Day 23. Snow good!

Tuesday January 31, 2023

I woke up and chilled with Rob, Ashley, the kids and the dogs. Rob gets a few days to work from home so he was able to hang with me again for another hour or so... awesome.

Then it was on to Breckinridge and I was hoping to be there by noon-ish. The roads were clear, no snowstorms and already my next two hosts were spectacular.

Dave and Patty Smith worked as Air Traffic controllers and had also moved their way up to become supervisors and managers in the same facility as me back in NY. They always treated people like people no matter where they were in their careers and that still resonated with me as I let them know I was leaving for their place.

"Whenever you show up is fine! We'll be here and Patty is ready to go for a cross country ski or snow-shoe trek...whatever you want to do! We have all the gear you'll ever need don't worry about a thing..."

I mean do people get any better than that!?

The drive across and through the mountains was spectacular too...the views of snow capped mountains all around are just crazy! To think a few days ago I was in a canyon "below the earths surface" and here I am climbing above the tree line into thinner air.

As I pulled around their road into their neighborhood I notice the houses are tremendous. A woodsy log cabin look ...but without the logs lol. Actually that description doesn't do them justice. I mean, the homes had these exposed, wide wood support beams both inside and out, the construction just oozing strength with rock foundations and metal features that give it this mountainy, rustic, yet modern feel all combined into one. With snow covered landscape views all around them.

Stunning.

I arrived around closer to 1:00pm and after a warm welcome that felt like we were family, Patty and I decided to do a hike to Hallelujah Hut! It's just under a two mile hike in and another two out. It begins on "Peak Trail" and ends up on "Heavens Gate" trail...we'll just have to catch a little cutoff trail that connects these two.

Patty thinks the cutoff is about a mile and a half in and as we soon realized we were over that by about a quarter mile we started pulling out phones and stuff. How could we miss the trail? Did Heavens Gate close on us? How could that happen!?

I mean I think I've been pretty good most of my life and from what I see of Patty she's a pretty darn good Christian too! So why would St. Peter close Heavens Gate on us!?

I mean the Smith's took me in and I look like I could fill a biblical roll of the unshaven, the dirty, the off the street 'sinner' so that's gotta be worth somethin' on their side no? And for me, well I volunteer and give money at church, I call my mom, well, a lot and heck I even let that guy on the highway cut in front of me the other day even thought there was clearly not enough room and I didn't even get mad! Rolling your eyes isn't mad right? There is no , "Thou shalt not roll ones eyes" anywhere that I can remember anyway. So I'm thinking Heavens gate should be flung wide open no!?

Could it be 'cuz of that one time I short-sheeted my little brothers bed? I mean he was nine that's what you do right? I think I mighta hit him in the head with a pillow once too...but he was snoring SOOO loud! Oh and there was the time I froze my coworkers tie in the middle of this huge bucket of water in the freezer at the Friendly's (local ice cream chain shop) we worked in together...wow you should've seen his face when he came in ...priceless! Could that be why the Pearly Gate was closed!??

Grumbling a little and asking forgiveness for how my little brother turned out, we double backed to see what the heck was going on. Oh! All we did was apparently miss the cutoff and hiked a bit past it! We also quickly realized that it wasn't our fault - somebody removed the sign we were looking for! Feeling forgiven and hiking another half mile we came around a bend and Hallelujah! There it was! A hut! No wonder they call it the Hallelujah Hut! Cuz it's stinking' cold up here and I think I might of lost a digit or two trying to use my phone for navigation so it feels like Heaven right now!

The temperatures were around twelve degrees and we were hiking at about an elevation of nine thousand feet so it was good to be able to warm ourselves up a bit. It also just felt great to be outside in the forest air...wow so invigorating! Maybe it was because I had acclimated at Base Camp one and two the few days prior in Fountain and Denver but I didn't really feel out of breath all that bad either.

I definitely had some tired legs though as Patty, Dave and myself made our way over to the town of Breckinridge for some dinner and to check out the town. Let me tell ya if you've never been to Breckinridge it is definitely a worthy stop! There are tons of shops, all with their own personality - painted different colors and lit up with Christmas type lights. Even the streets had lights strung around creating this atmosphere that felt somewhat Nordic, somewhat Christmas ski town vibe, somewhat vacation feel and even though the temperatures were in the single digits it felt warm and inviting. My hosts were on top of everything and knew exactly where to grab an amazing Mexican meal with tremendous margaritas...

So good. Somebody must like us Upstairs lol.

After that perfect meal they wanted to show me the local snow carving competition that was going on in town so we walked over to it and wow so cool to see! All the artists were given the same size block of snow to work with and from there they could carve away what they needed in order to leave their vision remaining. Incredible to see - and being lit up at night just even more spectacular....

Funny I would've taken more shots of the sculptures but it was so cold out I had trouble getting the iPhone to register my finger actually touching the phone - crazy!

The walk back to the car was awesome and just noticing all the little bars or eateries that would be so cool to just hang out in and have a pint or whatever and chill for awhile. Really good vibe here.

Definitely hoping to return here for a long weekend or the like...maybe summertime even when there are other outdoor activities to partake in!

Inside

The warmth of friends and family will always surpass any single digit temperature experience.

As Dave and Patty walked side by side in front of me through the village there was a little desire to return to this village and share the experience with a partner also!

Outside

So glad I switched up the days to travel here because even though it was cold the night air was still and the temps were actually just a bit warmer than days prior. To walk those trails, to breathe in the night air in an amazing little town...really is an experience to inhale yourself...

Not inhale that way whaddya thinking'? I mean it is Colorado but geez!

Upside

Turning non-cycling weather into an adventure in the snow of its own. Months back I pictured steep climbs in the Olympic cycling atmosphere of Colorado to stoke my soul...but so glad I got to experience the quiet solitude of hiking with snow-shoes and summiting in "Heaven"!

downside

The margarita was pretty huge and when that happens I tend to want to dance...on the bar...but Patty and Dave whisked me outta there pretty quick. : )

Every which Way but East

Going to stay with the Smith's another day and maybe...try a little sno-boarding! Feeling a little nervous having not done it in a few years and with a new knee replacement and all. I know what my daughter would say...Dad! What are you doing!

We'll see...