Joscelyn and I had a very rare day off together this Sunday. We took advantage of it!! We woke up at 5am to drive to Rocky Mountain National Park. At 7:15am we were at the Bear Lake TH on a beautiful 45 degree morning.
The planned hike was to climb from the TH at 9,000 ft to three peaks above 12,000 ft. Flattop Mountain at 12,324 ft was the first leg. There were only a couple of us hikers out that early. It was quiet and we were able to get above tree line quickly. It really got the heart pumping because it was mostly straight up. It was also amazing as we crossed our first glacier to the summit of Flattop.
After resting for a couple of minutes on the summit of Flattop and chit chatting with our new friends, we headed off to Hallett Peak at 12,713 ft. This is where the trail went primitive and we had to follow rock cairns through a saddle to the summit of Hallett. On the way to this peak we saw a few marmots and passed another glacier. The final trek up to the peak was a chore. We had to rock hop to the summit. Not a easy task at over 12,000 ft!
After resting a little bit more (we realize we can’t rest for long! go go go!), we started off to tag our final peak, Otis. Later this day, I realized Joscelyn didn’t really want to do it because she was tired. She is a trooper and the best hiking partner I have ever had! Anyways, the trip to Otis (12,400 ft) was the hardest! We trekked down another saddle and the trail went away. We had to make our own trail. As we approached the summit, we had to manage through a huge boulder field. We took it easy as we didn’t want to break an ankle in the middle of the continental divide. On the top of Otis, you can see me pointing to Longs Peak, our next adventure!
We did it! We tagged three 12ers in great time! Overall we hiked over 12 miles and for seven hours. We stumbled back down to the TH destroyed. It was awesome, but it took a toll on our bodies. I think we would definitely do it again!
We finally had a day off together so we decided to have a “date day.” We set out alarms for somewhat of an early morning(7am on a day off is early), stopped by McDonalds for ice coffees, and headed to Estes Park for a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. Unseasonably warm temperatures down here got us excited about our hike but once we arrived we found the trails above 10,000 feet to be considerably snow packed. We were able to get in a few miles before the snow pack became too soft and we started sinking but we made the most of it hiking to 4 lakes and 1 waterfall. We ended the day by stopping at a restaurant in Lyons that we have always wanted to try called Oskar Blues. Thanks for a great “date day” J.
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.
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!
70 degrees in January in Colorado just doesn’t really have us yearning to go skiing. So we decided to do some exploring. Just two minutes down the road from our place are some great open space parks. The trails are great for biking, running and hiking. J has been able to get in about 30 miles so far on his bike and since I took my exam today I was able to join him on a 6 mile hike. It was a beautiful day but just a little on the windy side. We look forward to putting many miles in on the trails. And as for the weather, it is supposed to snow this weekend so you can bet we will be heading for the ski hills.
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