Summit Loop Trail

Today (Wed – July 14) Ty, Kylan and I headed back up to the Medicine Bow National Forest area for another hike.  They both are doing really well with the hikes.  Sadly, I forgot my camera today and did not remember until we were about 5 miles from the trailhead. 
First we stopped at the Information area where the Lincoln memorial is, to get a map of the trails.  I decided to do the Summit Loop Trail since the trailhead was 2 minutes away and it was one of the shorter routes (4 miles). 
We parked, I sprayed the boys and myself down with sunscreen and then bug spray – the mosquitoes are horrible, loaded up the pack with Kylan, water and food and then we were on our way. 
As we started, Ty announced, “it’s a good day for a hike, the sky is blue and the sun is out.” 
Once we came to the split, I let Ty choose which way we would go.  About a quarter of the way in, we passed a guy going the other way.  After he passed, Ty said he was ready to go back to the car.  I told him if he did the whole hike, he could get a redbox.  Suddenly he announced, “Mom this is the greatest trail.  I have lots of energy.”  After that he seemed fine.  Kylan was asleep in the pack about 30 minutes into our hike. 
The view wasn’t as cool as the rock formations on Turtle Rock Trail, but it still was a nice trail.  The summit loop took us up to 9000 feet.  We passed 3 sets of bikers along the trail, one group we passed twice and the other hiker we passed twice. 
Once I informed Ty that we were half way around and going down hill, he was excited and had no problems the rest of the way.  In the last mile, Kylan decided he wanted to get down and walk.  He walked maybe a tenth of a mile and then I put him back in the pack the rest of the way to the car. 
I hope to do 1 or 2 more hikes before we leave next week and hopefully Pikes Peak will be one of them!