Hiking – Hike & Mighty Adventures

Why is it so hot in Texas… ALL THE TIME! No point in arguing this fact any longer… I’m just going to go to Colorado!

KEYSTONE, COLORADO

Summer was a little rough on the Simmons family this year. Weddings, youth trips, retreats, and MOVING! Our biggest adventure this summer has been moving downtown to the West 6th district which is equal parts awesome and annoying (think loud noises and bad parking). We are loving the convenience of walking to work and school and experiencing a low-carbon life. You can’t call me a hippie because I’m a little too yupster, but going a whole week without using a car is pretty awesome.

Last week I started grad school at UT Austin in the Family Nurse Practitioner program. I am currently working as a floor nurse in a Bone Marrow Transplant unit and hope to continue my career as an advanced practice nurse in oncology, but I digress. Mike and I never got a chance to spend quality time together this summer and decided to take a last minute trip to one of my favorite places to both escape the heat and to slow down.

Wednesday August 26, 2015:The majority of today was engrossed with my first day of school. Three hours of advanced pathophysiology, followed by four hours of textbook reading, ending with three hours of healthcare research; what have I gotten myself into? Finally, Mike picked me up from 1710 Red River Street and whisked us off to the airport for a late flight into Denver. After an uneventful car rental and drive to our condo, we settled in for much needed good night of sleep.

Thursday August 27, 2015: Not sure what time it is right now, but I don’t really care. Sleeping in on “Saturday” is the best! We finally made it out the door and grabbed brunch at Haywood Cafe. This vintage wood-paneled cafe was a brisk one mile walk from our front door and served an eclectic group of both locals and tourists. It’s self-proclaimed “Best Breakfast in Keystone” was not at all inaccurate. If you will indulge my painfully touristy pictures of my food, you may find that I have some new brunch recipes to add to my repertoire.

“Sexy Mexi Benny” Southwestern Eggs Benedict with home fries // BBQ Pork Benny on cornbread with cheesy grits

Fortunately and unfortunately it rained most of today. The nice part was we had an awesome excuse to hang out at our beautiful condo and take in the mountain views and fresh air. We found this cute rental through AirB&B – the vacation home of Mike and Christina. We received a gracious welcome from our hosts of a bottle of wine and hand written postcard. It was apparent that this couple cares for their guests and put great thought into creating a modern, yet homey atmosphere. For those of you back in Texas reading this, I have no shame boasting in the glorious 50 degree weather here! I’m currently sitting on the couch wearing my comfy sweater and wool socks while sipping on hot tea, gazing at Keystone Mountain with the floor-to-ceiling windows flung open. (insert rosy-cheeked emoticon)

After the weather cleared up, we took another walk along the trail to the Keystone Resort for dinner at Bighorn Bistro & Bar. The restaurant was quaintly positioned on a man-made pond filled with ducks and it’s own resident beaver. He could be seen swimming laps with large tree limbs in his mouth to renovate his home. The intimate resort community reminded me of old sleepy ski towns pictured in movies in the early 60s.

Noticing a beautiful two-story fireplace at the entrance to the restaurant, we decided to stick around for hot cocoa and apple cider by the fire (yes, in August!) Little did we know we had invited ourselves into a new found group of friends. Brad, the restaurant manager, was hosting a launch party for his relative, Andy aka Whiskey, who is a star in the new History Channel show Power & Ice, a gripping tale of the men who build and maintain the power lines in Alaska. If you decide to watch the show, Andy willing admits he is as wild and brash in real life as he is portrayed on the show. Brad’s wife, Stacy and son (12 months old) entertained us with cheerio throwing and toppling over. Stacy’s best friend Cacey with husband Steve and daughter (16 months old) also shared the fire with us, showing off her baby doll and blankey. From family to football, girl talk to man things, we shared a few hours of laughs and a budding acquaintanceship. Steve is a barber and owns his own shop, The Gentlemen’s Barbershop in Dillon just down the road (spoiler alert – skip ahead to Saturday when Mike got a haircut at an authentic barbershop). Cacey introduced us to Juice Plus, her work-from-home job selling fruit and veggie supplements and, Stacy and I bonded over stories of life in the hospitality industry. We enjoyed getting to know each of these ridiculously fun, kind, and friendly people. Hopefully our lives will cross paths again soon!

Friday August 28, 2015: So this trip was supposed to be about slowing down and relaxing before this fall takes over our lives… but y’all know me! At the recommendation of Steve and Cacey, we set out to hike Torrey’s & Gray’s peaks, two 14,000 ft mountains, affectionally known as a pair of 14ers. After a delicious breakfast at Einstein’s – have you tried their new Cinnamon Toast or French Toast breakfast sandwiches, they’re amazing- we set out for our ambitious hike. If you click on the link for Torrey’s & Gray’s Peaks you will find great information from preparing for the climb to step-by-step driving directions to the trail. Being overly cautious, law-abiding noobs, we obeyed the signs which said “high-clearance vehicle only” and parked our adorable little Hyundai at the base of the mountain along I-70 not wishing to damage the sparkly rental car… unfortunately we didn’t know that the official trail head didn’t begin for another THREE miles straight uphill. After an hour and twenty minutes hiking just to get to the trail head, we were less than enthusiastic about our abilities to summit today. Nonetheless, we set out for the next three mile hike/3000 vertical foot climb.

post three miles climbing up the road… setting out to attempt Gray’s & Torrey’s

It was my favorite kind of weather today, 50 degrees and comfortable in the sunshine but chilly in the shade. As we passed from protected sections to exposed faces of the trail we added and shed several layers – thank the Lord for Hot Chilly’s thermal wear. Along the way we spotted a few native creatures including chipmunks, pika, and marmots. Since it was a Friday there wasn’t too much traffic on the trail. After a very heartfelt effort and hours of huffing the cold thin air, we made it to approximately 13,000 feet and decided to call it a day knowing we had to hike six miles back down… and yet it is always surprising how much faster the descent is.

