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Live By Living’s first cancer survivor retreat of the 2011 summer season reminded us again and again why we do what we do. Our destination was Francie’s Cabin, a beautiful log cabin south of Breckenridge. On Saturday, July 16, after a round of introductions, 14 intrepid trailblazers began the steep trek up the Crystal Creek trail.

Among our group were some truly undaunted survivors who either had never been hiking, or had only hiked a few times. Two in our group had severe hip arthritis, to boot! But we just took our time, resting as necessary, and we reached the hut in little over an hour. Everyone was delighted to see the beautiful gable that graces the front of the cabin as we rounded the last bend in the trail. Most people passed the afternoon reading and relaxing, or getting an aromatherapy massage from Nicola, one of our volunteers.




After dinner, we enjoyed the gorgeous sunset off the front porch.








A few minutes later, someone shouted, “Look! it’s a bear!! Right outside the window!” And sure enough, a good-sized black bear was exploring around the hut. We managed a fuzzy picture of him in the dim light. We made sure to shut the doors tight, and after several hands of “Dutch Blitz,” people retired to their rooms and drifted off to sleep. No one had nightmares about bears, but on Sunday morning, a few people said they had been kept up by an intermittent noise that sounded like grating or huffing. We couldn’t imagine what it could be. This was a mystery that would not be solved until much later in the day . . . .


After a breakfast of pancakes, we set the tone for the day by listening to a short passage from “Awake in the Wild,” a book by Mark Coleman about meditating in nature. The passage illustrates the profound beauty we can experience by being patient, still, and mindful in nature. It also highlights how the natural world offers many lessons that we can apply in living our own lives fully. In the passage, a young woman describes how she spent hours watching an eagle. At first, she couldn’t understand what the bird was doing as it circled its nest, seeming to drop something, then return to the nest. Then, she could scarcely believe what she was seeing: a mother eagle teaching her young how to fly by pushing them out of the nest, allowing them to fall a bit, then scooping them up and returning them to the next. Each time, the mother would allow the eaglet to fall a bit farther as it learned to use its wings to power its own flight.

With our intention to pay attention to our surroundings, we set off for our hike up the Crystal Creek valley. The wildflowers were out in abundance, from paintbrush











to columbine















to Old Man of the Mountains, a sunflower that, we learned, is also called Compass Flower because it always points east instead of tracking the sun.

With this year’s abundant snow, there was still a lot of runoff, and the creek we had skipped across the previous summer was far deeper. To reach our goal, we had to cross a wobbly bridge consisting of two green logs that bent with every step. This was a new experience, for sure! But with our volunteers and friends to help, everyone made it across safely.

We were rewarded for our courage with the thing that has delighted visitors to Colorado for decades: Snow!! In the Summer!! Shahada, our first-time hiker, thought this definitely beat 98 degrees in Denver!

After a brief friendly snowball fight, we continued up the valley to the lovely Lower Crystal Lake, the ruins of an old miner’s cabin, and the imposing presence of Father Dyer Peak.

After dinner that night, we once again heard the grating, rasping sound that had kept a few hikers awake the previous night. We organized an expedition to trace the sound to its source. Under the front deck, we found the culprit: a porcupine who found parts of the cabin quite tasty. Mystery solved, and earplugs firmly in place, we enjoyed a quieter night.

Sunday, Wendy showed us that high-tech wicking fabrics can be fashionable as well as functional.












After the final group photo, we headed down the trail with some hew friends, new experiences, and new perspectives. Thanks to our volunteers: Jo, Nicola, Steve, Elaine, and Stephanie. And thanks to our intrepid trailblazers: Shahada, Coleen, Wendy, Alison, Anne, TeHsing, Donna, Joyce, Ben and Barb.