4th Stop - The Family Hike

On Tuesday, we went out on Mackenzie's first real hike. We hiked to Lake Isabelle on the Twin Peaks mountain (I think that's where we were.....). It was a 4 hour hike with not too bad of an elevation gain, but it ended up at just under 12,000 elevation. (The highest mountains in the Colorado rockies are 14,000 ft.) Mackenzie was a real champ & seemed to really enjoy hiking. Brannon & I should probably try to do some more little hikes in the Georgia mountains.....

Anyways, we woke up early and started to get ready, when we noticed it was quite chilly outside that morning. (There was a really unusual rain storm the night before like the ones we have on the east coast, but they don't have hardly at all out here). So, all that rain the previous night left us feeling rather chilly in the morning. Natalie checked the weather at the mountain area where we were going and it was in the 50's (in July???) with a high in the upper 60's!! Well, needless to say, I was unprepared for that weather in July. Mackenzie had no clothes that were long sleeved or pants. No sweater or jacket. Not even socks! So, we dressed her in her warmest attire I brought..... a footed sleeper! The rest of us dressed in layers and we stopped at Wal-Mart to buy a baby blanket to cover Mackenzie if needed.

However, upon driving an hour to the mountain for the hike, we got out of the car and realized the weather had warmed up considerably. We were a little on the hot side. BUT not nearly as hot as in GA, so we figured it'd be okay. Besides, it gets cooler as you go up to higher elevations. We headed off & enjoyed the beautiful scenery. At the one mile mark, we had an option to take a turn and make it only a 2 mile trip, or head on for the full 4-mile hike. Mackenzie was holding up well, so we headed on. She only got a little fussy towards the halfway point where we were to have lunch because it was a late lunch for her & she was probably pretty hungry. We fed her bits of her "trail mix" (otherwise known as cheerios, goldfish, & puffs!) to make it to the top. Grandaddy was feeling the weight of 17 extra pounds on his back, but he did well and we made it to the top!

We enjoyed our lunch and the scenery - which included a snow patch! That never ceases to amaze me that the snow is still there in July! Many places in the Rockies, it just never melts! Aunt Natalie walked Mackenzie around and let her touch the snow. Then, it was time to head back down. As always, down was quite a bit easier & Mackenzie, now having a full belly, managed to fall asleep in the backpack carrier for the majority of the 2 mile hike back to our car. All in all, a great hike - especially for Mackenzie! What a way to hike - being carried the whole way :)