Spring Break: The Incline

The last time we hiked The Manitou Springs Incline, Adam and I carted Luke and Tommy in backpacks, Adam was lifting Ruby up each stair after the midpoint up and I carried wee Josh (and Tommy too!) the last half mile down.  In spite of all that, I actually remember it being a really fun time, even if arduous, but we hadn't returned for a very long time!  We were definitely overdue a revisit to The Incline, backpack- and Ruby-free this time around, on the nice, freshly refurbished trail.

It was Ben's idea.  When I had the boys give me input for what they wanted to do during our Spring Break week at home, he suggested The Incline, and Monday seemed to be the best time to squeeze it in.  We talked Adam into joining us, even though it meant ditching work for half the day to come along.  It's always more fun with Dad there, plus, I wasn't sure how the little boys were going to do, so I felt better knowing there was a second "carrier," just in case.    

It was a perfect day for our hike!  It was warm, but not hot, and cool enough at the top to feel refreshing after the haul up.  The little boys were AMAZING!  They walked every step up all on their own.  I needn't have worried!  Ben was a great buddy to Luke, which I think helped because he's a lot less likely to whine to Ben.  I know Ben wanted to rocket up as fast as he could, but he was so kind hanging back with the rest of us to stay with Luke.  Luke also walked down the whole trail all by himself.  Tommy was piggybacked for a bit here and there on the way down.  He wasn't tired so much as the trail is covered in loose rock so his five-year-old balance and short legs didn't keep his footing well, and I think he was annoyed with sliding every other step.

By the end we were chanting, "We can do hard things!" with every step up, but we finished strong, in 1 hour and 4 minutes, much faster than our last time up (probably because we didn't have poor Ruby with us).  Luke was so proud of himself, and Tommy was asked by several people if he had gone up all on his own.  In the end, we traveled over 2,000 stairs up, increasing 2,000 feet in elevation in just under a mile, then a 3-plus mile hike back down the Barr Trail to the car...BRAVO boys! 

I am proud of all of my boys, and loved this adventure we shared together.  It is always good to push ourselves a little bit and be reminded that we can do hard things, because we can call on that memory when we face difficult times in our daily lives.  It was a wonderful day, with milkshakes from Sonic for all on the drive home!