Maroon Bells: Day 0
Maroon Bells: Day 0
7/17/2022
Los Angeles - Denver - Snow Mass
No actual miles hiked
We made it to what I hope will be our now annual backpacking adventure. And in true fashion our hiking group was off to a great start (read: bumpy start).
The alarm went off at 3am and two snooze punches later we were crawling out of bed. I mean, who books a 6:30am flight anyway, Jake?? Anywho, we had been up way too late packing last night which left a trail doggo super suspicious. There was many palcation attempts with pets, kisses, and a peanut butter filled kong as we left the apartment. Naturally, we had forgotten something so we were already turning back before we reached the end of the hall. After locking the door the second time we were stopped mid-step to a trail doggo barking his displeasure at clearly being left behind on some epic adventure. Once again, we were turning around and this time placing the empty and not working citronella collar and adding a second peanut butter kong. Punishment and bribery, parents of the year right here.
Despite all that, we were actually leaving on time.
Shocking, I know. Don’t worry, the group gets back to the normal rolls and punches soon.
After parking at the LAX economy lot, which isn’t so economy anymore….but I digress, we stumbled under our gear bags to the airport shuttle bus. Jake, well ahead of me, dropped his bags in the bus and then GOT. OFF. THE. BUS. (to apparently use the restroom) I run and yell as the bus shuts its door in preparation to leave. Jake realized just in time the mistake he made and gets the bus driver to reopen the doors and we jumped on.
So after three attempts to leave the apartment and almost losing Jake’s gear on a bus, we made it on the plane to DIA and that is what matters I suppose. I pulled my sleep mask down to get some much needed zzz’s but was poked frequently to look at “the amazing view” and “didn’t you want coffee?” which led to interrupted and unfulfilling sleep.
The lack of a good nap left me grumpy and salty at poor driving etiquette that is commonplace at airports. It was good to see Target again after so many months. I climbed into the back of the car and promptly fell asleep.
I woke up when we stopped in Silverthorne to enjoy a Colorado staple, Cheba Hut. Yumm. And back to napping as we continued on to our designation for the night, Snowmass. The altitude was shocking and left me huffing and puffing after walking a few yards. We nabbed some happy hour beers from the brewery and relaxed with the views of the mountains. After hunting down replacement hiking poles for Target we continued our libations with margs at the Mexican restaurant. We were all in good moods as we settled in for the night and watched Naked and Afraid as we fell asleep, for motivation ya know.
Day 0 celebratory margs
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Our heroes find themselves in the final stretch of the campaign and contemplating on the journey.