Day 391: Hiking the Apex Trail

     I said it before (when I wrote about hiking the South Table Mountain), and I'll say it again; I'm not doing this project simply so I can rack my brain on the daily. I do this project so that mustering up the effort to say "yes" to opportunities becomes a bit easier. I do it so that finding motivation to get up and go out into the world will (with a bit of effort) become second nature. So I've been on a hike before, so what. I've never been on this hike before. This trail, with these people. The sights I saw, and the experiences I had today were genuine and novel. Just because today's entry isn't as obscure as some of my others, doesn't take away from the experience of it. Hell, I'd count hiking a different trail everyday if the opportunity came up.

     Today's hike was beautiful, which helped distract me from the awful car troubles I've been having lately. Stef and I met up with my sister (Sarah) and her friend, Holly in Golden (a town that I am crushing on hard lately). Golden is beautiful, and a perfect spot for a hike. We got all packed up, and walked from Holly's sisters house to a mountain (how's that for prime real estate?). It was hot, and I kept giving myself kudos for remembering to bring/fill my newly purchased Camel-back. The four of us, and three doggies, trekked up the Apex trail, stopping only so the pups could lay in the cool creek, and so I could Geo-cache. The tail was narrow, often with a dangerously steep hill on the side, and the mountain bikers who raced down didn't seem to care much about my personal space or well being. But we kept hiking, whenever a biker was spotted, we would scoot as far to the side as we could manage, to not get knocked off the side of the trail. The hike wasn't hard, but it sure was hot. I was sweating and panting like one of the pups. The trail seemed to swoop behind the mountain, and kick back and fourth up the backside.

     At the top of the hill, our gang took a much deserved rest under the cover of some trees. The view was stunning, a crystal clear view of a micro-sized city. Denver could be seen on the horizon, just a tiny dirt mound in the distance. We hung out, drank a refreshingly warm beer, and took some scenic photos before descending. The trip down was more of the same; hot temps, and beautiful Colorado views. Take a look at the photos, they're the real story!

Day 376: Hicking The South Table

     Today's challenge is exactly what this project is about! Today, I hung out with my sister Sarah, hiked the South (maybe it was the North one...not sure) Table mountain in Golden, and enjoyed some beverages afterwards at the infamous Coors brewery plant. It was so much fun, and it was basically completely free too.

     The trail was pretty mild, only took about 20 minutes to hike to the top. We were greeted with a beautiful view of Golden's downtown from the top of the plateau. From there, we didn't have much choice but to hop a squat on the edge of the cliff and crack open some victory beers! We chatted about this and that and soaked up the sun for a while, just happy to be there. It was fun, then we took the party to the Coors factory and hung out there as well.
     I do have a friend that claims that today's challenge really isn't much of a stretch for me. His words were "Well, I mean, you've already been on a hike before, so it isn't really that new is it?" And to that I would have to disagree. Sure, I've been on hikes before. But I've never hiked anywhere in Golden, nor have I hiked with my sis. Today was a completely new experience, and one that I certainly wouldn't of had if it weren't for the project. It may not be as notable as some of my more demanding challenges (the ghost pepper is the one that comes to mind), but that doesn't mean that today's experience has any less value. The point of all of this -the project, blog, and challenges- is to help me get off my butt and experience as much as I can. And let me tell you, I did not have to try hard at all to find the motivation to get off my butt this morning when I knew I'd be going on a hike and hanging with Sarah. The reason why I believe that this experience definitely fits in with the others is because I know exactly what I would've done today if I didn't' have the project...I'd be watching YouTube, maybe go skating for a little bit, and probably wouldn't have even eaten lunch cause I'd be too lazy to go to the kitchen. My point is, I don't have to do something that is overly-flamboyant everyday to feel like I'm experiencing my life in a fulfilling way. Today's experience was fun and light-hearted, and I'm okay with that.