a former gymnast with a neverending case of wanderlust
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 Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Upper Glacier Gorge Lakes
Lower Coney Lake, located in the Indian Peaks Wilderness of Colorado, is beautiful. Getting there was awful. This was partly due to weather and partly due to the fact that, all in all, this was not my best day on the trail. My friend Savannah, her husband Blake, and I arrived at Beaver Reservoir around… Continue reading Colorado Day Hikes: Lower Coney Lake
Do you ever have one of those hikes where the scenery just blows you away? There’s so much beauty in Colorado that the bar for that kind of awe has been set pretty damn high. But Isabelle Glacier exceeded that bar. Lake Isabelle is one of the most popular hikes near Denver, and with good… Continue reading Colorado Day Hikes: Isabelle Glacier
I first hiked Herman Gulch back in September 2018, a challenging but beautiful outing in the midst of peak fall color season. More recently, Pat, my mom, and I completed this hike in the summer and instead of yellow leaves we found ourselves surrounded by wildflowers. So I decided now would be a good time… Continue reading Colorado Day Hikes: Herman Gulch
One really nice benefit to living in Denver is that my mom and I are now only a 70-minute, $100 flight away from each other. As a result, we’re able to see each other a lot more often than when I lived across the country. She does plenty of exploring on her own in Montana… Continue reading Colorado Day Hikes: Silver Dollar and Murray Lakes
In Colorado, one can find sand in the most unexpected and/or unusual locations. Much like the aftermath of a day at the beach. Case in point: Great Sand Dunes National Park. Case in point #2: Sandbeach Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. The trail to Sandbeach Lake departs from the parking area immediately to the… Continue reading Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Sandbeach Lake
Most lists of “best hikes near Denver” include St. Mary’s Glacier. And with good reason. For a round-trip total of two hours of driving and 1.8 miles (2.9 km) of hiking, you can see a pretty subalpine lake, bristlecone pines, and stand on a glacier. Well… sort of. As it turns out, St. Mary’s Glacier… Continue reading Colorado Day Hikes: St. Mary’s Glacier
Are you singing the Loch Lomond song in your head now? Me too. In fact, it was stuck in my head the rest of the day after doing this hike. It’s in my head again now as I’m writing this. But despite the Scottish origin of the song, today’s hike is not located in Scotland.… Continue reading Colorado Day Hikes: Loch Lomond
The Spruce Creek Trail to Mohawk Lakes is one of the most popular hikes near Breckenridge, Colorado. Generally, we try to avoid extremely busy trails such as this one. But some hikes are pretty enough that you just have to suck it up and brace yourself for the crowds. We hoped that arriving by 7:45am… Continue reading Colorado Day Hikes: Mohawk Lakes
Judging by the name, one might assume this hike would pass by Missouri Lakes en route to Fancy Pass before looping back to the trailhead… which is somewhat accurate. You do hike past the Missouri Lakes. And you do climb Fancy Pass. And also Missouri Pass. Plus, you hike to Fancy Lake and Treasure Vault… Continue reading Colorado Day Hikes: Missouri Lakes-Fancy Pass Loop
Handstands Around the World 