Hike for Youth pictures!

Hey everyone! First of all, thanks so much to everyone who donated to my Hike for Youth. I raised $340 overall, which is pretty good for a week's notice! Here's some pictures, as promised.

Eric and I woke up at 6am to drive down to Golden Gate State Park.

Pretty scenery on the drive there

At the hike they had booths set up for the different benefitting organizations. This butterfly was at one of those booths.

And the 7 mile trek begins!

I'm glad Eric looks tired! He's in super good shape, so it's nice knowing he was feeling it too.

The hike followed a creek for the first half, then switchbacked up to Windy Peak (which was indeed windy), then dropped into Forgotten Valley in which there is an old homestead. It's a really beautiful hike. I was so distracted by the scenery and talking to people in our group that it really didn't feel like 7 miles at all!

Me on our snack break at the top of Windy Peak.

Eric's snack break

On the top of Windy Peak

We did the Mountain Lion trail

Which is on the upper right side of this map.

Our hiking group

The homestead, settled by a Swedish family in 1870.

The afterparty

Waiting for the raffle..

Eric fell asleep on the drive home and opened his eyes just as I was taking this picture. hehe.

Hike for Youth!

Hey everyone!!

I have found the perfect way for me to combine my love for hiking with my love for community service. It's called the Hike for Youth and it's basically like a walk-a-thon, except you go hiking! (Click the link to find out more.)

The organizations that I am raising money for are five non-profit agencies in the Denver/Boulder area that share the common goal of connecting kids to the outdoors. They focus on taking inner-city at-risk youth from Denver out into the wilderness and focus on not only enjoying the outdoors, but getting educated and fostering personal development as well.

I'll be doing a 6-mile "difficult" hike at Golden Gate State Park in Golden, CO on September 15th. I did this once before in 2004 and it was awesome. I am so excited to do it again, even if I don't raise too much money. At least my $25 registration fee will go somewhere!

So yes, I am soliciting donations. Seriously, any amount helps, and I would be very grateful. Here is the link if you want to donate! Feel free to email me if you want to know more, and if you do decide to donate, thanks!!

http://www.active.com/donate/hikeforyouth07/KezzaHikes

New haircut!

Got my haircut last weekend! I haven't had bangs since I was about 10 years old. It was pretty strange to feel hair on my forehead all the time, but I'm used to it now. I really like it!

Hike to Diamond Lake

My roommate Mary and I went for a hike up in Indian Peaks Wilderness Area, about 45 minutes drive into the mountains from Boulder. We decided to do to hike up to Diamond Lake which was 5.2 miles round trip (or 8.4 km for you crazy Aussies and Euros ;-) Here's some pics from the hike! The mountains are SO beautiful!

My roommate Mary

The trail

Big mountain meadow... almost to the lake!

After some mildly strenuous (is that an oxymoron?) uphill sections we finally made it to the lake! Yay!

Stormy going for a swim

A crazy tree we saw on the hike back. This is what the Aborigines do to trees in the rainforest to mark trails. Not sure how this tree got like that, but it sure is interesting.

Headin back down the mountain. Til next time...

Pictures from Boulder!

Here's some pictures from my first month back in Boulder. Yay!! Life is great - Great house, great job, great guy, great friends... who could ask for more? So, who's coming to visit?? Maybe these pics will help convince you!

The trail right near my house. This is about 15 minutes up the trail looking back down to Boulder.

Stormy, my roommates dog, laughing at me as I try to get him to pose in front of the Flatirons.

Awww he's such a good dog!

Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Best venue ever!

Still Red Rocks...

At a Rockies game in Denver