Having just returned with my family from the seven-day Epic Summer program just launched this summer by Vail Resorts – all I can say is “WOW!” and hurry up to book yourself a spot next summer on this rapidly filling wondrous family adventure. Imagine the pristine Rocky Mountains with their snow-capped peaks, tall pines, ice-fed rivers and vast blue skies. Add exciting adventure piled upon adventure from dawn to dusk- from Western trail horse-back riding to tundra hikes, Elk-spotting, white-water rapid rafting, cowboy dinner under the stars, Frisbee golf, mountain biking, gondola riding, picnic lunches and charming dinners, gold mine touring and creek gold panning, shopping, and exploring and you have the amazing family trip of a lifetime in Epic Summer at Vail Resorts. No wonder the program just won Top 10 Family Vacation from Forbes.
Having run a blog tour for Vail Resorts as part of Mom Central Consulting, I got invited to experience their new summer family adventure based out of Keystone Resorts in Colorado. My husband, two kids and I packed duffle bags filled with hiking gear, swimsuits, blue jeans, fleece and sneakers and headed off not quite knowing what to expect as we boarded our flight to Denver. My teens, ages 16 and 15, wrapped themselves in true teen skepticism and complained about wanting a “do-nothing” beach vacation. We grown-ups read all the brochure information soaking up the details as to what awaited us.
Let’s just say that what we experienced blew us all away.
Arrival Day
We arrived in the Denver airport, grabbed a mountain van shuttle to Keystone Resorts and checked into our spacious, lofted-ceiling cedar wood condo at the recently built and gorgeous River Run section of the resort. Our small porch looked out onto the gondola lift, a rippling creek, and bustling town square rife with mountain bikers, hikers, kids, families, and dogs. After quickly unpacking we met up with the other families and our guide, Marty Richardson. Marty, an outgoing and passionate retired schoolteacher, avid hiker, wildflower guide, and master competitive cross country skier, truly made our vacation remarkable. She shared an endless wealth of information about everything from stories of the founders of the resorts we visited, history and details about the mountain rangers, unique flowers, tundra features, local animals, you name it! It felt like having Smithsonian-level fun insights to all the places we visited. So did the two other delightful and up-for-adventure families who shared our van and experiences that week, the Gowdie family of three from Wilmington Delaware and the Ziudema family of five from outside Chicago.
Day 2: Keystone and Breckenridge
Our day started with brilliant sunlight streaking in through the Rocky Mountains to the east, and an early morning buffet at the Edgewater Café in Keystone’s Lakeside Village packed with every breakfast treat imaginable. Stuffed to the brim, we headed over to the Keystone Gondola in the brisk morning air. A panoramic ride took us to the very top of the mountain, at almost 12,000 feet and had us Easterners panting for breath with every step we took as we adjusted to the high altitude. Marty led us off on a hike through pine-laden vales and up to lookout out above the tree line, with magnificent views of majestic peaks every direction you turn. We took periodic breaks to both catch our breath and take in sweeping views of the Continental Divide and Ten Mile Range. When we arrived back at the top of the gondola, a gourmet picnic lunch awaited us.
While our family considered ourselves ready for a nap (which we took dozing off in the van), off we went to our second adventure of the day: exploring an old gold mine and panning for gold! Driving by Lake Dillon to the picturesque ski town of Breckenridge, we arrived at the Country Boy Mine, once the largest gold mine in the area back in the mid-1800s Pike’s Peak Gold Rush. They have reopened the main shaft of the mine, leading 1,000 feet into the stone depths of the mountain where an estimated over $50 million of gold still remains and will do so for a while to come.
Despite the current price of gold being $940 an ounce, it would cost about $75 million to extract the gold from the ore in which it’s vein runs. Country Boy Mine has left things just the way they stood at the time the mine operated, with drips of water splashing from the ceiling, planks to walk on, harsh real air pressure drills to hear, darkness to experience at one point, and an overwhelming sense of what oppressive work mining for gold had been. We got to “brass in” and out just like the miners did, putting brass numbers on hooks so that the head miner knew that we came out of the mine at the end of the day, donned raincoats and hard hats, and had a guide with a booming voice and sense of humor that transported back a century and a half to the days of the gold boom. He also left us soberly contemplating that the average lifespan of a miner in those day once they entered working in the mines proved only four to six years. We emerged to bright sunlight, pools dammed up from the small creek running through the mine, and pans to search the pools and cascading stream for flakes of gold. We learned to pan for gold, with the heavy gold sticking to the bottom wash of the pans, and bought a small glass vial to hold the newly discovered family treasure!
