Caves and Mountain Climbing in Colorado

On Tuesday, we went and explored the 2nd largest cave in Colorado. It is located up at the top of a mountain. So we took a trolley up the mountain and spent an hour or two going through the cave. At the top of this mountain, there are also a lot of rides. One ride swings you out over the side of the mountain. I was going to do this, but they were having mechanical challenges. They said if I waited, they would keep testing it and might have it ready. That was enough to scare me away.

So I spent my ticket on rock climbing with Gina. This is that fake rock climbing, with harnesses and all. Surprisingly, Gina made it about a third of the way up the rock. I made it all the way without falling! A regular Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible).

Then yesterday we all went to Hanging Rock Lake to hike up a mountain there. It was a 1.2 mile hike, going up a couple thousand feet. We thought for sure that the girls would only go on a fraction of this hike. Amazingly, both Gina and Emily--our seven and four year olds--made the entire trip, both up and down. This was a challenging climb for adults. For their little bodies, it was about a 4-5 mile trek. I still can't believe that they made it.

At the top of the mountain there is a small lake and a waterfall. I put my feet in the water. It was ice cold.

I'm not a big hiking guy, but this was a memorable experience, and the kids really seemed to love it. I think that Emily in particular was proud of herself for making the trek.

The picture here is a picture of the waterfall and lake at the top of Hanging Rock Lake. We have some more good pictures of our caving and mountain climbing adventures that I'll add to this post, so check back soon!

Have you been cave exploring or mountain climbing?