Due to the pandemic, entrance into Rocky Mountain National Park was a little more complicated in 2020. In addition to a fee or pass, one needed to reserve a timed entry permit. This allowed the park to reduce the number of visitors and spread them evenly throughout the day to better facilitate social distancing. Plenty… Continue reading Colorado Summits: Lily Mountain
A vast majority of Colorado’s state parks are in the plains or foothills in the general vicinity of Denver. Many of them – especially the ones on the plains – are centered around bodies of water and geared toward water sports. They’re also crowded since they’re so close to a high population area. Because of… Continue reading Colorado State Parks: State Forest
Do a google search for “best hikes in Colorado” and you’ll inevitably stumble across Ice Lake within the first 5 minutes of your search. And let me tell you, there’s a reason this hike appears on the majority of such lists. It’s unbelievable! It’s also popular and crowded (let’s be real, most everything in Colorado… Continue reading Colorado Bucket List: Hiking to Ice Lake
2020 has been a giant dumpster fire. On that, I think we can all agree. Pretty much everything that's happened this year has been unprecedented. I can only hope that better things are on the horizon for 2021. With all the lockdowns and travel restrictions, I've been more grateful than ever to live in Colorado.… Continue reading A Year in Review: 2020
The day began in a fairly typical fashion when it comes to hiking in Colorado: Wake up stupidly early (4:00am) so we can find a parking spot at the trailheadArrive at said trailhead very early and claim said parking spotGear up and start hiking Mount Audubon is a 13er located in the Indian Peaks Wilderness… Continue reading Colorado 13er #3: Mount Audubon
This one is being filed in the category of hikes I will probably never do again. It was pretty. It was definitely really pretty once we emerged from the trees. But it was also brutally steep and, frankly, there are less challenging hikes that will get you above tree line. There are two ways to… Continue reading Colorado Day Hikes: Hope Pass
As is often the case, I mistakenly assumed that because this hike was only 5.5 miles (8.9 km) round trip, it probably wasn’t going to be that great. And, as is often the case, I was wrong. Timberline Lake is beautiful! In mid-July 2020, Pat and I headed off for a weekend camping adventure near… Continue reading Colorado Day Hikes: Timberline Lake
The morning after summiting Mount Ida, we packed up our campsite and headed back to Denver… but not before squeezing in one more hike. The hike to Strawberry Lake is only 3.7 miles (6 km) round-trip and the trailhead is a 2.5 hour drive from Denver, which isn’t a very ideal driving/hiking ratio for a… Continue reading Colorado Day Hikes: Strawberry Lake
Summiting Mount Ida turned out to be a ‘third time is the charm’ type situation for us. We wanted to climb it our first summer in Denver, but forest fire smoke severely limited visibility for much of the summer and we weren’t about to walk along the Continental Divide and not be able to see… Continue reading Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Mount Ida
Even as we consistently check hikes off our to-do list, it never seems to get any shorter. And yes, we’re extremely fortunate to have so many options to choose from. I’m definitely not complaining. But it can also sometimes be overwhelming to decide which trail to tackle each weekend. Case in point: this hike. Hiking… Continue reading Colorado Day Hikes: Beartracks Lake
