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Pueblos and petroglyphs – Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico
“The grandest thing I ever saw” – Adolph Bandelier, archaeologist Nestled in Frijoles Canyon, which has been carved into the Pajarito Plateau, is an 800-year-old pueblo called Tyuonyi. Tyuonyi (pronounced KYU-weh-nee, and no, that’s not a typo; it’s been three months, and my brain still struggles with seeing a T and having to make a… Continue reading
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24 hours in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Pretty much everyone we talked to prior to our New Mexico road trip assured us we would really enjoy Santa Fe. It’s such a cool place, they said. Quirky and artsy and historic. And it definitely is all of those things. But honestly, I didn’t love it as much as I felt like I should… Continue reading
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Indigenous inscriptions – Petroglyph National Monument, New Mexico
Located on the western edge of Albuquerque, New Mexico, hidden amongst the jumbled landscape, are more than 20,000 (not a typo!) historic rock carvings called petroglyphs. This area is part of the Rio Grande rift, formed over millions of years by the movement of tectonic plates. This rift stretches from central Colorado to central New… Continue reading
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48 hours in Albuquerque, New Mexico
When we told people we were headed to New Mexico for Thanksgiving, they all assured us we would really enjoy our time in Santa Fe and Los Alamos. And we did. But when we mentioned we were also spending time in Albuquerque, the universal response was: why? Well, I’ll tell you why… because there’s quite… Continue reading
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Bad country – El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico
Day 2 of our New Mexico road trip was somewhat of a failure in planning. I did plan. I planned a lot. Too much, in fact. And had it been July, with 14 hours of daylight and the endless motivation that can only be found during summer, we might have pulled it off. But in… Continue reading
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A smattering of New Mexico history
Thanksgiving road trip has become somewhat of a tradition for us. We can both usually get some time off work, and it turns out November is a pretty good time of year to travel around the southwestern US. After spending the previous two Thanksgivings in Utah, we decided to mix things up a little this… Continue reading
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A year in review: 2022
Well, another year has come and gone, and I’m not entirely sure how it happened. For us, 2022 was both more and less eventful than previous years. I admit, I may have been a little too ambitious for our first few years in Colorado. At the time, we didn’t know if we would be staying… Continue reading
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Day Hikes in: Evergreen, Colorado
I have a terrible tendency to discount shorter or easier or lower elevation hikes because I’d much rather be above tree line on a summit or way in the backcountry at an alpine lake. I’m certain this bias has caused me to overlook many hiking opportunities over the years. But Colorado continues to remind me… Continue reading
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Colorado Fall Colors: Backcountry Taproom and Caribou Ranch Open Space
Three years ago, we attended Upslope Brewing’s annual Backcountry Taproom and had a blast. After one year off due to Covid, the event was resurrected last year and we attended again. In the aftermath, I was telling my mom about it and she mentioned she’d like to come with us sometime. So this year, when… Continue reading
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On Top of Colorado (and Colorado 14ers #8): Mount Elbert via Black Cloud Trail
In September, two of my travel goals collided when I summited my eighth Colorado 14er… which also happens to be the highest point in Colorado! A few days later, as I sit down to begin writing this post, I’m conflicted about whether to title it ‘Colorado 14ers’ to match my other 14ers posts or ‘On… Continue reading
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Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Lake Haiyaha
Up until June 2022, Lake Haiyaha looked like this. On June 28, 2022, there was a rockslide on the mountainside above Lake Haiyaha. On this peaceful, sunny morning, a large section of the landscape broke free and began to tumble down Chaos Canyon. Rocks ranging in size from small pebbles to apartment-sized boulders began to… Continue reading
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Colorado Hikes: Tuhare Lakes
Two years ago, my friend and I made plans to hike to Tuhare Lakes with our husbands. Two years ago was also an absolutely awful summer for wildfires in Colorado; forest closures, evacuation zones, and suffocating smoke thwarted many plans… including this one. The original plan was to reschedule for summer 2021 instead, but we… Continue reading
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Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Upper Glacier Gorge Lakes
You know how sometimes you’ve been wanting to do something for so long and you’ve built it up in your head, and then you finally get to do it and it’s not as amazing as you were hoping, and you end up being really disappointed? This was not that. It was, however, something I’d been… Continue reading
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Colorado 14ers #6 and #7: Mount Eolus and North Eolus
It was 4:15pm when my friend K and I trudged back into our campsite after summiting Sunlight and Windom Peaks. We’d been gone for 10 hours, during which time we’d hiked just 6.6 miles (10.6 km) but gained – and then lost – 3750 feet (1145 m) of elevation. To say we were exhausted was… Continue reading
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Colorado 14ers #4 and #5: Sunlight Peak and Windom Peak
I’ll begin by saying this: there are roughly fifty 14ers in Colorado that are easier to summit than Sunlight Peak. Choosing it as my fourth 14er was maybe a little ambitious. I did it. But it was substantially harder than anything I’ve hiked or summited before. I definitely don’t recommend these peaks for anyone who… Continue reading
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Colorado Bucket List: Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Scenic Railroad and Chicago Basin
There are 58 officially named peaks in Colorado with summit elevations over 14,000 feet (4267 m). We call them 14ers, and summiting all of them is something many people aspire to. It took me a few years to decide, but it’s a goal I’ve finally committed to. It’s a long-term goal, obviously. There are so… Continue reading
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Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: CCY Route
The CCY Route – named for the three sequential summits of Mount Chapin, Mount Chiquita, and Ypsilon Mountain – is a pretty but challenging hike in the lesser-traveled Mummy Range of Rocky. Completing this hike means you’ll bag three summits in one day. However, to do so you have to climb up and over and… Continue reading
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Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Chasm Lake… again
Chasm Lake is, hands down, the best hike in Rocky. I’ve hiked a lot of trails in the park over the past four years, and I keep waiting for another hike to come along and dethrone this one, but that has yet to happen. I’m fairly certain it never will. This past August was actually… Continue reading
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Colorado 14ers #3: Mount Blue Sky
I look up at Mount Blue Sky every single day. It’s the most prominent mountain on the horizon from where we live in the Denver area. Continue reading
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Colorado Hikes: Chihuahua Lake
As you know if you’ve followed me for any length of time, alpine lakes are one of my favorite things. I hike to a lot of them. So when I say that Chihuahua Lake is one of the prettiest lakes I’ve seen in Colorado, I have a pretty good basis for comparison. Now that I’ve… Continue reading
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