#Adventuresofnatandd kicked off two things in May: the
welcoming of warmer weather and our QiTopia Summer Adventure Training Camp
launch. This meant on Wednesday’s I got to adventure not once but twice every
other week with the 9 girls who signed up for our training. Dawnelle took on
the Monday night adventure outing and I was fortunate enough to not have to fly
one week so I could join our group for my second time biking up Lookout
Mountain. I will say, road biking has given me not only a new respect for
bikers but for people who road bike up these steep inclines as well. I once saw
people biking up Mount Evans and thought they were crazy. Now I wonder how I
can make it possible.
Dawnelle likes to say, “Not every week can we climb Everest.”
That is to say that not every adventure is going to be some amazing Instagram
worthy event. Same is true for any hikes, runs, bike riding, climbing or
vacation you take. It doesn’t have to be Bora Bora for you to enjoy your time
away even if it’s just for a few hours. Our adventure day is a day when for a
few hours we forget our adult lives, we silence our phones and we keep our date
no matter what’s going on. Everything, and I mean everything, can be put on
hold for adventure day unless one of us is dying or out of town.
For our first adventure we did something that I always said
I would never do which was bike up Lookout Mountain. This is a 9 mile roundtrip
ride in Golden that’s entirely uphill from the 4.5 mile start. We decided to
rent bikes at The Bicycle Dr off Broadway but didn’t want to pay $70 for a road
bike…so we rented hybrids for $25. The guy renting us the bikes thought we were
insane and me even more so for attempting the ride on a bike that was more
appropriate for biking around town. Needless to say I was scared because having
driven the road up Lookout Mountain I knew there were many other cars and
cyclists. I didn’t want to get hit by a car or put off other riders making
their way to the top.
To my surprise everyone along the ride was friendly and
encouraging. Sure these men were twice my age and had better bikes and more
appropriate attire but they didn’t hesitate to holler a, “amazing job!” our
way. The ride itself wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be and going on a
Wednesday morning meant not quite so much traffic on the road. I’ll have to say
going down was worse than biking up and I’m pretty sure I burned out the brakes
on that rental bike.
I wanted to test out a hike I was eyeing for our Adventure
Training Camp so the next week we drove to Mount Falcon. I had recently
received a hammock for Mother’s Day so I brought it along to test out. Our
original goal was to trail run but we ended up just walking part of the loop,
finding a spot for the hammock and enjoying the view. We both determined this
hike wasn’t nearly hard enough or with enough elevation gain for the group but
it would make a great family friendly hike.
For my birthday the following week I left town and headed
for Moab. We were fortunate to have my in-laws arrive in town to watch our
daughter so my husband and I could play. Moab has some amazing hiking and
though it’s certainly kid friendly the idea of camping and driving all over the
place for 5 nights with a child seemed a little much. We did it all from Arches
to Canyonlands, Island in the Sky and Needles District. My friends Jessica,
Nick and Randy came to join and I think we all agreed or favorite part was
hiking the Fiery Furnace District in Arches. You have to get a permit from the
Visitor’s Center and they only grant 50 a day of which we were lucky enough to
snag one for each of us. It was a four hour adventure I’ll never forget climbing
through slot canyons, dead ending on slick rock and climbing up and through
terrain I’d never experienced before. What makes the furnace so special is
there is no trails and you can hike wherever you like save for the dunes and
crust formations inside. I would highly recommend the experience to anyone
daring enough to blaze their own trail.
When I returned the following week for Adventure day,
Dawnelle and I decided to hit up the Boulder Movement Collective Gym. We were
two of 4 women there and the rest were men who were stronger and leaner and
more agile than I had ever seen. The instructor was fantastic and we spent our
time learning how to move in various ways that challenged and invigorated us. I
can see why Dawnelle is so inspired for her classes after coming here to move.
Afterwards we went for lunch and prepared for our evening bike ride up Lookout
Mountain. Dawnelle and I had to switch our adventure training camp days so I
had taken the Monday group out hiking and she took Wednesday for our first ride
up Lookout Mountain. I have to say all the ladies who joined us that evening made
it to the top and we had an amazing ride together.
May’s adventures kick started summer and allowed me to be
afraid yet open to new experiences. I honestly do not think I could have
explored the Fiery Furnace or started this adventure training if I hadn’t been
prepared to go into the unknown like I had been doing through our weekly
adventure dates. I think as adults we stop going to new gyms and classes and
trying to learn new skills because we’re afraid to suck at something. Most of
the people I see in classes or on these trails are younger than I am probably
because they aren’t afraid to try. Worst case scenario I know I never have to
see people I may embarrass myself in front of again and best case is that I DO
like it and want to explore further. Five months of adventures and I already
feel myself growing stronger, happier and braver each week. It’s certainly
become an incentive to become more creative on adventures to follow…
