The Fort Dodge Messenger: Sept. 24, 1903

Young Girls’ Long Walk

Make Two Hundred Mile Tour in the Rockies

Were Formerly Residents of Jefferson – Was Rough But Healthy Exercise.

The Denver Daily News of September 13 has the following to say of some former Jefferson girls, Misses Maud and Laeta Elden, who have just taken a long tramp among the Rockies. The Misses Elden are nieces of Mesdames Enfield and Adkinson of Jefferson. The write up is accompanied by a picture of the party in walking rig:

“Miss Maud Elden and a party of friends have just ended a two hundred mile tramp at Boulder. In their tramp these parties twice crossed the ‘snowy range.’ From Boulder they went in a northwesterly direction and crossed the continental divide on Arapahoe pass, from which they descended into Middle Park. From Grand Lake they went to Estes Park, over the Famous Flat Top trail. For some distance this trail is among wild scenes 12,500 feet above the sea level. In Estes Park they spent several days and made many side trips, includingq (sic) a climb up Long’s Peak. In starting forward again they tramped for many miles along near the range, and ultimately reached Boulder by way of Allen’s Park and Jamestown.

“On the trip they wore short skits and carried but little baggage. One coffee pot and one tin pan was their only cooking outfit, and one blanket each was their only bedding.

“The weather during the tramp was ideal, and the outing brought to all a ravenous appetite. They did not carry provisions, and as most of the tour was made through a sparsely settled section, they often went hungry.

“All returned delighted with the tramp and every one is in vigorous health. All are school teachers and are graduates of the state university.

“At the head of the party was Miss Maud Elden, an instructor in the university at Boulder. The others were Miss Laeta Elden, a teacher at Sterling; Miss Helen Reed who has charge of the primary grades in the Boulder schools; Walter Reed, a teacher at Carbondale, and Ralph Reed, an instructor in the East Denver high school.

Tags: 1903, Adkinson, Elden, Enfield, Reed