Off we then went to the quaint town of Breckenridge, with overflowing summer flowers, huge rock boulders in a creek bed to jump across for the kids, and a delicious restaurant Relish where our family stopped for cold drinks and appetizers. After wandering the town, we regrouped and off we went in the van to the Keystone Stables.
We all boarded a horse-drawn carriage, replete with its own genuine cowboys, and traversed an old homestead property for several miles until coming to the original house site. Among the preserved log cabins, a modern campsite has been built for old-fashioned horseshoe throwing, learning calf roping, and eating a barbeque cowboy dinner round a fire pit replete with a cowboy guitar sing-along and starry skies.
And this was just Day One! We fell into our condo beds both brimming from the day’s adventures and what we all declared to be “Epic Exhaustion!”
Day 3: Beaver Creek and Mountain Horseback Riding
The next morning arrived far too soon, and after a hearty buffet breakfast, we embarked to the swank ski resort of Beaver Creek and their mountainside stables. The wranglers keep the horses and their areas pristine, hollering out to each horse by name and having sidebars about their hilarious idiosyncrasies. We saw some of these in action on our ride, from my husband Ron’s horse Preacher who wanted to stop and eat every flower in site to our buddy Michelle’s horse Crusty who used gas power to make up every hill. Among the trading of stories and lively tales shared by our terrific guide Cole, we climbed a narrow trail winding through aspen forests (literally pushing off the trees to keep our knees clear) and sage-brush and juniper (berries used to make gin, I learned) fields to reach a summit and return to the ranch. We got to Yee-Haw! another passing group from the stables, and sighed with resignation when the hour and a half ride ended. It simply turned out to be the most amazing horseback ride of my life. And for my son Brooks, it was his very first time up on a horse. With him at 6’2’’ at age 15, he got a huge horse! We found lunch awaiting us on picnic tables upon our return, and got ready to explore Beaver Creek’s summit and town.
We took the main chair lift to the top of the mountain, and found out the recreation center offered free Frisbee golf as an activity. You get one long-distance Frisbee, one short-range Frisbee and have the challenge of playing a golf course counting Frisbee throws as strokes. I could NOT throw the Frisbee straight, which prompted tons of laughter and harassment from my kids. They regaled me “Oh MOM! Use your wrist!” as I trekked through pine trees searching out my way off line shots. As we finished the third hole, the sky suddenly darkened and lightening lit up the far skies. We rushed inside among rain, turned in our disks and got admonished to “Get on the lift going back down the mountain quickly before they close the lift!” Off we rushed. The minute we got seated on the lift, down came hail. Yes…small, hard balls of hail and gusting winds. We lowered our sunglasses to serve as goggles, grabbed fleece from our backpacks, and shivered as the hail and wind cut across the long lift down to the base. As we arrived at the base, the sun down there was out and shining, with temperatures around 75 degrees. People stared us as we wiped away ice and water and found the nearest Starbucks to warm up. Whew! That story definitely has already entered family story telling folklore!
After exploring the chi-chi shops of Beaver Creek and indulging in the free warm chocolate-chip cookies the staff circulates and hands out as a 3:00 afternoon tradition, we bundled into the bus for dinner. Headed to a Mexican restaurant at a nearby town under the Red Cliff Truss Bridge, we got a call from home base telling us the restaurant had lost power. We had dinner as a group at a local Mexican joint in the River Run village and called it a night after day 2 of what we now called “Epic Adventures!”
