Colorado
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Colorado 14ers #20: Mount Yale
In all the years we’ve been hiking together, one thing Chelsea and I had never done together was climb a 14er. In early July, that finally changed. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, late June and early July were a rough time in Colorado, the state plagued by multiple large forest fires amidst a severe… Continue reading
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Colorado Hikes: Diamond Lake
Though wildfires were ravaging various parts of the state in early July, the northern mountains were largely spared – save for plumes of smoke carried in by the wind. But after a few smoky days, the winds shifted and the skies cleared, and it actually turned out to be a beautiful day, so two friends… Continue reading
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Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Shelf and Solitude Lakes
Every year, my husband and I try to get out for an overnight backpacking trip in Rocky Mountain National Park. Once you’ve secured your reservation, the park allows you to pick up your permit (in-person) up to 30 days before the start of your trip. Sometimes, this means we pick it up the morning of… Continue reading
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Colorado 14ers #19: Huron Peak
A question commonly asked of people who are working on all the 14ers is: which one is your favorite? Among those who have summited most or all of them, one of the more common answers I see is Huron Peak. Needless to say, this is one I’ve been really looking forward to. So when my… Continue reading
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Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Chasm Lake (the winter version)
I’ve wanted to see Chasm Lake in the winter pretty much since the moment I first laid eyes on it. That was in the summer, nearly eight years ago. Since then, I’ve made two summertime return trips. But I’d never made it there in the winter, mostly due to the fact that one section of… Continue reading
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Colorado Summits: the Boulder Peaks
I have a feeling 2026 is going to be a good year for adventures. How could it not be, when my first hike of the year took place on January 2nd, beneath a beautiful sunrise sky (photo above, and more to come), and involved the long-overdue completion of one of my many hiking-related lists? As… Continue reading
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A year in review: 2025
Another year, another year in review post. This year simultaneously feels like it’s flown by yet lasted forever, probably because it’s been so busy and chaotic. The truth is, we knew from the beginning that parts of this year were going to be a wash, travel-wise. We had a lot of real life things that… Continue reading
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Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Fern Lake
For the first time in six years, Thanksgiving roadtrip was not to be. I was obviously disappointed; the trip had been planned since August and I’d been looking forward to escaping to the desert southwest for a few days. But with back-to-back winter storms predicted for the weekend after the holiday, we were worried about… Continue reading
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Colorado Hikes: Deer Creek Canyon Park
Located on the southwest edge of the Denver Metro area, Deer Creek Canyon Park is open to hikers, bikers, and equestrians. The park isn’t huge, but there are 14 miles (22.5 km) of trails, including routes to the park’s two highest points: Plymouth Mountain and Bill Couch Mountain. There’s also a lengthy trail connecting this… Continue reading
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Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Andrews Glacier
On long weekends, we typically plan to disappear into the backcountry, as far away as possible from the holiday crowds. It definitely didn’t work out that way this year. In the week before Labor Day weekend, plans A-C fell through for various reasons. This is not an unfamiliar situation for us; over the years, I’ve… Continue reading
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Colorado 14ers #17-18: Mount Belford and Mount Oxford
Summer really got away from me this year. As I sit down to start writing this post, it’s mid-August and it was only 3 days ago that I finally summited my first 14ers of the summer. Part of the explanation is that I was originally supposed to climb these peaks in July, but an unexpected… Continue reading
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Colorado Summits: Vasquez Peak
When I agreed to a Sunday hike up a mountain with Chelsea, I knew it was going to be a busy and tiring weekend. My husband and I already had plans for a hike on Friday, but I’d have Saturday to rest my legs, so I wasn’t too worried. Except, my husband and I ended… Continue reading
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Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Spectacle Lakes
Four summers back, my husband and I stood atop Ypsilon Mountain gazing down at two lakes nestled in an isolated nook 2000 feet (610 m) below the summit, teal water rippling in the sunlight. “I wanna hike to those lakes,” I said. It turns out you can! In fact, our friends who were with us… Continue reading
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Colorado Hikes: Shrine Ridge
The end of July was rapidly approaching, which meant summer was in full swing up in the mountains and wildflowers were at their peak. But, of course, so were the crowds. Especially on weekends. Luckily, some friends and I were able to plan a mid-week hike. The four of us departed bright and early, pulling… Continue reading
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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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Hiking The Subway – Zion National Park, Utah
For reasons I’m not entirely clear on, when I first planned our Zion trip I didn’t think to enter the permit lottery for this hike. Then a couple months later, I was messaging with a friend and mentioned this trip, and she asked if we’d gotten Subway permits. Unfortunately, by this time the main lottery… Continue reading
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Touring the Colorado Capitol and the Denver Mint
A couple weeks back, I put together a list of things to do in Denver, and touring the Colorado Capitol and Denver Mint were items #1 and #2 on the list. What was intended to be a one paragraph blurb about each quickly morphed into a total of nearly 700 words… and I still had… Continue reading
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A day in Idaho Springs, Colorado
I tend to forget how close Idaho Springs is to the Front Range… likely because we almost always get caught in traffic on our way there, turning it into a much longer drive than it should be. But even with traffic, it’s still not that long a drive. Which makes it even more ridiculous that… Continue reading
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25 things to do in and around Denver, Colorado
The 2024 airport statistics were released recently, and Denver has jumped up the list quite substantially; it’s now the 6th busiest airport in the world and #3 in the United States, with over eighty million passengers last year! Every time I’m there it’s a mess, so I know it’s a busy place. I wouldn’t have… Continue reading
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A long weekend in Glenwood Springs, Colorado
Glenwood Springs is a town we’ve driven through many times, and we always comment on the lovely scenery and the historic buildings and the allure of the steaming hot springs. But getting to Glenwood Springs in the winter means navigating the horrors of snowy roads and weekend ski traffic, and that’s enough to deter us… Continue reading