AND the hike down...

View down the gulley.
This is a view from inside the of the gulley as we were just starting our journey downward.

Colorado's state flower, the Columbine. It is a $500 fee if you pick or kill a single flower!

Believe it or not, the hike down is worse than the way up. It is a lot of jarring on your knees and cranking on your quadriceps. To get to our warm car and Beau Jeau's Pizza-we had to go down a steeply inclined gulley while manuvering loose rock and many boulders. Finally we hit flat ground only to find ourselves sludging through a muddy meadow and brush past our necks...I was about to cry for the second time. Yes, at this point I questioned my sanity. To make this trip more memorable, we had to power walk the last mile and a half due to hail and rain...finally, we made it to warm food and I passed out at eight pm that night!