Hiking Chapin Peak

I know it’s only late August, but we went for a short hike up to the top of Chapin (around 12,500ft) today and found ourselves in a raging blizzard on the way down. Felt like March up there. So summer is over in Estes Park…which is bittersweet for sure. The summer here is amazing – so much life springs up so quickly….elk have babies, the hummingbirds show up en masse, plants grow at prodigious rates….and then just as suddenly, it is over and replaced by howling wind and empty streets. And ice! That’s the redeeming feature, an empty (of tourists) national park full of nice blue ice routes. Hoping to push the limits a bit this winter. Apryle is very psyched.

Oh, and Apryle left her sunglasses on the summit of Chapin – so if anyone has found a pair of Optic Nerve sunglasses up there, we would be happy to claim them!