Day 4: White Water Rafting
The day started brisk and chilly as we put on our bathing suits, shorts and drip-dry shirts and water shoes for a day on the Colorado River. We drove an hour to rafting headquarters to get outfitted with life vests and then to the Colorado River Recreation Area where two guides with two large rafts awaited us. Forest, a guide wearing a Chinese hat, shouted out for all those wanting to get REALLY wet to go with him. All the boys hurried in his direction. The six of us girls opted for Alex, the trip leader, who actually turned out to be the trip downer for his desire for none of us to paddle and rather let him navigate the rushing rapids section without our interference. What? We showed up to paddle, and of course beat the boys down the river! Despite Alex’s dampening the enthusiasm, we all got into the spirit of the rapids as the river wound its way through a deep canyon. We spotted a bald eagle in the wild, perched on a tree right above our heads, searching to waters for fish to eat. And the wild rapids offered tremendous fun and tons of water splashing up the sides as we navigated the twisting path of the rushing river through steep rock ledges of the surrounding towering canyon. Midway along our girl’s boat opted to stop and soak in naturally hot springs, sinking into a whirlpool of lava-heated water. Meanwhile, the boys went to hike up an over 20-foot ledge and jump from the ledge to the icy river waters below- a challenge that my husband announced one of the scariest and most thrilling of his life, and one he never would have done but for the girl’s raft turning the bend to watch and cheer as his turn came up!
We ended with an elaborate picnic of make your own gourmet sandwiches (fresh avocados included!) and drove back to Keystone for our first official few hours of hangout time. One family opted for paddleboats in the lake, while we headed back to the beautiful condo for a welcome hot shower and sack-out in our room. Our family played the card game Hearts we had just taught to our kids and which they loved.
We ate a delicious steak and salmon dinner at the Keystone Lodge steakhouse, and settled into bed to be ready for Day 4 action!
Day 5: Rocky Mountain National Park
Let’s start with just how far this day takes you: an exhausting 257 miles driven from dawn to dusk. Yet it proved worth every single one of those road miles to experience the splendor of this majestic national park up close and personal.
We hit the road early, and in about two hours arrived at the Kawuneeche Visitor Center outside of Grand Lake to the Rocky Mountain National Park’s entrance. Marty told us to be on the lookout for moose and elk, and we used all our eagle eyes to no avail. We did a quick stop in the wet, grassy plains to explore a short hiking path and to challenge each other crossing fallen logs across the creek bed without falling in!
Next stop further up the mountains, a hike above the tree line level among tundra plants, lingering wildflowers, and neighboring snowcapped mountain ranges with a day clear enough to see straight out to Wyoming. This hike turned out to be my favorite, trailing the mountain’s peak, passing a lone elk, and on the way back to the van simply breaking out into a run of sheer elation. And I don’t actually run all that much! It felt straight out of The Sound of Music scene of the family running along the Alps – all that was missing was Julie Andrews, her guitar, and the sweet melodies of “The Hills are Alive.” Yes, it was just that crazy inspirational and had us laughing with glee as we hiked, scampered and outright ran along!
We then climbed up to towards the top peaks at 14,000 feet in elevation, with their massive remaining ice caps, saw three male elk majestically walking about six feet from us alongside a beautiful lake right on the Continental divide, and an entire close-up herd of all the females, teens, and baby elk soaking up the rarity of a hot mountain summer afternoon.
The summit featured an awesome Alpine Visitor Center, replete with gift center, pinnacle lookout, and snow masses close enough for the boys to have a snowball fight! We then worked our way down the Eastern side of the Continental Divide to hike at the site of a naturally burst dam that flooded the nearby town of Estes Park in the early 1980’s. The burst dam left massive boulders strewn in an avalanche pass on the mountainside with a creek burbling between them. Marty also pointed out special pine trees whose bark when scratched smells of sweet vanilla.
From there we drove to the quaint town of Estes Park where we wandered the cool artisan shops and from there stopped on the way back to Keystone Resort for a fun family pizza dinner at Beau Jo’s Pizza in Idaho Spring. The surprise there: every table has a squeeze bottle of honey to drizzle on the crust.
The day of Epic Mountains and epic wandering came to an end with amazing pictures, memories, and all of its hiking glory.
Day 6: Vail Resort
While the rest of our group opted to start the day with a hike on Loveland Pass located along the Continental Divide, our family wanted to try mountain biking and see what that adventure had in store. We had a simply incredible fresh biscuit and egg breakfast at the Inkspot cafe in River Run village, and then rented suspension mountain bikes from a rental shop. Up the gondola we went, with special cars outfitted with bike racks, to explore the Green beginner’s trail “Girl Scout” that wound its way down the mountain. We stopped early on to climb up a rock tumble for breath-stopping views of the valley below us and Breckinridge ski resort in the distance.
