Summit Hike...oh my goodness!

I can do all this through him who gives me strength....Phillippians 4:13

See that Peak up there....that's where we are hiking to today

Black slopes up ahead.

I will take any opportunity to photograph these little guys

A curious Marmot

My friend the chipmunk

This is a Pica gathering foliage and flowers for what reason we do not know.

Mountain Dryad aka White Mountain Avens

The view of the trail behind us

Alpine Phlox

Hallie taking one of many breaks

Alpine Sorrel

Windflower

Whew! Taking another break

and it begins...hand over hand over boulders

We think we can, we think we can

See that red stick in the upper right corner....that means that things are about to get really difficult

We made it to the Peak!

Hallie on the Peak

Laurie calls Andy to brag

one of a few plaques on the mountain peak

We did it! So excited!

the resort down below

Hallie and Laurie use the "slide" method on the steep downward paths

Looking down on the path below

Sky Pilot

Dusky Penstemon aka Whipple Penstemon

and the Silver Queen Lift back down

Hallie, Laurie and I couldn't imagine a greater challenge than climbing to the Peak of Mt. Crested Butte. Hallie had tried once before, but was rushed too much to be able to complete the climb. She thought she needed more time to negotiate the rocks and asked if Laurie and I would try it with her. We agreed, but decided not to tell the men in our lives just in case we failed at our attempt. Laurie and I were both quoting scripture to each other as we worked to overcome our apprehension! We had no idea how long it would take to do the hike, so we arrived at the ticket counter when it opened at 9 a.m. The Silver Queen lift would take us up to the trail head at 9:30 a.m. We started our hike at a few minutes before 10. The sign for the trail head said to allow an hour for the peak hike, but it actually took us 4 hours from the time we left the lift, to the time we got back on the lift because we had to take a lot of breaks to rest. We had packed a lunch which we ate on the peak of the mountain. It was the perfect time for a big rest so we could prepare ourselves for the journey back down. The hand over hand on the boulders was absolutely exhausting for us. When we reached the bottom, we still couldn't believe that we actually did it, but we have the pictures to prove it. As Laurie says...there is a great sense of accomplishment when you overcome one of your fears. It's even greater, when you trust God to be in complete control.