Up, up, and away!
On Monday, March 26, we spent our afternoon hiking near Boulder. Although we were headed to one trail - we ended up at another. It started at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which we feel to be a nice short hike for our less adventurous visitors. Of course, Phoebe wasn't satisfied with the short, easy hike. We took to the Mesa Trail, which is a part of an elaborate set of trails for Boulder Open Space. We wound up and down from grassland foothills through Ponderosa Forest and eventually into Spruce/Fir Forest. This took us near the famous Flatirons near Table Mesa. The lead dog took us up the winding trail where we came across the nearly sheer rock face to Mallory Cave. The trail marker indicated the correct direction was up the face of the rock. Aaron was going to solo up to the cave while us girls waited below. At least that is what Vicki thought, until Phoebe chose to rapidly scramble up the rock after Aaron. Clawing her way along the crevices, she showed determination when she slid backwards, caught her breath, and charged upward. Of course, Vicki then had to follow - braving her fear of heights and a rock wall with few solid footholds. Crawling through a needle hole crack at the "top" of the segment seen in the picture, we got a great view of the Front Range Valley below. With the ominous clouds moving in, we decided not to continue up to the cave (another steep exposed rock climb). We look forward to sharing this hike with our future guests - the "short NCAR nature hike" for some - and the "Phoebe Hike" for those who want a little more muscle burning activity. (Believe me - Aaron will "push" you up the hill.) Phoebe (never letting us carry her) did lead us all the way back to the car (round trip = 3 miles), at which time she started a nice long nap. 
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