Mount Cutler Hike...yes, I am trying to tempt you to move here!

When we woke up on Saturday morning, after the clouds of the previous stormy days had passed, we saw snow on the top of Pike's Peak...hmmmm. In addition to that, we are gearing up for four weeks of soccer games that are spread throughout the day enough that they eat up the entire Saturday. Needless to say, our hiking days are numbered unless we invest in some snow shoes (which I am SERIOUSLY considering)! With that thought on our minds, we decided to take another hike into the hills. We have a little list of places we want to go, and on the top is a place called The Crags and we almost went there (stay tuned for pics of that hike in October, weather permitting), but Josh's soccer game didn't end until 2:30pm, and I was meeting a friend to scrap at 6:30pm, so we opted for a location on this side of Pike's called Mount Cutler. It was a perfect afternoon, sunny but not too warm, and at the top of the hike we could see out across all of Colorado Springs into the Plains. Another beautiful hike, the kids had a blast, and did I say housing prices are great here?!

Up and up!

Peeking through some tree roots...with sedimentary rock and a steep mountain as her inspiration, mom launches into lesson on erosion #1. Another tree that has lost its dirt (oh great, here goes mom on erosion lesson #2). By the way, exposed roots make a great fort!
We are pretty sure Luke is going to become a pilot, he is the first to hear, find and point out the airplanes and birds in the sky.

The view of the Springs The view into the Rockies.
Adam climbed out to this rocky outcropping with a five-hundred-foot drop on the other side. Ben asks, "Awww, Mom, why can't I go out there?" I feel like a total party pooper, but do you really have to ask, son? It makes me get queasy just thinking about it!

The tippity top

Back down..."Mom, why is there a bridge when there is no water?" "Funny you asked, there's this little thing called erosion." (ug! here goes lesson #4) **Lesson #3 came up when Ben tried to go off the trail and slid down the mountain 3 feet in one step). See how swiftly that ice-cold mountain water is running? Ben: "Why can't I go in? I can take my socks off!" This kid is determined to find adventure everywhere!
My boys+water=true love...even though it was at the bottom of the mountain by our car, the river was the highlight of the hike...
...that, and the charred wood from an abandoned bonfire at the top, Josh looked like a chimney sweep on the way back down. When we took Luke off of this rock so we could go home, he threw a fit! He loved that he climbed up on his own, and was determined to stay there watching the water all night! Don't worry, mom's hand is one inch from that left foot.