After we made it down the official start of the trail head, we set off to descend another three miles down the road to our car. Fortunately, Carrie, a 50-something woman whom we had acquainted on the trail offered us a ride down to the base. Her sweet dog Molly Brown, a spry copper hound-mix snuggled up next to me in the back seat. During that short twenty minute drive, we learned that Carrie is pretty much the realization of my travel goals. She has already hiked Machu Picchu and Mt. Kilimanjaro and is currently hiking Colorado 14ers in preparation for her trip to Nepal to hike to Everest Base Camp in the Himalayan Mountains… the exact trip Mike and I were going to go on in May except for the earthquake. I’m thankful to have met this kind and generous woman and for her inspiration to my fitness/travel goals!

Finishing up our semi-successful Gray’s & Torrey’s climb

hanging around River Run Village at Keystone before heading to dinner

Tonight was the only activity on this trip that I actually planned in advance and was excitedly looking forward to – dinner at Keystone Ranch Restaurant. This fascinating log cabin was built in the 1930s for a young couple on the family ranch. It is tucked back in Keystone valley behind Lake Dillon on what is now a beautiful golf course. The main reason I wanted to visit this restaurant was to experience a family tradition shared by my Zimmermann grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles. My dad’s family grew up skiing and frequented most of the now famous ski resorts back in the 70s including Aspen Snowmass, Beaver Creek, Keystone, Breckenridge, Telluride, Arapahoe, and many more. They almost always based in Keystone and soon discovered the hidden gem, Keystone Ranch. My parents had been dating since their junior year of college at the University of Texas and graduated in 1983. After too many months long distance, my mom moved back to Austin where my dad was working and gave him the marriage ultimatum (gotta love the Tucker-strong-will meets Zimmermann-stubbornness). Needless to say, my dad invited my mom on another Zimmermann family vacation to their favorite sleepy ski town, Keystone. The gushing romantic that he is, my dad proposed on top of a “double-black diamond run at Beaver Creek.” Thankfully she said yes! The pragmatist that he is, my dad wouldn’t put the ring on her finger right away for fear he would drop it in the snow. My parents had a private dinner to celebrate their anniversary, but on every ski trip they headed over to Keystone Ranch to keep the tradition my grandparents had started with their family! Even thirty years later, it was special for Mike and I to get to carry on a piece of their history.

Spotted a momma moose and her two calves on our way to Keystone Ranch Restaurant

the food was so good I forgot to snap pics of the rest of the courses

As a sort of delayed anniversary vacation, we indulged in the four course chef’s dinner. I had a seared scallop to start and a wild game kettle stew, followed by the sage-pesto venison loin. Mike had the ginger beer brined quail and golden potato soup, followed by the Imperial Ranch Wagyu N.Y. Strip. The house treated us to a glass of champagne in honor of our recent second wedding anniversary on August 17th. It was painful to have self control when presented with the house made bread with pomegranate-habanero jam, but we were sufficiently satisfied by the end of dinner. As part of a special tradition at the Ranch, our server Mike, invited us to the family living room in the original section of the house to enjoy our dessert and coffee. The living room is filled with several seating areas of vintage couches and wingback chairs surrounding a two-story fire place (are you noticing a trend in magnificent fireplaces). The fire place had been a wedding gift to the bride and groom and is adorned with an impressive 10 point Elk above the mantle. I had the Ranch Signature Gran Marnier Souffle with a pistachio creme anglaise (the dessert my parents had shared on their engagement night) and Mike had the Honey Lavender Creme Brûlée with biscotti. The pastry chef artfully presented us with a chocolate-scripted “Happy Anniversary” plate complete with two candles; time seemed to stop as we sipped coffee over candle light to end the night. I have never experienced such customer service as we did that night. From the host to the wait staff to the assistants who kept our water glasses more than 3/4s filled to the Chef and his crew, we truly felt like we had been invited into a friend’s home, completely unaware of life surging on around us.

In case we hadn’t eaten enough already that night, the chef sent us home with two delicate house-made chocolate truffles dusted with himalayan salt – it was the icing on the cake so to speak in light of our previous conversation with Carrie earlier that day.

Saturday August 29, 2015: Today we woke up leisurely and packed up to leave. I know I already talked about how amazing our condo was (Thanks again Mike & Christina) but I wanted to reiterate what a great experience we had in this home-away-from-home! We grabbed a quick bite of brunch at a the Spoon Cafe in River Run Village at the base of Keystone Mt. We both ate the “Mountain Man” plate complete with scrambled eggs, sausage patty, bacon, toast AND home fries. No, we weren’t that hungry, but the couple sitting next to us talked us into it. Yes, it was worth it! Cameron, our server, was awesome and spent some time swapping stories with us about local activities, favorite hikes, and trips abroad. After perusing the shops of the village we found a cute glass christmas ornament with a summer keystone vista painted on the inside of the glass. Before leaving we stopped by The Gentlemen’s Barber Shop for Mike to get a haircut with Steve. While I not-so-secretly wish Mike could pull of a kickin’ pompadour, Steve showed Mike a different way to manage his cute cow-licks and sent him away more dapper than dan.

As I write the final touches of this post on my couch at home, I am thankful to have had the chance to disconnect from our busy lives and to reconnect with one another. It was refreshing not only physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. Mike and I were able to spend quality time praying over this next semester for each other, for our marriage, and for our community. We found some clarity in decisions we’ve been pondering for awhile and renewed fervor to serve and pray for the friends and students God has placed in our lives. Our adventures may be a little less glamorous over the next two years, but we are still enjoying this journey known as Hike & Mighty!