American Flag mountain is a tradition. Likely for a lot of people.
You ride up varied terrain to 12,713 feet. It's beautiful... towering aspens, gorgeous pines, wildflower-filled alpine meadows, abandoned cabins, rocks, streams...
...and then you reach the top.
The ultimate vista with a 360 degree view of majestic mountains.
That's Dave... on his X.
That's short for a Honda 250X for those of you who didn't hear Dave talk about his X for two weeks straight.
That's my bike next to Dave and his X. Andy rode it... the trail is way to difficult for me. Besides I was still recovering and getting my gall back... my mo-jo... my inner strength to get on one of those crazy things again.
When we reach the top, we unload and head for the summit just a short walk away...
And guess what's at the top of American Flag mountain?
Yep, an American flag.
And every year we take turns taking our photo with the flag. So does everyone else who reaches the summit. And for some reason, Bud's photos always turn out to be the best.
Must be the pose.
It's hard to get the complete picture. You see, about five feet behind Bud is a 1,000 foot drop. Ok, I actually don't know the actual distance... 500 feet... 1,000 feet... if you fall, the results would be the same.
The edge just ends. Standing there, at the flag, is likely exactly what it would feel like to stand at the edge of the world, you know, if it was flat. Yikes, makes me woos-ie just thinking about it.
Did you know I have a horrible fear of heights? I cry driving down mountain passes - even I-70 can make me cry. I've never been up Pikes Peak either... couldn't handle it.
But I suck it up and handle this...
Every year we go up it looks different. The sun, the clouds, the light.
Every year it shows a different side of its complex beauty.
You feel like you can reach up and touch the clouds.
...or in Jack's case, reach up and grab your hair? Silly boy.
Here we all are... the crew...
Julie, Baby Sebastian, Chad, Autumn, Bud, Katie, Madison, Juanita, Dave, Bob, Debbie, the fellas, William, Jack, Baby Eva, Karin, Andy, Dave Sr., Me and Charlie!
Who are Bob and Debbie you ask? I don't know. I guess someone in our group met then in the campground and invited them to ride up with us.
Shortly after this picture I never saw them again.
And what is this...?
I went into the archives and found our group photo from our American Flag trip last year. It was a clear, sun-shining day.
Notice Bud front and center. I'm just saying...
How fun!
So I went back to find our group photo in 2007.
I guess we didn't take one... but here is Dave, Dave Sr. holding Jack, and Andy holding William up top. It's a nice view of the summit... and the drop off the summit...
And look at this one...
That's me in 2007. See the tension in my forehead? See how tightly I'm gripping the flag? I'm about to die... or at least I thought I was about to die.
The weather that trip was iffy. In fact, on the way down, we got caught in a torrential down pour and hid out in an abandoned cabin... with half a roof... for hours... eating lunch... waiting for it to pass.
Some day I'll go back and share those pictures.
But for now, as we say good bye to American Flag mountain and Day 5 of our trip, I leave you with this...
The crew in 2007, up on Taylor pass... the trail that leads to Aspen...
