Northfork Vacation, Twin Sisters

On Thursday I went to town to teach some kickboxing classes and attend a meeting. John took the kids rockclimbing (real climbing out in nature with a guide, not a rockclimbing wall). No pictures, unfortunately, but I understand they had a wonderful time. And I know they learned a lot because the kids were rating our hike the next day according to climbing classes. "This must be class 2 because we have to use our hands sometimes," for example.

On Friday morning we took the kids to the Twin Sisters trail. It is a 7.4 mile round trip hike. We probably made it 3.2 miles up (so more than a 10K total!) before it got too snowy and the kids got too tired, so we headed down.

This is a nice view of Longs Peak from the Twin Sisters trail.

On the way, we noticed that sometimes the swirls on a tree's trunk are clockwise and sometimes counterclockwise. We discussed scientific method and made our hypotheses and many observations along the way. The conclusion we reached based on our small sampling is that probably the trees in one area of the forest all twist the same direction because they receive the wind in the same way. But in another area (on another switchback), the wind blows differently, and thus, the tree twists in a different direction.

All that white/gray stuff in the foreground that you might think is rock . . . no, that's snow. It was thigh-deep for Helene at points.

After our hike, we went to the Baldpate Inn for their soup and salad bar and pie. Dining there is one of my favorite summer traditions. The food is delicious, the homemade breads are wonderful, and there are hummingbirds and a beautiful view to enjoy while you eat.