Breckenridge Visit

Tues Feb 1st (Day 1) 

Rachel's second flight

We left home at about 8am and drove to Spokane.  Rachel slept most of the way and had a few stops for milk and clean diapers.  We entertained ourselves with the small town, middle of nowhere, flat Washington scenery and made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare.  Jason dropped Meggan and Rachel off with our large four bags, stroller and car seat, and left to park the car.  We had so much stuff because 1) Southwest Airlines lets bags fly free and lets us sky-check any type of stroller and car seat and 2) it was very cold in Colorado so we had loads of warm woolies.

We arrived after an uneventful flight in Denver, and our friend Ryan picked us up and managed to cram all our stuff and a car seat into his car.  He then kindly drove us into the city where we picked up our truck.  Conveniently, our friend Jaime left Colorado for the week and offered to give us her 4WD Toyota Tacoma so we didn't have to rent a car and she didn't have to pay for airport parking.  Sweet!
We had Thai/Chinese take out and visited with Ryan, his girlfriend Danielle, and their pug Nigel.  Did we mention it was -22 degrees F that night?  Nigel wouldn't go outside to pee and consequently limped around the floor moaning and uncomfortable.  He was distracted by Rachel and quickly became very protective of her and concerned if she started to fuss.

We spent the evening opening up all the packages we had of online shopping we'd done.  Ryan and Danielle kindly received many parcels for us, including a Phil and Teds travel crib for Rachel.  We put together her little red tent and she slept in it quite well.  We had read reviews that this product was somewhat difficult to put together and take apart, but it wasn't bad at all and we were happy with our purchase.

Rachel's favorite toy, the Winkle

Wed Feb 2 (Day 2) 

After a yummy breakfast and a little play (and a Rachel nap), we drove through Denver to our favorite store in all of the USA: REI.  The Denver branch is our favorite and we just couldn't resist.  Here we bought Rachel the first two articles of clothing that we have ever purchased for her. The sad part for her is that they are 18-month clothes for next winter that were on clearance! We can hardly wait to try her in her little fleece sleeper and top -- next year, after she grows a bit. Meggan also scored a new SmartWool top and running tights, while Jason didn't get anything at all.  This seems to be a common trend in recent REI trips...
We fed Rachel in the store, changed her diaper in the parking garage, and headed West toward Idaho Springs.  Rachel's car seat was rear-facing in the passenger seat (airbag off) with Meggan in a jump seat squished behind Jason the driver.  We grabbed food en route and did our best to keep Rachel happy with a bottle to suck on for the climb.  This involved a lean-and-reach maneuver by Meggan to keep the bottle in place, but before long we were through the tunnel and looking out over the view of Summit County.

We had arranged to stay at the BOEC's "old cabin", next to the Griffith Lodge that many of you attended at our wedding.  We dumped our stuff there and headed back into town to grab food and visit with friends at the BOEC and friends Sarah, Kelly and her kids Cain and Wynter.  They happened to live in the Wellington neighborhood so we also got to see Jason's old house.
For those who don't know, Breckenridge is at 9,600 ft. elevation. For the record, we were happy with our early response to the altitude and glad we spent the previous night in Denver.  On previous trips, Meggan was easily winded - on this trip, she was known to brag about her awesome acclimation and pat herself on the back for preparing by frequenting our local cross-country ski hill Nickel Plate (6400ft).

There is no bad weather, just bad clothing. :)

After we were done visiting, we headed back to the cabin as the sun retreated (with its warmth) and the cold darkness prevailed.  We hiked all of our gear into the old cabin and then lit the fire.  Lesson #1: we should have lit the fire hours before when we came to drop off our stuff.  Lesson #2: we should have returned to the cabin before dark.  Lesson #3: we should have called it quits after ice still remained inside the cabin windows after having the fire lit for 20 minutes and we were still shivering and hungry.  Rachel was bundled right up and didn't seem fazed by the cold.  Thankfully, heat rises and we slept upstairs and were warm by morning.  Rachel slept ok, but we did continue to feed her every time she let out any kind of peep so that she would stay hydrated.

Thurs Feb 3 (Day 3)

Starting the hike with Breckenridge in the background

We woke up to beautiful, inspiring sunshine and decided we would go ahead with our planned snowshoe to Ken's Cabin up Boreas Pass.  We got off to a groggy start after a long night, but packed up and eventually made it to the trail head.  We left the truck just after 11am and started hiking in.  One person carried Rachel on their front in her Bjorn/Snuggly with her wrapped up and a smaller backpack on their back.  The other (luckier) person got the large backpack.  A large group of 12 people arrived as we did, and set off for the hut next door (Section House).

Snow feed #1

Our GPS helped us learn that we could cover about 2 miles per hour, so we hoped with stops we would be at the cabin before 3pm.  We figured Rachel would have to eat once on the way there, and had a bottle of milk prepared and next to Meggan's skin for the hike to try and keep it warm.  Apparently Meggan's skin wasn't doing the trick, though, because Rachel promptly rejected the bottle in favor of the real (warmer) thing.  This was our first experience in feeding Rachel in the snow on the side of the trail... and it went better than we thought.  Meggan did not lose any body parts in the process and we continued on without issue.
Baker's tank, about 3 miles in, was the end of the packed trail.  After this things started to feel more challenging as Jason broke trail and the altitude started to become apparent.  The large group leapfrogged us, helping us stay motivated and also helping to break trail.  Each mile seemed slower and harder than the one before, and soon we were begging for a view of the cabin and the end of our workout.  Rachel, for her part, slept for the first 5 miles without any complaint other than her food.

