Higher than I've ever been

Today I woke up in the middle of meadow of tall grass and Colorado wildflowers moistened by morning dew with nothing but the sounds of a few buzzing bugs and chirping birds and a butterfly on my sleeping bag. The first thing I do is put on sunscreen. Soon chatter and laughter will rise from my waking crew members. We have two weeks left to our season and today we are going to the rodeo.
From the Great Sand Dunes we had six days off. We scavenger hunted in Alamosa, celebrated Matt's birthday in Silverthorne (movie, bowling, strawberry short cake, dinner), climbed a 14er, and taught another trail crew how to Dip.
Going from the lower elevation of Alamosa to hiking Grays Peak was less than delightful to say the least. It was beautiful. At the summit the clouds had rolled in and you could barely see your hand in front of your face. By the summit my body wanted to poop, pee, and puke all at the same time. But the sense of glory and accomplishment and the glee that comes from being on top of a mountain over 14,000 feet made us do it all over again the next weekend with three other trail crews on Democrat.
We spent the next two weeks on Mt Evans at Summit Lake talking to tourists, watching yellow bellied marmots sun themselves and mountain goats licking the salt deposited from urine around the pit latrines, building rock walls, staircases, and terraces, revegitating, and enduring lightning and hail storms. At 13,500 feet we were working above tree line along North America's highest auto road. Needless to say Mt Evans is the most summited 14er of the Rockies. On our third day of work, out project sponsor, Jon, crushed his right ring and middle fingers between two rocks, and I got to put some of that first aid training to use. He was back to work on Monday but doctors still aren't sure if they will have to amputate part of his ring finger. All is dependent on bone infection.
The below freezing temperatures and gnarly morning winds and afternoon storms on Mt Evans were trying but it is always nice to work in one of the most beautiful places on Earth, planting alpine flowers and fighting erosion even if a ranger threatens to give half your crew $350 fines (per person) for swimming in the lake.
For the past week we have been in Sylvan Lake State Park building new trail and sweating balls, having a close encounter with a black bear who was checking out our trail, and standing strong against raccoons trying to break into our van for our food leaving their little paw prints on our windows as evidence.
Two weeks left. One more at Sylvan Lake and the other somewhere else. Then to Ft Collins to visit my cousin, Caleb. Then a flight back to Michigan for a quick visit and regroup before mom and I drive the caruck out to Tucson.