We've been on vacation with my parents the last few days and I love the break from our normal existence. My parents rented this fabulous condo in Vail so we could relax and shop and just be. This morning, Peter woke around 7:30 (not early for him... he usually wakes at 5:00 am for a run) and left the condo to run up Vail Mountain.
My father bought Starbucks coffee so I sat at the condo window facing the mountain and watching the little speck of my husband run up. I actually sat in front of the window for about an hour, coffee in hand, watching his decision or indecision climbing the mountain.
At around 10:30, he returned to the condo and talked about seeing foxes and deer and marmots and the friend he met running to the top and beautiful scenery. Some of it sounded beautiful but it also sounded treacherous. There was a stretch he ran straight up and then needed to head back down and was fearful of doing so.
Around 4:30 in the afternoon, my parents offered to take the kids and Peter was telling me I needed to run the mountain with him the next morning.
I decided I would run with Peter before the gondolas closed.
At 4:50, we set out to run up the paths he ran earlier in the day. The first part of the run was fairly steep and so I was glad we had purchased oxygen as I had not brought my inhaler.
Almost immediately, we entered an aspen forest. I love aspen forests. I love the fact that aspen are the second largest living organism in the world after coral reefs. The root system of aspen is interconnected and amazing.
Waterfalls, aspen, uphill. Repeat. We exited out of the forest to a dirt road and then mud path and back again. Peter was leading the way. After awhile, it was hard to know where we were. The vistas of the rocky mountains and the chairlifts and the ever increasing heights were clues. I'm also deathly afraid of heights but apparently only when traveling by vehicle because I found the whole run amazing.
We neared a place on the path when Peter thought we were near to the end. The time was 6 and the lift was due to close, so we thought, at 6:30. Pete said "Well, we're close", so we started running. And then we rounded a corner and Peter said- "We're not even close".
The time was 6:20 and we ran like hell.
Actually we ran like hell until 6:21, but then I had to stop and walk.
Around 6:50, we entered the gondola loading area. At first we thought we were out of luck. The upper slopes were abandoned. In the loading area, there stood five men. Pete said, "Can we go down?" And this man said, "Well, you're late but you're very lucky".
So this is how it was that my husband was the first one to ride the gondolas down after a run in the morning and last one to ride them down in the evening and also that we were not left to walk down the mountain.
The entire ride down we were overwhelmed by how very lucky we were.
My father bought Starbucks coffee so I sat at the condo window facing the mountain and watching the little speck of my husband run up. I actually sat in front of the window for about an hour, coffee in hand, watching his decision or indecision climbing the mountain.
At around 10:30, he returned to the condo and talked about seeing foxes and deer and marmots and the friend he met running to the top and beautiful scenery. Some of it sounded beautiful but it also sounded treacherous. There was a stretch he ran straight up and then needed to head back down and was fearful of doing so.
Around 4:30 in the afternoon, my parents offered to take the kids and Peter was telling me I needed to run the mountain with him the next morning.
I decided I would run with Peter before the gondolas closed.
At 4:50, we set out to run up the paths he ran earlier in the day. The first part of the run was fairly steep and so I was glad we had purchased oxygen as I had not brought my inhaler.
Almost immediately, we entered an aspen forest. I love aspen forests. I love the fact that aspen are the second largest living organism in the world after coral reefs. The root system of aspen is interconnected and amazing.
Waterfalls, aspen, uphill. Repeat. We exited out of the forest to a dirt road and then mud path and back again. Peter was leading the way. After awhile, it was hard to know where we were. The vistas of the rocky mountains and the chairlifts and the ever increasing heights were clues. I'm also deathly afraid of heights but apparently only when traveling by vehicle because I found the whole run amazing.
We neared a place on the path when Peter thought we were near to the end. The time was 6 and the lift was due to close, so we thought, at 6:30. Pete said "Well, we're close", so we started running. And then we rounded a corner and Peter said- "We're not even close".
The time was 6:20 and we ran like hell.
Actually we ran like hell until 6:21, but then I had to stop and walk.
Around 6:50, we entered the gondola loading area. At first we thought we were out of luck. The upper slopes were abandoned. In the loading area, there stood five men. Pete said, "Can we go down?" And this man said, "Well, you're late but you're very lucky".
So this is how it was that my husband was the first one to ride the gondolas down after a run in the morning and last one to ride them down in the evening and also that we were not left to walk down the mountain.
The entire ride down we were overwhelmed by how very lucky we were.
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