Rocky Mountain National Park has many hikes that we would like to tackle so we picked one for a Saturday trip and though we ran into a considerable amount of snow we made the 9.2 mile round trip hike with no snow shoes. The hike got a little scary when we started running into alot of animal tracks beside the trail so it was then that we just picked up the pace. Our hike was slowed considerably towards the end when we came around the corner to find another hiker flat on her face after falling on ice. We made sure she was alright and walked with her and her husband to the parking lot.
Copper was another mountain we could buy 1 get 1 free. So, before Joscelyn started work, we wanted to ski during the week. When we arrived, I could tell the mountain was worked pretty hard from President’s Day weekend. It was a challenge to find any untouched snow. Any time I thought we found the stash, moguls appeared. We stayed together until lunch. After lunch Joscelyn wanted to stay on the groomers while I checked out the back bowls. I was finally able to find some powder! I did however have to hike for it. I guess you have to earn your turns!!
Colorado has numerous outdoor activities to offer during the winter months. So we decided to venture up to Estes Park and go for a snowshoe hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. We were pleasantly suprised to find snowshoeing to be such a popular activity. We were a bit frustrated at the beginning of the hike to find sooo many people on the trail but once we got a few miles in we found ourselves alone and enjoying the sites and sounds of winter. We hiked to a lake called The Loch which was completely frozen but gorgeous. The trip was 6 miles round trip and pretty easy until the final climb up to the top. Everything in Colorado is measured in feet so The Loch was at 10,180 feet. We would have liked to have gone to another lake but I was sidelined with bad blisters from hiking boots that just weren’t fitting right….ouch!! J was my nurse for this hike as he did an excellent job wrapping my ankles from the supplies in our mini first-aid kit!
Hooky Day at Loveland was sponsored by a local radio station which allowed us to ski for $10, what a deal! Most people had to play hooky from work since it was on a Thursday but since I have not started work yet and J has yet to find a job it wasn’t a hooky day for us but we sure took advantage of it!! It was a bluebird day with a few inches of fresh powder, temperatures close to 0 at the summit and in the 30’s at the base and no lift lines, an all around perfect day!! I decided to break out my snowboard for the first time this year and though the skill came back quickly, much like riding a bike, my triceps were sore from pushing myself off the ground after strapping my boots in. Maybe I just need to work on those triceps, I sure don’t want that second wave coming along any time soon!
Another week of warm temperatures in Colorado made us want to do some more exploring. I had looked up interesting things to do in Colorado Springs, mentioned it to J, and we jumped in the car this morning to head south. Our first stop was the Garden of the Gods, which I am still unsure why they call it that. It is a national natural landmark with very interesting red rock structures with names like: kissing camels, balanced rock, and three graces.
We love the show on Food Network called Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives so we wanted to find one in Colorado Springs to eat lunch at. Al Rocker had actually done a special on the diner called King’s Chef Diner so we decided to try it out. J got something called a “grumpy” which was a heaping pile of hashbrowns, sausage, eggs, and cheese. He said he knew why they called it “grumpy” was because his stomach was grumpy all afternoon.
Our final stop for the day was a drive up Pikes Peak which is 14, 110. It ranks 31st out of Colorado’s 54 fourteeners. We hope to hike it one day but for a warm, clear day in February the drive was just fine. We even ran into the North Pole we were so high up. The road was not paved for a few miles, had plenty of s-curves, and made me have two hands on the wheel with white knuckles for the drive up. They don’t even have guardrails except on the sharp curves, crazy. From what I saw of it the drive up was gorgeous but I didn’t want to look away from the road long so I asked J to drive down the mountain so I could enjoy the views. The day was a perfect clear day so we could see for miles. The summit was actually over 30 degrees colder than the bottom and not to mention windy so we didn’t stay long.
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