a former gymnast with a neverending case of wanderlust
Pat and I haven’t had a lot of luck with this hike. The first time, in August 2018, we began our hike under blue skies, but as soon as we sat down at Lake Helene to eat a snack it began to rain. Between the precipitation and the low-hanging clouds obscuring the mountains, it wasn’t… Continue reading Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Two Rivers Lake & Lake Helene
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
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 that you’ll bag three summits in one day. However, to do so you have to climb up and over… Continue reading Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: CCY Route
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 Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Chasm Lake
Is it possible to hike a trail too many times? In some cases, the answer to that question might be ‘yes.’ When the hike in question is Sky Pond, though, and it’s wintertime, I would argue that the answer is very clearly ‘no.’ Back in December 2020, Pat and I hiked to Sky Pond with… Continue reading Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: winter at Sky Pond… again
Normally I’m excited for snowy mountains and frozen alpine lakes and snowshoeing, but this past winter I had trouble locating my enthusiasm. It might have been because winter took its sweet time arriving in Colorado. The mountains ended 2021 with snowpack that was far below normal, and it didn’t actually snow in Denver until December… Continue reading Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Wind River/Glacier Basin Loop
Calling anything “lumpy” is… well, usually not intended as a compliment. But in this case it’s an apt description of the haphazard rock ridge rising above the northern edge of Estes Park, Colorado. Nestled within a low spot amongst the rocks is Gem Lake, the first hike Pat and I did when we moved to… Continue reading Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Lumpy Ridge Loop
August 20, 2021. Three days before the start of fall semester. For the first time in 16 months, I would be back in the classroom. I would be teaching one class I’ve taught before… and two new ones. Suffice it to say there were some nerves and anxiety. Fortunately, we had a Rocky backcountry permit… Continue reading Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: North Inlet Trail to Lakes Nokoni and Nanita
Back in June 2019, my mom and I were signed up for a summer solstice Women Who Hike group backpacking trip on East Inlet Trail, with Lake Verna and Spirit Lake as our ultimate destination. Unfortunately, the first day of summer was marked by a massive snowstorm that forced a last-minute change of plans. Fast… Continue reading Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: East Inlet Trail to Lake Verna and Spirit Lake
It was a long time coming, but 2021 was the year Chelsea and I finally stood atop Hallett Peak! I don’t remember when we originally decided we wanted to do this hike, but it was a while ago. The first time we made plans for it, Chelsea had to cancel. The second time, I was… Continue reading Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Flattop Mountain and Hallett Peak
Handstands Around the World 