rocky mountains
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Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Fern Lake
For the first time in six years, Thanksgiving roadtrip was not to be. I was obviously disappointed; the trip had been planned since August and I’d been looking forward to escaping to the desert southwest for a few days. But with back-to-back winter storms predicted for the weekend after the holiday, we were worried about… Continue reading
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Colorado Summits: Saint Vrain Mountain
My birthday is in the summer and, in most cases, you could pretty confidently plan an outdoor celebration and assume the weather will cooperate. In the Rocky Mountains, as it turns out, it’s not such a guarantee. In fact, it snowed on my 8th birthday and my planned outdoor party had to be moved indoors;… Continue reading
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A comprehensive guide to visiting Rocky Mountain National Park
(Updated May 2025) Looking back, I realize I always took for granted that I used to live relatively close to a national park. Then I moved to New England, where the nearest “mountains” weren’t really mountains and the nearest national park was a full day’s drive away, and I realized how much I missed it.… 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: 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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Colorado Hikes: Isabelle Glacier
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 the Front Range, and… Continue reading
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Colorado Hikes: Herman Gulch
I first hiked Herman Gulch a few years back, a challenging but beautiful outing in the midst of peak fall color season. More recently, my fiancé, 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… Continue reading
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Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Estes Cone
Estes Cone was not plan A for Chelsea and me on this particular weekend. But April and May in Colorado are part of what Coloradans call the “spring of deception.” No matter how warm and sunny it is, no matter how many days in a row the nice weather endures, make no mistake: it’s not… Continue reading
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Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Sky Pond (the winter version)
Frozen alpine lakes have become one of my favorite things since moving to Colorado. I just love the icy winter scenery so much. It’s already become an annual thing for us to hike to some of the more easily accessible lakes in Rocky every winter. But this winter, my friend and I had a more… Continue reading
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Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Deer Mountain
It’s not every day that you hike a trail and find yourself nearly face-to-face with its namesake animal. But such was the case on Deer Mountain. (Better than coming face-to-face with a bear on Bear Peak, I suppose.) There were four of them, and they couldn’t have been more than 15 feet (4.5 m) away.… Continue reading
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Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Twin Sisters Peak
2020 was a rough year for all of us, Rocky included. First, the park was closed for weeks in the spring due to the pandemic. Then it closed again for 15 days in October and November due to forest fires. In all, nearly 30,000 acres of the park burned. It was absolutely devastating to watch… Continue reading
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Colorado Hikes: Heart Lake
Summer hiking season was abruptly and heartbreakingly interrupted late last year, thanks to four large, rapidly spreading wildfires that prompted many closures and blanketed Colorado with thick smoke. Just as firefighters began to make significant progress, the west coast caught fire and the smoke from those states was blown all the way to Colorado and… Continue reading
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Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Lion and Snowbank Lakes
We could stay in Colorado for the rest of our lives (personally, I have few objections to this!) and probably never run out of places to backpack in Rocky. There are so many options. I haven’t actually counted, but I’m fairly certain that at least ¾ of the trails in the park extend more than… Continue reading
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Colorado Summits: Lily Mountain
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
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Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Mount Ida
Summiting Mount Ida turned out to be a ‘third time is the charm’ situation for us. We wanted to climb it our first summer in Colorado, 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 anything.… Continue reading
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Rocky Mountain National Park: Skiing Trail Ridge Road
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
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Colorado Destinations: Snow Mountain Ranch
Winter is 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 it’s when we could go, so we made the reservation and crossed our fingers and ended up getting pretty lucky. At the suggestion… Continue reading
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Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Bierstadt Lake
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
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Snowy Range Scenic Byway & Medicine Bow Peak, Wyoming
At an elevation of 12,013 feet (3662 m), Medicine Bow Peak is the highest peak in the Wyoming half of the Medicine Bow Mountains (which extend into northern Colorado). The Snowy Range – the northernmost section of the Medicine Bows – is traversed by a scenic byway and was our destination for Labor Day Weekend.… Continue reading
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Wildflowers and a Montana Summit – Hyalite Peak
Years ago, I hiked to Hyalite Lake. It’s 11 miles (17.5 km) roundtrip, closer to 13 miles (21 km) when you add in all the detours to the many waterfalls along the way, and my feet were pretty exhausted by the time we were back to the car. But the trail doesn’t end at Hyalite… Continue reading
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