is so important to eat food far enough away from your sleeping area and to never leave wrappers behind either – the physical reminder of the duct tape won’t let me forget ever again!!

The next morning we were dreading our hike back. Expecting the trip back to take just as long, we rose with the sun, took down camp in the bitter cold shadows of the hills, and were on our way. I had to work in Denver at the salon that early afternoon and we still had the whole exhausting hike back to the car, 1.5 hr drive home, and showering/getting ready part to do. Yep, we’re crazy. We also only had one cell phone with us to use for the time, and that was on its last leg of battery. The fear was definitely settling in.

To our surprise, we ended up actually having a slightly easier time avoiding a lot of the fall-through areas in the snow and shaved off maybe an hour or two!! We realized that the early morning snow-covered ground was still frozen enough from the night before to withstand our weight, but that once the hot Colorado sun hits it for a bit it will start to soften and therefore we would fall through. We continued to tread lightly and quickly, and were able to estimate the time with the handy fingers between the sun and horizon line trick to be confident we were staying on track. I was able to validate with the phone once or twice before it died that we were.

SUCCESS!!

We finally made it back to the car, home to shower and get ready for work, and arrived on time to start my day of clients by the early afternoon – Boy, did I have quite the story to tell of the most eventful past 24 hrs leading right up to the entrance of the salon doors!? I almost felt as if I was just telling a tale from a foreign land, so opposite of the indoor city life. There was definitely much to reflect on here.

After the longest, most exhausting, and coldest yet most beautiful backcountry experience out at Sandbeach Lake, I realized: If I can do that, I can do anything!!! 

Sometimes those hard and treacherous experiences are the most rewarding! I am so thankful for challenging myself to see what I’m made of, and now I feel the drive to not stop here!

We plan on returning when the snow is gone to see what was hiding just beneath us that weekend that we couldn’t see! Here is the website’s trip report info with more pictures:

Sandbeach Lake Trailhead

I encourage you to go check it out for yourself! Or maybe there is a nearby conservation site or park you have yet to check out? Don’t let the weather stop you!! Chances are, you’ll end up having quite an experience with stories you will never forget to tell :).

What kind of adventures are you going to have? What’s stopping you from going out to explore the unknown and resurfacing your inner badass?

-KS