5:30am start!

Hey everyone,
Well its 7pm and I am almost ready to head to bed! We woke up at 5:30am to do a morning hike up Breckenridge. Our friend Jeff used to do it occasionally and we figured it would be a nice variation to our usual exercise routine. We managed to talk Jeff into doing it again (given we had no idea which was the best route to take!). Anyone who knows me will tell you I am not exactly a morning person, so a 5:30am start is really pushing my limits! Add that it was -10 outside and it was not an inviting prospect!

We started our hike at about 6:30am - at this stage it was still pitch black. We also had to sidestep the grooming machines - its fair to say we would come off second best if we ran into one! A pic of Jeff and Josie in the gloom with a grooming machine a few metres away....







Whilst it was hard work walking up the hill, we did manage to see some incredible views of the sun rising. I only had a small compact camera to take some pics (wish I had an SLR!), so these pictures don't really do it justice, but seeing the sun rising against the mountains is truly an amazing experience.....



We hiked from the base to the Peak 9 Restaurant which took us about 90 minutes. Sure it was tiring but also immensly satisfying! Another picture of us almost at the top.....

We reached the our destination at about 7:50am which meant we were the only soles on the mountain (the mountain doesn't officially open until 8:30am). No other skiers or boarders were around - ahhh the serenity! Knowing we had the mountain to ourselves we took our time to get ready and it was worth the hike! Fresh tracks all the way down! :-)

We didn't realise how good it was going to be today - it snowed overnight, but Breck only reported 1 inch. After our hike I think I was in a pretty good position to confirm there was more then 1 inch! (not sure why I always have to keep saying that to the girls ;-) ). In the end we caught the chairlifts up for a few more powder runs before calling it a day by 9:45am. At this stage we were starving so we all headed some very satisfied! Its a funny feeling seeing people getting ready just as you are going home....still as long as everyone is happy! ;-)

Hope all is well back home - the Winter X Games is on for the next few days - AWESOME! Now its my turn to dominite the TV :-)

CLS & JS