On Monday, we discussed over breakfast how we wanted to spend our final day with Jake. He had a few suggestions, one of them being a challenging but beautiful hike up Eagles Peak near USAFA. We agreed that that sounded fun. We didn’t know anything about the trail, except that Jake had done it a couple weeks earlier and loved it.

It started out nice and easy (actually, looking back, I don’t think the trail had even begun yet). How difficult could it be to climb to the top?

Ruth and I started off picking flowers and stopping to look at pretty rocks along the way.

It wasn’t long before the trail narrowed and became steeper with rocks and roots embedded throughout.

Ruthie insisted on using a walking stick; however, once the trail steepened, it became more of a hinderance than a help. So Jake declared himself her Sherpa and held onto that stick in one hand and guided her with the other.

As for the other two boys, I was thankful they opted to wear bright orange shirts that morning. There were times they were so far ahead of us that all I could spot was a dot of orange in the distance.

They were like seasoned hikers.

The final push to the summit required us to scramble on boulders. This little six year-old surprised me with her determination and agility.

A daunting sight!

But once we all made it to the top, we found that the hard work it took to get there was so worth it.

The view was spectacular! Jake and his new home:

After hiking down the mountain (which proved to be much more difficult than climbing up),

we ate dinner and had a teary farewell as we dropped Jake off until Thanksgiving.