The team after a long hike
Last weekend the team took a jaunt up to Waterville Valley, NH, for our annual fall camp. With the weather mostly cooperating, we got some terrific training in and spent a lot of quality time together as a team.
But before I get into that, here's a hyperlink summary of the weekend's cultural highlights, by category: Movie. Song. Infant.
On the training side, we started the weekend with a hard hill-bounding interval ascent of the Waterville Valley alpine mountain. Through the 100% humidity, we could see hints of the foliage turning around us and glimpses of beautiful views across the valley. By the time we reached the top, the hot weather at the base of the mountain had given way to much more comfortable temperatures. "Thank goodness for the environmental lapse rate!", Esther thought to herself.
That afternoon, we explored the valley roads in town on a recovery skate rollerski, which ended with an awesome but tiring half-hour climb back to the rental house under a bluebird sky. And in the evening, over a hearty meal of beef burritos, we had a super talk about our team values and goals for the year, followed by a film screening (see above).
Sunday morning, we woke up bright and early for the highlight of camp - a run/hike of Cannon Mountain. The summit was hidden in fog, so we avoided it and instead opted for the ridge trails, which were gorgeous. The picture above is from a refreshing excursion into Lonesome Lake at the end of the hike. (In the Fun Facts department: other people, like CSU master Wes Denering and Tanner's SLS 20 teaching fellow, also thought that this particular lake would be a great place to be on a splendid Sunday in early fall. Who knew?)
Running down the mountain turned into a vicious race akin to Game of Thrones when we realized we were competing for a limited supply of Gatorade bottles at the bottom. ("Everyone who isn't us is an enemy," Alena was overheard telling Addie.) Luckily, it turned out there were enough Gatorades to go around, and there was even time a lovely picnic lunch before piling in the van and heading back to campus.
That's all for now! Stay tuned for Esther's update on her Reach the Beach relay experience.
But before I get into that, here's a hyperlink summary of the weekend's cultural highlights, by category: Movie. Song. Infant.
On the training side, we started the weekend with a hard hill-bounding interval ascent of the Waterville Valley alpine mountain. Through the 100% humidity, we could see hints of the foliage turning around us and glimpses of beautiful views across the valley. By the time we reached the top, the hot weather at the base of the mountain had given way to much more comfortable temperatures. "Thank goodness for the environmental lapse rate!", Esther thought to herself.
That afternoon, we explored the valley roads in town on a recovery skate rollerski, which ended with an awesome but tiring half-hour climb back to the rental house under a bluebird sky. And in the evening, over a hearty meal of beef burritos, we had a super talk about our team values and goals for the year, followed by a film screening (see above).
Sunday morning, we woke up bright and early for the highlight of camp - a run/hike of Cannon Mountain. The summit was hidden in fog, so we avoided it and instead opted for the ridge trails, which were gorgeous. The picture above is from a refreshing excursion into Lonesome Lake at the end of the hike. (In the Fun Facts department: other people, like CSU master Wes Denering and Tanner's SLS 20 teaching fellow, also thought that this particular lake would be a great place to be on a splendid Sunday in early fall. Who knew?)
Running down the mountain turned into a vicious race akin to Game of Thrones when we realized we were competing for a limited supply of Gatorade bottles at the bottom. ("Everyone who isn't us is an enemy," Alena was overheard telling Addie.) Luckily, it turned out there were enough Gatorades to go around, and there was even time a lovely picnic lunch before piling in the van and heading back to campus.
That's all for now! Stay tuned for Esther's update on her Reach the Beach relay experience.
