At the instigation of Mary Kline, member from Pennsylvania, several RMOWPers put their heads together and organized a jaunt up Mount Evans (elevation 14,264 feet), west of Denver.
Emails bounced back and forth between Mary, Kenita and George Gibbins, and Jack Olson, the upshot being a jaunt up Mt. Evans with a picnic lunch before snow closes the road. Without telling Jack, Kenita contacted several other members in the Denver area to join them.
Cecilia Travis was the first to arrive, surprising Jack with the “coincidence” of like minds. But after Fred and Linda Lord and Maryann Gaug showed up, he got the picture. Although the road doesn’t quite reach the summit, it does get you to an elevation of about 14,130 feet. The day was sunny and clear, but the air was breezy and quite cold – note the fresh snow on the ground and all the layers everyone had bundled on.
Despite the chill, everyone had a great time, finally heading down to the Dos Chappell Nature Center (around 11,500 feet elevation), where they wandered about and found a few stalwart flowers flying their colors. Back on the road again, the group found space at a Denver Mountain Parks’ picnic area on Squaw Pass. A trail took them to the perfect spot where they shared a delectable picnic, although the gray jay “camp robbers” seemed to believe the table was spread with a buffet especially for their enjoyment. So Mary distracted them with a bit of bread while Cecilia practiced her bird photography!
It’s good to hear about RMOWPers getting together between conferences. Anyone else?