My son on the summit

I remember long ago when one of my friend's parents led us on a hike through Nebraska's Halsey forest. It was a Cub Scout outing, and the event very much fit the scouting mission.

But I hated the hike. It was long and hot. I cursed the parent for pushing me further and completing it.

The memory rushed back last week when leading my 4-year-old son on his first Colorado summit bid. When pitching a spring break roadtrip to Colorado and Utah, I told Rye we'd climb some mountains. He seemed excited.

As we drove from my friend Leif's Boulder apartment to the base of Mt. Sanitas, Rye squealed: "The mountains are so cool. Colorado is the best place in the world." He even said he wished his hometown of Omaha had mountains.

When we started hiking, he ran up the steep stair-like trail. He squirmed out on rock overhangs. He moved those little legs like pistons.

About an hour into the hike, things changed. He had tripped over a rock and hurt his hands. His legs were tired. The wind was getting colder. "I hate this mountain," he said. He begged to turn around. He had come to curse me like I had that Cub Scout parent.

So I picked him up and slung him on my back. I trudged up the steep, rocky trail with my son on my back for the last half mile. Eventually, we reached the top. I got the summit high. It always feels amazing to get to the top. I was even more stoked to have my son with me.

Rye didn't feel the same way. Look at the pictures. He was tired and in pain. He didn't even want to smile for the cameras. I gave him a granola bar and some apple juice. Then I started to carry him down the steep stretches.

Eventually, though, he perked up. He squirmed down onto the trail and jumped off small rocks. He ran down steep patches. He joked that we'd left his beloved bankie at the top of the mountain, and we'd have to go down to get it.

Maybe the granola bar and juice pumped up his blood sugar. Maybe he was elated to be going down the mountain instead of up, toward quesadillas at Qdoba instead of exposed, windy mountain peaks.

Or maybe -- just maybe -- he's got a little mountaineer inside him. Maybe he'll be like his dad, hating hikes as a youngster but loving them as a man.

The details:
Mt. Sanitas
Location: On the western edge of Boulder, Colo., beginning at Sunshine Canyon
Length: 3 miles
Beginning elevation: 5,506 feet
Peak elevation: 6,863 feet
Difficulty (out of 5): 2 (4, with a 45-pound 4-year-old on your back)