Boreas Pass (and our cabin) to the upper right of the picture

As time wore on we knew that the last mile was more exposed and wind was likely.  We opted to break and feed Rachel one more time at the 5 mile mark before getting into the exposed meadow and then bundling her up well for the last push.  Others from the large group were really struggling - some were stumbling and everyone was taking frequent breaks.  We reached the meadow and the wind and clouds picked up.  We pushed on step by step until we were on the pass.  Rachel started fussing at the end of the last hill, and we went as fast as we could for the last 1/4 mile to get her into the hut and start the fire.

Ken's Cabin, Boreas Pass: 11,481' elevation

We reached the plateau where both hut roofs were visible, and approached our door to find the lock and door frozen shut.  Wind had blown snow into the door and half the cabin was under snow.  Thankfully, the larger group invited us into their cabin and Meggan fed Rachel on their couch in front of their fire while Jason fought to open the door to our little hut.
Inside the hut, we started a fire, made our dinner, and changed diapers as usual.  There were two windows inside the hut and both had ice preventing them from shutting completely, creating a draft.  Engineering sufficient insulation (pillows), stoking the fire, and melting ice for drinking water took up tasks for the evening.  We both felt exhausted and sore, and Jason in particular had a raging altitude headache. He still managed to comment: "Only a few people in North America are sleeping higher than we are tonight!" Rachel, resilient as usual, smiled and played and seemed just fine.

We all went to bed at 8pm, but woke up at 9pm, 10pm, and 11pm without much sleep and going through firewood quickly.  Rachel was eating milk every hour and Jason was not feeling well at all.  Meggan said to Jason 'it's only 10pm!' and we knew we were in for a long night.  Thankfully, we must have slept well between 12:30pm and 4:15am without any issues.  Rachel woke up giggling and ready to play at 4:15am and we set to work on re-starting our fire and getting the hut warm again.  We decided to make an early breakfast and play, but were thankful for our first morning nap from 6am-7:30am.

Fri Feb 4th (Day 4)

Tenmile Range in the morning

In the morning the cabin door was frozen shut and it took us 15 minutes of chiseling ice to open it and let ourselves out for relief!  The sunshine and scenery greeting us in the morning was fantastic.  Unfortunately, so were crazy strong winds that made us feel a little like we were on a mountaineering expedition.
After breakfast, packing up, splitting wood, and bundling up, we set off and left Ken's cabin to return to the truck.  6.5 miles home started with an amazing head wind and a storm rolling in that made it very difficult to walk quickly, talk, or breathe.  Rachel's head was wrapped up with hats and blankets that kept her warm enough to sleep through it, but Meggan's steps labored behind Jason's as he led the way across the exposed meadow and into the trees.  The first 2 miles took us over an hour, but after that our pace improved.  We were thrilled for the shelter of the trees and blessed with more oxygen as we dropped every 1/2 mile.
When we returned to Baker's Tank and stopped to feed Rachel and have snacks, we ran into two runners who were out for their morning run.  Crazy ladies and their dogs without snowshoes made us feel slow, and inspired us to suck up our whining and make it home a little faster.
We made it out after a painful last 1/2 mile and rode into town for some food.  Rachel remained happy and giggled in the car with any bumps - apparently unfazed by the huge journey we'd just completed.  Lunch at Mi Casa with hot tea, washed hands, new clothes and a clean diaper, and then a visit to Jason's old work - Blue River Sports.  Here we picked up more parcels and showed Rachel off.
We returned our borrowed snowshoes and sleeping bags and showed up at the Powers household.  Our friends Matt and Ali and their kids Eli and Macy welcomed us and our dirty clothes into their beautiful home.  We got to visit, eat pizza from Eric's, shower, and do laundry.  We exploded all of our four bags and all our new purchases around their house as we tried to pack up and get ready to fly home.
Rachel finally showed her fatigue Friday night by being a fusspot.  She didn't sleep well and was not keen on being laid down in her tent or anywhere outside of Mommy or Daddy's arms all night long.  We slept with her in our bed for 3 hours in the middle of the night - a first for us and something we felt we caved into doing out of pure frustration.

Sat, Feb 5th (Day 5)

Rachel flies on the plane

We woke up to snow, packed up, and drove out of Breck toward Silverthorne.  We visited Patrick and Ryan's mother and stepdad (Lori and Stuart) for morning tea and muffins in their extraordinary log home.  Snow continued to come down during our descent, and Jason drove slowly down with Meggan giving Rachel a bottle again as folks from Denver joined the parking lot of cars trying to ascend to Summit for the weekend.  A slow but safe drive down into the city led us to our friend (and wedding MC) Roger.  We had lunch at Tokyo Joe's... changed, fed, and washed up, and drove to the airport.
Other than an hour delay in leaving Denver and a VERY full flight, everything went well on the way home.  By the time we arrived in Spokane, we were all completely exhausted and found a hotel for the night and crashed by about 8:30pm.  Due to more oxygen and fatigue, we had a better sleep that night.

Sunday, Feb 6th (Day 6)

Rachel and Daddy love diners!

Our drive home was uneventful but slow because of snow.  We went a more scenic way home, and stopped at a great diner with yummy food and a cozy fire for lunch.  Across the border it was still snowing and we pulled into our driveway to see about a foot of fresh snow - the only real snow we've had all year.  Jason began the shoveling (who actually likes shoveling?) and Meggan and Rachel began the marathon of laundry and we all crashed for an oxygen-rich sleep in the luxury of our own beds, thankful to be home.

This trip was a great adventure for Team MoJo and Rachel (our new Cuteness Factor). At times we were probably stretched a bit thin, and we are thankful to have returned safely and with no lasting harm. We look forward to our next great adventure. Please see our Facebook album here for more photos from our adventure.