Mission Trip to Denver, CO - Part 3

We started down the trails. They weren't as flat as I had hoped they would be and were quite rocky in some places. You had to climb up and down different rocks at some points. Oh well. It was better than climbing those stairs! The scenery was beautiful as we walked, and there were pretty streams throughout.



I love how smooth the rock is from the running water.



We came upon a map of the trails that we studied to find the elevator down.

I think it is too small for you to see, but where we were, the elevation was 6800 feet. The highest point is at Inspiration Point, and it is 7200 feet. We continued to look over the map, and then it hit us. None of these trails lead us to an elevator. NONE! We were going to have to climb back down those stairs! Being that I was still very dizzy, I said I was not going to walk around up there any longer and was ready to tackle the stairs back down. The others agreed with me because they weren't feeling too hot either. So, we didn't do any more exploring up there (That's a shame, really. I just felt so bad.) and headed back to those wretched stairs.

As we made our way back to the stairs, I snapped some more pictures. In my dizziness though, I forgot to snap pictures of the names of the different falls. Sorry about that.



Notice the stairs carved in the rock that we had to take to get back to the two flights of stairs. The people on the stairs are part of my group headed back down, too.


This is looking down over the railing from the rock stairs.


Going down...the first flight. Notice that the stairs were wet, as was the railing which I gripped tightly with both hands curled up in my sweater so my hands wouldn't slip.


And, the second flight of stairs. I, of course, waited until those people came up first. I wasn't about to pass people on the stairs and have to let go of both railings. The teepee at the bottom was pretty cool. They had Indian presentations. We didn't get to see it though.

We finally all made it safely to the bottom. Now we wanted to see where the elevator led. There IS an elevator! Along the way....



The Evergreens were lovely.

We finally came to the Mountain Elevator.



We walked in, and it was like a cave. There were pictures lining the wall of the history of Seven Falls and the many famous people who have visited the falls. One stood out to me over all of the many Presidents and famous diplomats and actors...


Yep, Walt Disney and his family visited Seven Falls. How cool is that? You can find Disney almost anywhere.

We took the elevator up to the top where there was a gift shop and some beautiful views.




I love how this pretty little plant found a way to grow and bloom in rock.

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A quick zoom to the other side...the scary stairs that I conquered!

We went down the elevator since the rest of our group was making their way down the stairs. There were chipmunks all over the place. They were the cutest little things.

This little fellow was eating something. He didn't seem frightened of us at all. He's probably used to a lot of people being around.

We were all getting hungry and had packed stuff to have a picnic there. So, we gathered around and made our sandwiches, grabbed some chips, cookies and drinks and sat around in the parking lot to eat. The chipmunks must have smelled our food and some gathered around wanting some. They really enjoyed potato chips.



After lunch, we loaded up in the vans and made our way out of Seven Falls. I took pictures along the way.





Little wagons like this were all over the place. I thought they were cute.


The rock formation at the top right is known as the Mouse. Do you see the mouse?

UP NEXT: Garden of the Gods

A Christmas Carol - Morph Pictures

I finally got my pictures today from the Christmas Carol train car where we got to morph our faces into some of the characters' faces. They are so funny! Enjoy!

Belle's morph didn't work very well and looks quite creepy.


Victoria and then me as Belle. This reminds me of the Twilight Zone movie when the boy lives in a cartoon-like world and one of the characters didn't have a mouth. I hated seeing her.

Tiny Tim looks pretty creepy, too. It's like our faces weren't fat enough to fit in the morph picture. Plus, he has bug eyes.


Victoria as Tiny Tim. The second one is Tiny Tim with braces.


Me as Tiny Tim....creepy!


Victoria as Scrooge


Scrooge with braces. HA!


Me as Scrooge - Victoria said I made him look girly.


Victoria as Marley


Me as Marley

Mission Trip to Denver, CO - Part 2

I have to climb how many stairs straight up?

The smart adults...ahem...let the youth begin the ascent first. Here are the first of the youth beginning the climb.

I had to get a picture of them smiling down at us.


That's Victoria up there. Sorry she looks like a little speck.


Looking back from whence we came.


I took pictures of the first fall from the ground. It really was quite lovely.


Um....yeah....


Here goes...

Now, I have a serious fear of stairs. I always have. As a child, I wouldn't climb up or down stairs unless I was beside a wall, holding the handrail and holding my daddy's hand. I was scared they would collapse or I'd fall off of them. So, just looking at these stairs was an accomplishment. Once I took the first step, I never released the handrails, looked left or right or ahead. I only looked down as I made my way up each step. Needless to say, I don't have any pictures on the way up or down. But once I get to each destination, I have pictures.

I climbed up the first set of stairs, and the altitude really got to me. I couldn't catch my breath, and I thought my heart was going to pound out of my chest. I've never experienced anything like it before. Once I got to the first platform, I was extremely dizzy, too. I had to rest there a few minutes. Thankfully, a few others (including some youth) were in the same boat. From the platform, I took some pictures.


Most of the youth had already climbed the second set of stairs and were going off exploring. You can barely make a few out crossing the little bridge up there.

I actually thought I had more pictures than that from the platform. I guess I was struggling too much, but I was determined to keep going. So, I began to climb the second set of stairs. My breathing was horrible, and I was so lightheaded, I was scared I was going to pass out. I had to stop every ten steps or so and try to catch my breath. I finally made it up the second set of stairs. I really thought I was going to faint, so I sat down. I didn't care that the bench was wet from the sprinkling rain. I didn't care how wet my jeans got. I HAD to sit down! The other adults finally made it up the stairs, too. Once we all felt a little better, we decided to head for the trails. I was ready for some flat walking. Plus, we knew that we could follow the trails to an elevator that would take us down so we didn't have to climb the stairs down.

More pictures...



And this picture shows how far we came. You see here just the second flight of stairs.

UP NEXT: Exploring the trails!