A Quick Recap of Recent Adventures

The weeks leading up to this holiday season were so busy for me that I was getting flashbacks to the way I used to feel at Bryn Mawr around this time of year.  We always had to finish up all of the end-of-semester papers and make it through Exam Week before we could leave campus for the holidays.  The To-Do list and the ensuing anxiety seemed insurmountable  at the time and yet, somehow, it always got done. Amazing how that happened.

Enjoying a quiet weekend in the calm after Christmas and before New Year's, it has been nice to pause, reflect back on my time in Denver, and remember that I HAVE managed to squeeze in some fun adventures here and there.

At the end of June, to celebrate my one-month-a-versary living in Denver, I did a solo summit of Mt. Bierdstat which is one of the closest (and easiest) 14ers.

 In August, one of my Craig co-workers invited me to round out his co-ed team for a Ragnar running event.  I don’t consider myself a serious runner so I was nervous going into it, but ultimately had a really fun weekend. Ragnar is essentially un ultra-marathon done relay-style. Our team consisted of 6 guys and 6 girls, each of whom ran three legs of varying distances. The race started at Copper Mountain Ski resort and, 32 hours and 200-ish miles later, we crossed the finish line together at the Aspen Snowmass Ski resort. 

In September, I volunteered a buddy rider during a 30K bike ride as part of Craig Hospital’s ‘Pedal for Possible’ fundraiser and I also hiked up Pike’s Peak (another 14er) as part of Team Craig to raise money for the Brain Injury Alliance of Colorado.

My good friend Lisa Wehofer, a fellow WashU alum and former Raleigh-ite, is currently working as a travel OT and we met up between her assignments for a quick multi-day kayak trip around the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington. I was really hoping to see some of the Orca that frequent those waters, but no such luck this time!

My good friend Anna VanVoorhis, another fellow WashU alum, got married in October and I happily travelled back to Saint Louis to celebrate her special day.

One of my new Denver friends, Jen, is on a quest to climb all of the Colorado 14ers and she invited me to join her in climbing an alternate route to the summit of Mt. Evans.  This was in early November, however, and there was already a whole lot of snow on the ground. We had a great adventure but will have to go back in the summer to make it all the way to the top.

I ended the year with a couple of day trips to go skiing at Arapahoe Basin on the weekends when I wasn’t working. 

No official adventures planned for 2019 yet (except for maybe re-attempting Mt Evans once the snow melts!)  but I’m looking forward to checking out some of the other nearly ski resorts in the coming months.  And maybe hosting some visitors? (hint, hint).