Pikes Peak or Bust (in pictures)

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. 
The way of life is wonderful: it is by abandonment." 
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, from "Circles"

A week ago today, Linds and I returned from something of a pilgrimage to Colorado Springs. Truth-to-tell, the trip was a trip, a vacation, a break from routine. I say "something like a pilgrimage" because the 'trip' included two days on Pikes Peak, one of the richest chapters of this short life. 

Our sojourn was dual-purposed: a Christianson family visit and a jaunt of Pikes Peak, "America's Mountain".

The trip in pictures...

Chapter 1 - Christmas in July (kind of):

The week included a lot of cooking (and eating!) with the my nephew
Caleb and niece Ashlyn.

Not our kids! Hanging out at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
with the kiddos (Wallabies in background).

Another zoo shot with Mom and Ashlyn. 

Stare down.

 Chapter 2 - Outdoors: 

A couple of kissing fools under the 'kissing camels' in Garden of the Gods
during a circumnavigation of the park.

Self-portrait at the trail head for Pikes Peak (~6,200 feet). 

A reading companion at Barr Camp, our camp for the night.

Classic Barr Camp shot (2013)! It was a treat to show Linds this
chapter of my life (when I was a caretaker at Barr).

Barr Camp picture with Mom and Dad (2008).

Early morning snack break on the trail (~12,500 feet)

Headed to 'the cirque' (~13,000 feet)

On the summit of Pikes Peak (14,115 feet)

And that's it. Life is good. In addition to spending some quality time with my brother, sister-in-law, niece, nephew, mom and dad, Linds and had the pleasure of visiting briefly with my friend Jason and his wife Tiffany and gormandizing with Cody, Beth, Simon and Greta Lillstrom. It was a jam-packed, fireworksless 4th of July, but gosh, it was preciously what it was: life lived.

Onward and upward,

Brian