Well, it’s that time again. Time for me to jump on the bandwagon of writing an end-of-the-year wrap-up post. I always enjoy looking back at what I’ve accomplished in the year while also looking forward to the blank slate of the new year that awaits us. So without further ado:
January
I never really got into winter this year. For whatever reason I just wasn’t feeling it and, as a result, we only went snowshoeing twice. The first outing was to Lake Helene and Two Rivers Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. We’d attempted to snowshoe this trail once before but were forced to turn around due to the weather, so it was nice to have the opportunity to redeem ourselves and make it to both lakes. This isn’t a well-traveled trail, especially in winter, and we ended up at both lakes all alone!
February
This Feburary, we booked a weekend at Mount Princeton Hot Springs for a mini escape. First, though, we stopped to snowshoe to Hartenstein Lake and eat some pizza in Buena Vista before spending the rest of the day and the following morning at the resort. There’s just something so refreshing about the combination of chilly air and warm mineral water. Add in the blue skies, sunshine, and beautiful mountain views, and it was a wonderfully relaxing weekend!
March
In March, I flew to California to visit my sister. It was my first ever visit to this area, so we spent half of the trip visiting some of the more famous attractions (while happily skipping some of the super touristy ones like the Hollywood sign) and the other half in Santa Barbara for some birthday wine tasting. This was just the second sisters-only trip we’ve ever had, but we enjoyed it so much that we’ve already made plans for another sisters weekend this coming spring!
April
As I look back through my photos, I’m realizing April was a pretty quiet month. I’m always ready for spring by this point but the weather usually has other ideas. It’s not entirely unusual to have a warm sunny day, followed by a snowstorm, followed by some more sunshine. This makes for muddy trails in the lower elevations. Meanwhile, it’s definitely still winter in the mountains and I’m usually pretty done with winter hiking at this point. Long story short, I apparently opted to spend my free time at home in April. But I did get out for one hike, a rather lengthy endeavor that took us up north and across the hillsides of Bobcat Ridge Natural Area to a low summit.
May
This year, we kicked off our summer of travel with a trip to the east coast over Memorial Day weekend. The main event was a wedding, but we also snuck off to Philadelphia with my in-laws for two days while we were (sort of) in the area. It was a whirlwind trip, but we had a wonderful time exploring the city that holds so many important pieces of our nation’s history.
June
Summer was slow to arrive in Colorado this year. Throughout May and into June, it just wouldn’t stop raining. I’m always more than ready to be up in the mountains by this point in the year but the weather wouldn’t let up. Lucky for my friend me, our planned summit of Culebra Peak – the first 14er of the year for both of us – was scheduled for what turned out to be the first decent weather day of the month. It was still really cold and parts of it were kind of miserable, but we did it!
Just a few days later, we jetted off to the upper midwest to visit family, see Lake Superior for the first time, stand on two more state high points, and meet up with The Travel Architect and her husband. The four of us spent a couple days camping on the horribly mosquito-infested (but beautiful) North Shore of Lake Superior and actually hiked to the highest point in Minnesota together!
July
I ended up spending most of July in Montana, first with my mom on a week-long road trip and then with my husband for our 12-day trip to Glacier National Park, the latter of which was the absolute highlight of the summer entire year. But that’s not surprising; Glacier is my very favorite place so it’s always going to top this sort of list. You’ve all spent most of the last three months reading about our time in Glacier, so thank you for sticking with me while I rambled for weeks on end about this beautiful park.
August
By August, I’m always feeling as though summer somehow got away from me and, no matter how much we’ve actually accomplished, my to-do list makes it seem as though we barely made a dent. It’s not inaccurate, but that’s just because my list is ridiculously long and for every item I cross off, I add at least 1-2 more. This year was no exception. But I still managed a couple overnight backpacking trips in Rocky Mountain National Park.
September
For the second year in a row, our Labor Day weekend plans to summit the highest point in Utah fell apart at the last minute due to weather. In fact, the weather in the entire region wasn’t looking great. Fortunately, we managed to salvage the first half of the weekend with a hike of Decalibron, a loop trail connecting four of Colorado’s 14ers – Mounts Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, and Bross.
At the beginning of the year I’d set a goal to summit eight 14ers. It was a goal I ultimately didn’t meet, given that much of my summer was spent not in Colorado, but completing the Decalibron loop brought my total for the summer to five and my overall total to thirteen. Only 45 more to go!
October
Fall was so busy that hiking really just fell by the wayside. In fact, I only managed one short hike in October. But that’s not to say the month was a total loss. I was able to attend a conference and catch up with some friends I hadn’t seen in years. The annular solar eclipse passed over Colorado. And we had an unseasonably warm month, complete with lots of blue skies and colorful leaves.
Left: annular solar eclipse.
Right: crescent-shaped shadows during the solar eclipse.
November
Our Thanksgiving road trip this year was a little different than it’s been in the past. First of all, we flew. To Phoenix, Arizona. Second of all, we didn’t do a lot of driving. Rather, we used Phoenix as our home base for the entire time and just spent the week exploring the city and the surrounding area. I’ve just begun writing up the posts, so it will be a couple weeks still before I start publishing them; for now, here are a few of my favorite photos.
And one more photo, which wasn’t taken in Phoenix but is just too neat not to share. This was the roof of my car when I walked outside one morning in early November.
December
As you’re reading this, we’re about to head back to Colorado after spending the holidays with family. Since we weren’t home on Christmas day, we had our own holiday celebration about a week early. The day began with a hike in the frozen winter wonderland of Rocky Mountain National Park, followed by peppermint mochas for the drive home, followed by pizza and beer and opening presents. It was the perfect little celebration!
2024
We haven’t actually made many concrete travel plans for 2024 but, as usual, I have far more ideas than could possibly be incorporated into one year. The time for permit applications is upon us, so some of our travels will be contingent on this. Otherwise, I’m hoping to visit some new places, climb some more 14ers, and finally stand on the highest point in Utah (hopefully third time will be the charm).
Thank you all for following along with me for another year. I so appreciate your comments and support and I’ve enjoyed following along with all of your travels as well. Here’s to the end of 2023 and a wonderful 2024.
Cheers!
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