Tag Archives: mountain life

Welcome to the new version of my little snippet of the internet. Whatcha think? You best like it…because I kind of do so I won’t be changing much. BUT, if anything isn’t flowing/working for you let me know, I’ll whip it into shape!

I’ve been living in Summit County — the home of 4 big Colorado mountain resorts — since December. My mountain job came with the perk of a season pass. It takes about 15 minutes to get from my bed to the base of a ski run. Yet, somehow, I’ve only been on the mountain 6 times this year. That’s sad. Really sad. Especially when you consider the fact I managed to get nearly 30 days a few years ago when I had to drive up from Denver every stinking day!

I moved to Colorado nearly five years ago. When people as “why” I always respond with “for the mountains”. When we first discussed moving out to Colorado the plan was to live in the mountains…but that quickly became unrealistic thanks to the cost of living, lack of jobs and our personal expectations for our lives. Luckily, Denver was a solid second best option for us. Since we made that move a LOT has changed in our lives and if you told 2011 Heidi that she’d be living like 2015 Heidi is actually living she’d probably crawl into bed with a bowl of ice cream and cry. This isn’t what I expected for myself…but I love it. A lot.

Last weekend [once again, a full week ago, not a few days ago…oops!] I finally got a chance to remedy my “I haven’t been up a 14er in sooooo long” whining. After 10 hours shadowing a firehouse ambulance crew I headed for the Fairplay/Alma area where I’d meet up with Robb + Kami for a night of camping before a Decalibron summit. Just before the sunset on Saturday night we settled into camp near Kite Lake, warming ourselves around a craftily created fire before crashing into our sleeping bags. It has been far too long since I drove up a sketchy mountain road to go camping under the clear mountain sky…this needs to happen more often before they’re all covered in snow!

I could go on and on about the things I don’t believe in…but I tend to be a bit cynical so I’d probably come off as a terrible person if I did that. Instead, I’m going to wax poetically about something I really do believe in. Trail Karma. She is real, I promise!

First, what is Trail Karma? Trail Karma actually a she, a trail pixie who controls the success and quality of the time you spend on or near trails. If you’re in her good graces the trails will be amazing and you’ll be thankful for frozen toes, scuffed knees and sunburn. If you’ve done something to piss her off…well, then good luck with life!