Wednesday morning we loaded up and drove to White Ranch, an area outside of Arvada where we were going to do some hiking and climbing. We packed in a picnic lunch, climbing gear and plenty of water. This was a try-out climb/hike so that those going on the Long's Peak climb could get used to their packs and climbing.
Here we are at the trail head (minus Dad). Front row, l to r: Carter, Josh, Luke, Brooke, Courtney and Zach. Back row, l to r: Mike, Bryan, Michelle, Julie, Andrew, David and Ethan.
The hike up wasn't too bad and it was only 1 mile. The kids did a great job and had fun as they were going along.
After our 1 mile hike in, we got to the camp area where we ate lunch. The kids got to climb all over the smaller rocks there and the climbers (plus Ethan) got into their climbing gear. Ethan was pretty excited to be climbing.
We hiked down to where they were going to climb and then watched as Grandpa tried to find a path up the rock. It was harder than it looked at first and he ended up just hiking around to the top and throwing the rope down. Then the climbing began. Ethan had a rough time because his legs really weren't long enough to get good footholds and then he hit his knee and scratched it pretty badly. So he was frustrated and didn't get to climb. But he got to watch everyone else and see how it was done.
Courtney played with her cousins and cried because she wanted to climb too but we didn't have gear her size.
The climbers had to hurry because the storm clouds were starting to roll in. After a while, the kids were starting to get antsy and wanting to go back so I took some of them back to the camp area to wait.
After a while the rest of the family came up to finish out picnic with us and then we went back down the mountain and back to Grandma and Grandpa's house. But the kids that didn't get to climb wanted to. So Grandpa took us to the APEX Center near their house so they could climb.
Here he is like the pied piper with the kids following behind him:
Ethan was a bit afraid of the heights but he could scramble up the wall.
Here he is getting checked by Grandpa to make sure everything is secure.
Here is a video of Courtney going up the climbing wall:
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