As to the mountain biking…let’s just say that when it came to the boys of our family, despite their bravado and athletic prowess, the mountain won. The “EASY” root featured narrow winding passages through dense pine trees (imagine expert glade skiing on a bike!), rocks mid-path, roots to cross or jump over, hairpin turns, and steep angled descents through grassy slopes. While the boys opted for the mountain road down, which did nothing to lessen the amount of their falls, my daughter and I took firm grips on the handle for the back break of the bike and decided to tough it out.
When we checked into the gondola, the operator told us to expect about 45 minutes to descend the mountain. We hopefully thought we could get two runs in. Little did we know that it would take us over 3 hours going at what we thought to be a fast clip! With tumbles, scratches, and the thrill of victory, we finally arrived back to the gondola-based high-fiving ourselves as champions before collapsing in an exhausted heap.
With quick restorative showers, Marty swung by at 1:00 to pick us up in the van and head off to the upscale resort of Vail. Everyone split up: some to explore the shopping, others to take the gondola up from Lionshead Village for a mountain hike, and for our family a delicious Mediterranean lunch in Vail Village. We then explored the shops, all got cool sweatshirts, went to a concert in celebration of Lindsey Vonn a local girl turned both Olympic skier and Vail Resort sponsored as she makes her “Epic” run to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
We ended with a wonderful dinner outside on the flower-enclosed patio of the Vail Lodge, and a birthday celebration for one of our Epic Moms, Michelle. Our day ended with hugs, thanks, and a great deal of duffle packing to accomplish before another night of Epic collapse!
Day 7: Departure Day
Where had the time gone? Time to head home already? I woke up to have a cup of coffee with a final porch view of the mist lifting off the mountain in the rising sun peaking up through the ranges to the east, and an unexpected surge of connection and nostalgia about summer in the Rocky Mountains. As we boarded the express van back to the Denver airport, we regaled each other with stories from the gassy hill climbing horse to the mountain biking tumbles to the rock ledge jumping into the Colorado River. We mused about how close we had come to all the wild elk to how much the gold we panned might really be worth and about the sun setting over the remote homestead of our cowboy campfire dinner. We each looked out the window as we descended from the mountain elevations dreaming of coming back next summer to experience the wonders of the West.
Of note, I received this complementary vacation for our family from Vail Resorts, who covered both our travel and Epic Summer program participation. My teens now have photos from the trip strewn on their Facebook pages, cannot wait to go horseback riding again soon, want to know if anyone in the East has Frisbee golf courses, and consider the beach boring in comparison. For my kids, ages 15 and 16, my husband and myself it turned out to be an adventure of a lifetime. So what caveats would I share? First, you have to be up for adventure! If you’d rather be sitting around, reading and sacking out, this is not the vacation for you. Moreover, activities such as horseback riding require age 9 and up, and I think that’s a great starting age overall for kids to experience this outdoorsy mountain program. Lastly, you do spend a great deal of time together with the other families sharing your van. You’re eating meals together, hiking and exploring, and if you really disliked them, you could feel resentful of having to join up together. That being said, the two other families we spent our week with could not have been more fun or lovelier, and really added wonderful conversation, laughter, stories and camaraderie along the way. I think the very nature of the program attracts fun loving families open to both new experiences and new friendships. And when you go, ask for Marty to be your guide!!
BEAUTIFUL!!! What great pictures and a beautiful place!!
Posted by: Mikki | August 28, 2009 at 04:34 PM
Oooohhh.... what gorgeous photos and how wonderful of a time it must have been. Isn't it wonderful? Some things will never be forgotten and I'm sure Vail is one of those.
The campfire, the horses, the mountains...
And I think I like Alex, he sounds like my kinda tour guide. Let him do the paddling!
Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us. Wish I coulda been there:) Thank you.
Posted by: mannequin | August 29, 2009 at 08:44 PM
that looks like a terrific vacation!! we love having adventures (although lounging by the beach certainly has its place, right?)
thanks!!!
Posted by: melissa | September 09, 2009 at 01:14 PM
I want to thank you, Mom Central and Epic summer vacation because we won the contest and had a 4 day trip there this August!
We did almost everything you did and it was rewarding, gorgeous and a wonderful memory maker for my 2 kids, my mom and I.
We LOVED every minute of it.
I highly recommend this family vacation to anyone looking to do something out of the norm!
Posted by: tuesday | September 14, 2009 at 12:02 PM