Horn Creek Highlights

Our summer vacation this year was traveling to Colorado for  week with Alex's family (so maybe vacation isn't the word Arthur would use).  For the past thirty-so years my (Alex's) family has been going to a Christian family camp in the Sangre de Cristo mountains called Horn Creek for a week.  I have missed the past three years because of school and work so I was excited to get to go back and even more excited to share this experience with Arthur.  This year was also special since both my brothers able to come and brought their wives and families.
We left on Saturday morning from my parents' home.  The idea was for us to car pool out.  This meant that 6 adults (including three above-average height men) would need to fit in my parents' SUV with all of our luggage for the week.  After some real life Tetris arranging the bags in the back we all piled into the vehicle.  I was "lucky" enough to draw the short straw to share the back seat with my mom and an assortment of small bags, back packs, dress clothes, dutch ovens, and other odds and ends.  It's a good thing we weren't too claustrophobic.  The enjoyment of the trip was only increased by my dad's choice in radio stations-- classic country.
After settling into our rooms at the Lodge we headed into the nearby town of Westcliffe for church Sunday morning.  My younger brother was in intern at Horn Creek for a year previously and wanted to attend church and say hello to several people he knew.  The windows of the church looked out over the valleys and the mountains- gorgeous.  Afterwards part of us got a picnic lunch and then went to watch a cutting horse show that was in the area.  I have been to cutting horse shows a time or two before but really have limited knowledge of this sport.  I was impressed by the athleticism of the horses and their agility and speed.  As a physical therapist I would also venture to say that the riders have to have good balance and core strength to stay on a horse that can change directions in the blink of an eye to get in front of a calf. That evening the camp activity was hanging log night.  Basically, a large log is hung about 3 ft off the ground with mattresses underneath.  Two people then sit on the log facing each other and try to hit each other with pillows until one loses their balance and falls off.  Yes, this is a family camp focused on building stronger relationships within families and beating family members to a pulp with pillows is one way this is accomplished.  Arthur and I did battle one another and we had a great time.

On Monday we woke up to clouds so we decided to head to Colorado Springs for a day trip.  We left the parents to lounge around camp relaxing and the younger adults, with my 2 year old niece hit the road.  When my brothers get together with Arthur there is always some interesting conversation-- thoughts on the death penalty, capitalism, and spiritual warfare just to name a few.  I think the conversation lasted well beyond the 2 hour car ride and long into the night.  Our primary stop in the Springs was at Garden of the Gods.  We wandered through the amazing rock formations and even scrambled up a few.  I have always had a fascination with rocks and going to Garden of the Gods is a treat.  Our next stop was Focus on the Family's headquarters.  I think Arthur greatly enjoyed the bookstore and several of us enjoyed reliving favorite memories from childhood going to "Whit's End" from the Adventure in Odyssey. It was also fun to see our niece who is 2 years old enjoy all the play areas and hands-on exhibits.

Of course when your in Colorado hiking seems to be mandatory.  After getting adjusted to the altitude some we decided to take off on a 10 mile hike with my older brother and Dad.  Since we have been coming to the same area for several years we have gone on quite a few different hikes.  This year we picked going to Lake of the Clouds which was a little bit further up the mountain range then we usually do.  We drove up to the area and at the trail head there were a few vehicles with search and rescue stickers.  It's good to know that search and rescue would already be in the area if needed.  There is a trail that runs the length of the mountain range at about 10,000 ft elevation which has beautiful views of the valley.  My dad opted to hike this trail for the day instead of going up the side of a mountain.  The rest of us headed upwards towards the lakes.  The first mile was a fairly gradual incline up towards where we crossed the creek.  There has been quite a bit of rain this year so everything was a luscious green and there were explosions of wildflowers in all the meadows.  As per family tradition while hiking, K-State football was the primary topic of conversation as well as each of our projected win-loss record for the year.  Other conversation also included the topic of how America would be different if the West Coast had be settled and colonized first instead of the East Coast.  When you are hiking there isn't a lot else to do but talk or think for several hours on end so it is always intriguing what conversation topics arise.

We finally reached the lower of the three lakes and stopped to have lunch.  It looked like several people came up to the lakes just to fish.  After our lunch we headed further up the trail to the second lake and continued to a rock ledge with a waterfall and impressive view of the lakes, creek, and surrounding mountains.  Of course the pictures don't do it justice and it was well worth the 10 mile hike for the view.  Arthur and I both agreed later that this was our favorite part of the week.  However, what goes up must come down so we had to leave the view at timberline behind and hike back down through the forest.  While I am very appreciative of all the Forest Service does do to maintain trails so we can experience such splendor I am almost certain that the mileage they post on the information signs has to be flawed.  The signs will say Swift Creek .5 miles.  And you will hike and hike and hike for what seems to be hours before you finally hear to creek in the distance.  We returned to the trail head to meet our driver and I personally was glad I didn't have to hoof it on foot any farther. We were tired and sore that evening but enjoyed hanging out with the family having some s'mores inside around the fire since our outdoor camp fire plans got rained out.  Omnia Vincit Amor.