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
I think most lists of “best hikes near Denver” include Chicago Lakes. It’s not an easy hike – in terms of length or elevation gain – but it’s certainly worth the effort. Which also makes it extremely popular. We arrived at 6:30am on a Saturday morning to find the ample parking lot already approaching full.… Continue reading Colorado Day Hikes: Chicago Lakes
When Pat told his brother we were planning to hike to Hell’s Hole, he immediately asked if this meant we would be spending the day exploring the devil’s butt crack. (Spoiler alert: we would not.) Your guess is as good as mine for where the name Hell’s Hole came from. I tried to research it… Continue reading Colorado Day Hikes: Hell’s Hole
Our very first campsite in Colorado was at Cherry Creek State Park. In fact, it was the first place we ever spent the night anywhere in Colorado – and that includes our apartment. We’d left Pat’s old car behind in Connecticut (it wouldn’t have made it to Colorado) and his residency start date was just… Continue reading Colorado State Parks: Cherry Creek
You know how sometimes you set out for a hike and get a bit too ambitious and then spend the last few miles regretting your ambition? This was one of those hikes. It was a 70°F/21°C day in Denver in early March, which meant it was also an unseasonably warm day up in the mountains.… Continue reading Colorado Day Hikes: Lake Isabelle
In the summer, Trail Ridge Road is one of the absolute highlights of Rocky. This paved highway ascends to the top of Trail Ridge, rising to an elevation of just over 12,000 feet (3660 m) and providing unparalleled views of the surrounding landscape. It’s also quite a driving adventure, especially for those who have never… Continue reading Rocky Mountain National Park: Skiing Trail Ridge Road
February is always a risky time of year to make partially-non-refundable reservations for anywhere in the Colorado Rockies. Weather can change in an instant, closing mountain passes and rendering travel downright dangerous. But our anniversary is in February, so we made the reservation and crossed our fingers and ended up getting pretty lucky. At the… Continue reading Colorado Destinations: Snow Mountain Ranch
The first time we did this hike, I hated it. In retrospect, I may have overreacted. It’s not my favorite hike in Rocky, but it’s still pretty nice. I’m sure the fact that I was asking my tired legs – which had hiked 10 miles (16 km) the day before – to climb a bunch… Continue reading Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Bierstadt Lake
