a former gymnast with a neverending case of wanderlust
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
In general, my day hikes average probably 8-10 miles (12.8-16 km) in length. Too much more than that and the exhaustion begins to outweigh the enjoyment. But every once in a while, I stumble across a longer hike that sounds like it’s worth the extra distance. With a name like High Lonesome, I was hopeful… Continue reading Colorado Day Hikes: High Lonesome Loop
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
The wild fluctuations and extremes of mountain weather is something that can be hard to grasp, particularly for someone who hasn’t spent much time in them. Hell, I’ve spent most of my life living near and exploring the mountains, and I still underestimate them from time to time. Mountains do weird and intense things to… Continue reading Colorado Summits: Greyrock 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 Colorado Summits: Lily Mountain
The day began in a fairly typical fashion when it comes to hiking in Colorado: Wake up stupidly early (4:00am) so we can find a parking spot at the trailheadArrive at said trailhead very early and claim said parking spotGear up and start hiking Mount Audubon is a 13er located in the Indian Peaks Wilderness… Continue reading Colorado 13er #3: Mount Audubon
There are many Lost Lakes in Colorado. Apparently. I didn’t realize this until I just googled “Lost Lake” in an attempt to verify the mileage of this hike and a whole bunch of options came up. Turns out there are at least 7 or 8 of them. Back in the day, people must not have been very good at keeping track of all the lakes.
Anyway, on an unseasonably warm February day Pat and I headed out with our friends Kaylyn and Holden to snowshoe to the Lost Lake that’s just outside of Nederland, Colorado, a small town about an hour west of Boulder.
Within the first few weeks of our arrival in Colorado, we learned that if you want to find a place to park at any of the trailheads within about a 2-hour radius of Denver, you have to be willing to get there early. And by early, I mean 6:00am. It’s a multifactorial issue. Coloradans are… Continue reading Six of one, a dozen of the other – Brainard Lake Recreation Area, Colorado
Handstands Around the World 