Clog #6 - Hiking in Lightning

Sometimes, you just need to be one of the four idiots going in the wrong direction. *

One of the four because community is good, going because actually doing stuff is good, the wrong direction because more memorable is good.

Last Saturday, I was privileged enough to drive to Glenwood Springs and back with Ivy, Ashton, and Morgan. Originally, about 10 people had planned on going, but we spent the night at camp, and watched a scary movie until like 2 a.m., and then no one was awake until like 10 a.m., and time was a-wasting… and then the four of us were like, why are we NOT going to Glenwood? So we went… YOLO, I guess. If you call a ridiculous waste of gas YOLO… but it was a good experience, because experiences are good – and onward –

 It was three hours from camp to the to the Hanging Lake trailhead. When we got there, it was thundering, and raining, and, best of all, lightning-ing…

I hate lightning.

So, I was all, “Hey, guys, I think this is a bad idea… I mean, look at the weather.”

Which received the unanimous response: “We did NOT drive all the way to Glenwood Springs to not hike Hanging Lake. And, YOLO.”

So, up we went. Someone told us halfway up that the lake was closed for lightning.

I practically started skipping back down the mountain… only to realize that the someone was just kidding… because jokes are good…

So, we kept hiking. As EVERYONE ELSE on the trail was coming down…

Which turned out to be a huge blessing because we got Hanging Lake all to ourselves. And pictures couldn’t do it justice, but I’ll try to get one on here at some point…

When we did get down, all of Glenwood was soaking wet. So the original plan of camping and driving back to Elim the next day was not going to pan out…

So we drove back to Woodland Park. YOLO.

Around 11 p.m., we pulled the car over to the side of Highway 67 and lay on top of Morgan’s Jeep and looked at the stars.

I was terrified that some car was going to pull over and strange men in black hoodies were going to jump out and kidnap us.

When did I get so cautious? Have I always been this way? If so, why???????

*This applies particularly to a weekend trip, but it also works for the general experience of programming a week at camp… four people, who think they’re super important, trying to organize some fun and games for children… we create SO MUCH DRAMA and we FORGET ABOUT THE KIDS. GAH.