Day 4.

Today...up early and ready to roll! We did some laundry last night that ended up locked in the clubhouse, so Kari and I made an early morning run across the parking lot to retrieve our washed duds and hang up some stuff to dry in the morning sun. Then, it was off to Mt. Royal, a 10,500' peak that overlooks Frisco and I70. It was a mile and a half up, and marked moderately difficult in the guide book. The trailhead sign mentions that this trail is all uphill...they are not screwing around. The trail was a solid climb, and an hour and a half later, we stood at the summit looking down on the cars FAR below us on the interstate. We met 2 different families from Iowa on the way up, had a great conversation about difficult things and the beauty of faith in the midst of those things, and then slid back downhill to our waiting van. Ten minutes later, we sprawled out on the leather couches at Frisco's Backcountry Brewery and celebrated our climb with some tasty bevys and nachos. Then, after cleaning up a bit, we headed over to Keystone to hang with Drew Jackson and Emily Saville, two great young people headed to Central who happen to be staying a few miles away on a cross country team trip. Starbucks in the Keystone Village, then back home to swim/hot tub/pack the van for the next leg of our journey, north east to Estes Park! What a ball we've had in Summit County - on to a different, wilder place. Hoping for moose families, bears, and lots more mountains!