Vacation in the Mountains, Day 1

Last Sunday we set out on our 2nd annual Colorado trip. Our destination was not far from where we stayed last year.  My parents were gracious enough to treat the entire family to 5 nights and 4 days at the Pikes Peak Resort just outside of Woodland Park, CO.  The cabin was luxurious and the location was remote.  It was heaven!!

Just like last year, my dad and Natalie spent several days backpacking in the CO mountains prior to our arrival, only this year they had two additional sidekicks.  My sister, Gracie and Natalie's boyfriend Scott, joined them on their beloved adventure.  They spent several days roughing it on a mountain with nothing more than what they could contain in a backpack.  No toilets, showers, or running water (other than that from a stream).  Although not my cup of tea, they loved communing with nature on such an intense level.

Since they were already in CO, they arrived to our cabin a couple hours ahead of my mom, Steven, the girls and myself.  Upon their arrival they felt it was necessary to prepare us for what we were about to see.  So, my dad sent my mom a message explaining that the land our cabin was located on was impacted by the Hayman fire of 2002.  The damage was extensive including brown landscape and dead trees.  At first, we were very disappointed to hear the news.  After all, there was no mention of damage from a forest fire in the description of the resort.  So, we spent the rest of our drive apprehensive about what we were about to see.

We had braced ourselves for the worst.  We were expecting acreage upon acreage of charred landscape, but in reality what we were presented with was acreage upon acreage of hauntingly beautiful scenery.  Although devastating, the scorched trees complimented the mountains in an unexpected way.  I was not disappointed, I was awestruck!

As you can tell by the above picture, not all of the trees were burned.  However, if you look close enough you will notice that the mountains in the background look bare because many of the trees on them are burned.

Our cabin in the mountains.

Another breath taking view (I meant the mountains . . . I know Madeleine is breath taking).

We had a nice view of a lake.

The back side of our cabin.  It had two rocking chairs which I loved enjoying my morning coffee on.

In this picture you can get a better idea of the extent of the damage from the fire, but in future posts I will include even more revealing pictures.

A view inside the cabin from the back porch.

The girls' favorite thing to do was play in the hot tub at the end of the day.

The sun as it set over the mountains.

This concludes day one, but check back daily to see pictures from the rest of our trip.  Tomorrow I will recap our time at the Manitou Cliff Dwellings and Manitou Springs.