Salida
We left Moab, Utah and drove straight to Shawn and Christi’s place near Salida, Colorado. They moved to Colorado from Nashville early this spring. Shawn is the executive director of Wilderness Trek: “Wilderness Trek is a rugged 5 or 6-day adventure in the majestic mountains of southern Colorado. Trek includes backpacking, hiking, rappelling, devotionals, solo times, a climb to the summit of a 13,000 or 14,000-foot mountain, and, if you prefer, white water rafting. It is specifically designed to challenge young people (14 – 19 years of age), adults, and families of all ages to discover self-confidence, self-esteem, personal faith, and to learn their awesome potential for living faith-filled lives.”
For the summer, the Ballards are living in a two-room cabin with a large yard and two creeks nearby. We set up camp in their yard. It’s been so nice to share meals and playtime with them. We spent the weekend hanging out at FIBArk Whitewater Festival, meeting Trek people and learning about the operation, touring around Salida, losing TH after church, and catching up.
On Monday, we spent the day getting ready for a backpacking trip. It took us longer than expected and we started hiking around 7:30 pm. It was getting dark when we set up camp 2.5 miles up the trail. All the kids carried a pack, Tank, the Ballards’ black lab, carried his own bowl and food, and the parents carried whatever else we needed.
Our second day on the trail, we packed up and moved camp to Pass Creek Lake. The dads and older kids went for an afternoon hike. We had a leisurely morning on the third day, and then hiked out to get cleaned up and celebrate with pizza at Amica’s in Salida.
After one more night in the Ballard’s yard, and 30 nights of sleeping outside, we moved to the ‘lodge’ at Wilderness Expeditions, room #8. We ended up staying another weekend in Salida, and enjoyed the art walk and getting to spend more time with the Ballards.
We left Salida to go meet friends in Keystone. If not for that, I’m not sure we could have ever made the break; we’re already talking about coming back for FIBArk next year.
Looks beautiful and fun. Gretchen’s “Hello” gloves made me laugh!
It was so good to see your Salida post! I know Christi and the whole Ballard clan loved having some familiar faces visit them! We’re on our trip around the country now…loving it! We would love to do a longer trip like ya’ll one day. Bobby and I went through your blog last week and talked about wanting to do a lot of the same things. Have a great rest of your trip!