CO hikes
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Colorado Hikes: Mayflower Gulch
Usually, my first time hiking a trail is in the summer. Not so with Mayflower Gulch. I’ve actually hiked (or, rather, snowshoed) this trail twice in the winter. Only recently did my husband and I finally experience the beauty of Mayflower Gulch in the summer. We were headed up to the mountains for the weekend… Continue reading
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Colorado Hikes: Geneva Creek Iron Fens
Fall in Colorado has become a nightmare. From mid-September through early October, the Colorado mountains are painted with large swathes of yellow, interspersed with the occasional bursts of red and orange, as our many aspen groves and a handful of other trees and bushes begin to change color. It’s no New England autumn, but it’s… Continue reading
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Colorado Hikes: Pawnee Pass
As you know if you’ve followed me for a while, my to-do list of Colorado hikes seems to constantly get longer rather than shorter. Some of these hikes in particular have been on my list for years and we’ve just never gotten around to them. So at the beginning of last summer, I made a… Continue reading
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Colorado Backpacking: Cascade Creek Trail to Mirror and Crater Lakes
First things first: there are a whole bunch of Crater Lakes in Colorado. This post is about the one on the west side of the Indian Peaks Wilderness near Lake Granby. For info on hiking to the Crater Lake near Aspen, see this post. For info on hiking to the Crater Lakes in the James… Continue reading
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Colorado Hikes: Booth Lake
After two relatively calm summers in terms of wildfires, I’d forgotten just how much smoke could wreak havoc on hiking plans. Then, the Front Range had its driest start to summer in over 100 years and within 48 hours, multiple fires flared up in the foothills. In addition to forcing hundreds of people to evacuate,… Continue reading
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Colorado 14ers #15-16: Grays and Torreys Peaks
When we moved to Colorado, I made a rule that I was never waking up earlier than 4:00am to go hiking. Unfortunately, these two 14ers are so popular that if I was ever going to climb them, I might be forced to break that rule. It was one of those moments where I was forced… Continue reading
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Colorado State Parks: Rifle Falls and Rifle Gap
Last week, I wrote all about our weekend of peaches, hiking, and wine in Palisade, Colorado. The town is a decent distance west on I-70. We don’t head out this way too often, so we decided this was a good opportunity to make a stop along the way at a place that has been on… Continue reading
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A long weekend in Palisade, Colorado
This year, we didn’t have the vacation days to swing a two-week roadtrip, so instead we settled for a much more low key – but still fun – belated anniversary three-day weekend in Palisade, Colorado. Palisade is a small town on Colorado’s Western Slope, best known for its wineries and peach orchards. It’s a town… Continue reading
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Colorado Hikes: Niwot Ridge
I’ve long since lost count of how many times my hiking plans have been thwarted by weather. After bailing on this hike once due to a high probability of – strangely – early morning thunderstorms, my friend and I were able to reschedule for a couple weeks later and, this time around, the weather cooperated.… Continue reading
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Colorado Hikes: Arapaho Pass and Lake Dorothy
It was the beginning of July and my husband had a couple days off, so we decided we’d take advantage of the opportunity for a mid-week hike at a trailhead that’s typically far too crowded on weekends. I, of course, already had a list of hikes that fit the bill, but some research revealed most… Continue reading
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Colorado Summits: Saint Vrain Mountain
My birthday is in the summer and, in most cases, you could pretty confidently plan an outdoor celebration and assume the weather will cooperate. In the Rocky Mountains, as it turns out, it’s not such a guarantee. In fact, it snowed on my 8th birthday and my planned outdoor party had to be moved indoors;… Continue reading
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Colorado 14ers #14: Mount Sherman via Fourmile Creek Trail
Despite what some people might say, there are no easy 14ers. Unless you spend a substantial portion of your life at very high elevation, nothing over 14,000 feet (4267 m) is ever going to be easy. But there are easier 14ers and, by most accounts, Mount Sherman is one of them. If you can make… Continue reading
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Chimney Rock, Yucca House, and other southwestern Colorado snapshots
For the past couple weeks, I’ve been recounting our Memorial Day weekend trip to southwestern Colorado to visit the Ancestral Puebloan ruins of Hovenweep and Canyons of the Ancients. We also made brief stops at two other nearby national monuments, a roadside attraction, and spent some time in the town of Cortez. Since none of… Continue reading
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Desert dwellings – Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Colorado
Memorial weekend is a tricky time of year for Colorado adventures. Three years ago, we went to the drier and more desert-like western part of the state and the weather was perfect. Two years ago, we went into the mountains and got snowed on. So when I sat down to plan this year’s Memorial Day… Continue reading
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Colorado Hikes: Mitchell and Blue Lakes
Last week, I wrote about one of the two most popular hikes in beautiful Brainard Lake Recreation Area in the Indian Peaks Wilderness west of Boulder: Lake Isabelle. It’s a close call, but as lovely as Lake Isabelle is, in my opinion it’s actually the least scenic of the two. This one – to one… Continue reading
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Colorado Hikes: Long Lake and Lake Isabelle
A couple weeks back, I published an informational post about Brainard Lake Recreation Area, a popular destination that encompasses the eastern side of the Indian Peaks and surrounding wilderness area. This area is popular for a reason. Actually, there are many reasons, including its relatively short distance from the Front Range, ease of access, and… Continue reading
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A guide to visiting Brainard Lake Recreation Area
(Updated May 2025) Brainard Lake Recreation Area was one of the first places we visited after moving to Colorado and has been a frequent destination of ours ever since. It’s a great place to take out-of-town visitors for some lovely scenery and short, relatively easy hikes. The longer hikes at Brainard are some of my… Continue reading
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Colorado Hikes: Forest Lakes
After somewhat of a lull in hiking in the latter portion of 2023, my 2024 hiking pursuits began just three days into the new year when S invited me on a snowshoeing excursion to Forest Lakes. These lakes had been on my to-do list for a while but never seemed to make it close enough… Continue reading
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Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Nymph, Dream, and Emerald Lakes
Bear Lake Trailhead to Nymph, Dream, and Emerald Lakes is one of the first hikes we ever did in Rocky, way back when we were barely acclimated and still so new to exploring the park. It’s a hike we’ve repeated at least half a dozen times since, in all manner of weather and trail conditions.… Continue reading
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Rocky Mountain National Park: winter hiking in Glacier Gorge
I’ve hiked in Glacier Gorge in the summer. I’ve also hiked in Glacier Gorge in the winter. A lot, in fact. Winter in Glacier Gorge is one of my favorite things in Rocky. And while I’ve published posts on Sky Pond in summer and Sky Pond in winter and Black Lake in summer and Black… Continue reading
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