Thank You Dear Friends!

Oh my goodness...what a trip!! I still find the whole trip and hike surreal. It was by far the hardest thing I have ever done in my life! At the same time, I am proud of the accomplishments of all of us, and will draw upon those experiences for the rest of my days. Thank you dear friends, Rene, Ann, Jean, Tracie, Tiff and Shari! You are the best!! :)

WE MADE IT!!! Mt. Elbert Summit - 14,433 ft.

Friday, July 24th, 2009 -
ALL seven summiteers from MN, plus three fabulous ladies, BAGGED THE SUMMIT of Mt. Elbert around 11:00am (we left the trailhead @ 6:00am). The entire trek took us from 6:00am to 3:30pm - 5 hours up, 1 hour at the summit, and about 3.5 hours on the descent. It was a fantastic, grueling, rewarding hike - probably the hardest thing many of us have ever done!! Look for more posts and pictures on the blog in the future, but for now here's a group shot from the TOP OF MT. ELBERT!!
Peace -
Tracie, Ann, Tiff, Ann, Shari, Rene, Jean, Tera, Linda & Sondra

Tomorrow can't come soon enough....getting WAY psyched!!! :)

Well we're ready to head out....and, we're all getting pretty excited - I think we may even be able to talk Rene into getting out of bed on time tomorrow!! (or maybe we'll have to honk from her driveway again!!) But either way, the adventure starts tomorrow.

Lots of you have been asking (and I'm surprised how many have mentioned that they've been following the blog - how fun!!).... Anyway, many have been asking for more details on the trip - well here's a quick informal itinerary:

> We leave tomorrow (Tues, 7/21) for a week, returning Tues, 7/28.
> Actual HIKE up MT. ELBERT is scheduled for Friday, 7/24 - we'll stay in a hostel in Leadville, CO (US city with the highest elevation) the night before the hike, so we can hit the trailhead and be hiking by 5:30am.
> 9-mile round-trip hike should take us between 8-10 hours, take us up 4,000+ feet and back down. (click on the link in the "The Hike" post above to see our trail, etc.)
> Other activities for the week tentatively include: white water rafting, disc golf (at the highest US disc golf course), gondola/chair lift rides, mountain biking, hot springs @ Glenwood Springs, horseback riding, hiking/sightseeing Aspen & Snowmass, and no doubt LOTS of laughter and just plain old kicking back with good friends!!

We'll try to post from the trail, but will just have to see how it goes. Thanks everybody, for all the encouragement & excitement you've shown us all - we'll take lots of pictures and see you in a week!!

Love,
the Seven Summiteers
Jean, Rene, Tracie, Shari, Ann, Tiff & Ann

PS - Prayers to AJ today....

Still no group picture....Maybe we'll have to post one from CO, once we get us all in one place!! :)

Well, the countdown is ON..... 1 week from today, we'll be hitting the rapids - this will be us (cut & paste this link, or just click on the title of this post):
http://www.aspenwhitewater.com/rafting_trips.html

And then a week from tomorrow, it will be a bright and early start UP the trail!!
Can't wait ladies!! If you need me this weekend, I'll be busy packing!! :)

Love, Tiff

In just two weeks girls...

Two weeks from tomorrow, we hit the trail girls and I can hardly wait! The training and planning is consuming me--- so much so that I FORGOT I still have a class to be turning in homework for...YIKES!!

AE