The MOJO Family: Fourth of July (Bowl)

After being away from home lots of nights during the last month, we changed our initial plan and were supposed to be home for the Fourth of July. However, on Wednesday morning Angela texted from Breckenridge: "Would you be up for a Fourth of July Bowl ski on Friday?" After much debate, discussion, last-minute packing, and taking the storage wax off our skis, we decided to go for the day. We left on Thursday after Meggan got off work, and had quite a long drive in the traffic. However, Jason and Rachel had fun sitting on a rock above Clear Creek Canyon, playing "I Spy" in the near darkness (when nearly everything is black, the game is considerably more difficult), and giving the passing cars and trucks superhero names ("SuperVan", etc.).

We arrived late, and were so quiet that in the morning Kent and Angela claimed they hadn't even heard us arrive. That must be a first for us! (Amazing that they didn't hear Ava crying for hours in the middle of the night!)

Unfortunately, our last-minute attempts to get a babysitter for July 4th morning in Summit County failed, so Meggan was unable to join the ski fun. Instead, she went to the town of Breckenridge's 4th festivities with the girls. Her adventures included: the Budweiser Clydesdales, watching hundreds of racers start the Firecracker 50 mountain bike race, a bouncy castle with a really long line, and a sidewalk chalk competition. The parade itself was a disaster, as far as dealing with Rachel goes.

R: "I want candy!"

M: "Then run out there and grab some with the other kids."

R: "I can't! [insert tantrum here]"

Rachel's drawing of a bear, which she did completely by herself!

Jason, Angela, [my skis], and Kent in the Jeep

The large snowfield in the upper left corner is Fourth of July bowl.

I (Jason) left at 6:40 after packing the back of Kent's jeep with skis, boots, Angela, etc. We met up with some friends at the base of Peak 9, then drove to the ski patrol hut above the lifts on Peak 9 at 11,500'. Our first task after unpacking our gear was to tow a pickup truck that had gotten itself stuck. Angela commented that "Kent is happy now he got to do that!" Fourth of July Bowl is so named because the snow is rarely skiable during the season, but is a popular late spring and summer ski, as it holds snow throughout the year. It is particularly popular with locals on its namesake date. There were probably 50 cars parked up there, and I estimate 150-200 people were hiking and skiing the bowl on Friday. As we started the hike, it was quite busy on the trail, but gradually our group found a comfortable pace as we moved up the mountain.

Our ascent was uneventful, save for the sight of a llama named Roy, calmly carrying the ski equipment of his owner down from the bowl. The views were beautiful, the wildflowers plentiful, and the the laughter frequent as we made our way up the trail. The trail ascends just to the east of the bowl, so we enjoyed watching others descend the bowl, including several dogs, a few nude skiers, and lots of people who (like us) hadn't been on skis in weeks.

Eventually we reached the summit ridge, and stopped for a break at the weather station before continuing on up the ridge. We left our stuff about 100 feet below the summit, then hiked to the top (13,633') for photos before returning to our gear for the descent.