It's all down hill from here. . .

Right. What were we thinking anyway? Well, I was thinking a nice little hike in the woods, you know, well-marked paths, birds singing, sunlight through the pines. No, this climb is on Extreme Sports Network. It's only a 10 1/2 mile hike, but never before have these words been more true - 'it was uphill the whole way'. We trudged along and thought for sure we were at the peak, but no, there was yet another one ahead of us. In fact, I think there were at least 5 peaks. We wondered why all these people we met coming down had giant walking sticks, hiking and survival gear and bags with straws - can you say 'oxygen deprivation'? We were so light headed because of the thin air, I spose that's probably what made us keep going - WE WERE OUT OF OUR MINDS!!

But, the length of the hike and the fact that the trails were almost completely unmarked, and that you just kept going up and up and up - was NOT the most terrifying part. No - it was the - and I seriously kid you not - two foot wide walk way on top of this ridge 10,800 feet up with sheer drop offs on BOTH SIDES! And what's funny - I'm afraid to get on the second rung of a step ladder!!!! Really. Okay, it most definitely was NOT funny.
To say I was scared would be the biggest understatement of the century. I was almost crawling in some places. Now, you may say - why go on? Why do this? Are you crazy?? Well, yes, but that's totally beside the point. What happened was, we came up to the first part of the narrow ridge, and I stopped and said - no way - I am NOT going on. I will NOT Ever do that. But the children wanted to see if at the next bend it started to decline or turn around - you know - if we were really, finally at the apex or not - so they went ahead. And ahead, and ahead, and . . . So, the mother hen comes out and goes after them. So, what at that point was I more scared about - really? Myself falling headlong over a cliff, or one of my children doing the same? I mean, I have little Judah, and Mr. No-fear himself - Ezra and all kinds of visions danced in my head. And they weren't of sugarplums. So, I went after them, and began shouting, which of course does no good, except would maybe start an avalanche and then . . . (stop thinking that)
We came upon three people who said they saw the kids about 4-5 minutes ahead. 4-5 MINUTES?? Definate Panic Mode. I was praying so hard -praying for our safety and praying the children would just stop so I could see them, you know, and they finally stopped and I was so relieved, and then I was instantly so angry - you know what I mean - I told Gary to go talk to them, cause if I did right then, it wouldn't be pretty. So, now that we established that we NEVER get too far ahead or behind so as not to be seen by the rest - we plunged on. At that point I was so mad, I was bound and determined to conquer this beast if I had to get down on my hands and knees to do it - tears and all. But that was before we hit the first peak. (doesn't 'peak' mean - um - the TOP?) Now mind you, we are meeting people coming the other way, who keep telling us, 'oh it's all down hill from here'. Well, there must be alot of politicians that are hikers in Colorado, cause that was stretching the truth just a weeee bit.

Now I must say, that the views, should you choose to look at them, were spectacular. When they said a 360 degree view - whew - they meant it. You really felt like you were on the top of the world. (at least 3 times, I might add) I admit to looking out one time, but that was before we hit the narrow ridge, and it was in this nice little campy area with big rocks to sit on and lots of trees around and it was nice -like you could have a picnic there or something. (Cue the Barney music) But the ridge, the ridge of horror, the ridge of doom, was a long bridge of rocks, so my eyes only looked down at the ground right in front of my feet. At some places I had to put my hands up as blinders by my eyes, but then, it was hard to balance without my arms out to the side to help me. To say this was trecherous, or death-defying- is putting it mildly.
Three crests later, we finally began to head back and around, which meant we were on our way down - right? I mean, we had climbed up for 4 hours, surely we were on our way down! Not so fast, Tonto. Their version of down, is several feet of up, and then a couple feet of down. Gary, then either to try to encourage us or just to annoy us, I still don't quite know which - took up the 'it's all downhill from here' mantra. But he had to keep saying it, every few feet, because we just kept going up! But I just knew that we were going to be walking for the rest of our lives, or that night would come and it would be us and the bears having a mid-mountain slumber party. You know those stories of hikers lost in the woods being air-lifted out - that was what I thought the headline would look like, with our names listed. 'Dumb South Dakota Family Lost On Colorado Mountain'. Sheez.

And one more thing, thanks National Park system for the lack of signage along the route. We had no idea how far we'd come nor how far we had left to go. Course, had we known it would be that arduous, that long, and that high, we probably wouldn't have done it, so maybe that was their evil plan all along. Don't tell these lazy city slickers a thing - just get them started, get their brains all fuzzy in the high altitude and when they get down, we can have them where we want them. Maybe they'll even WANT socialized medicine then . . . (sorry for the political commentary, but it just kind of fit right there)

So - we FINALLY get to the parking lot - 6 hours later and I have never loved seeing our old beat-up, always breaking down suburban as much as I did then. I can not believe we did that. I can not - as petrified, white-knuckled as I was, actually did that. I can not believe I let my children do that! (But- hey, there was a family we met at the beginning of the ridge climbing with their FOUR year old, so I didn't feel like I was a total jerk of a parent.)

So, now all I want is a massage, to sit in a hot tub, and a tee-shirt that says 'I climbed Crag's Crest' - or 'I Crag'ed the Crest' or something like that. But when we got to the visitor's center - it was CLOSED! Oh, come on! So what do I have to show for my feat? A natural Rocky Mountain High, a pounding headache, relief and the memory that I did something I NEVER thought I would ever do. One guy said, well, that's the way to conquer your fear. Well, I don't know if I actually conquered my fear, but I did conquer that blasted mountain. I still can't say I'm glad I did it though, ask me in a few days when the oxygen returns to my brain.
I am sooo ready to leave Colorado. I've had enough. In fact, I'd like to by-pass the rest of the tourist traps and head over to Washington State (at 600 feet!) and chill. But NO - we have the Arches, the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, the Aztec ruins and Mesa Verde left to see.
Oh, come on. Isn't that what Encylopedia's are for??! They even have colored pictures in them now.

Well, anyway, we're back on level ground and so thankful for it. I'm resting today, for I am an out of shape old woman and need to recuperate. (Except my boys just suggested we go kayaking. rafting, and/or rollerblading today. ) They're funny little kids, aren't they??!

Hope all is well with everyone, and if you ever get to Grand Junction - Do NOT try to hike the entire upper Crag's Crest Trail, unless you really like living on the edge - and by the edge - I do mean - THE EDGE. :)
Blessings,
jill and all