Summer 2014 Hikes- part one

Here is a quick summary of the hikes I did so far this summer. I have been getting more in this summer than last so I had to break it down. These are the ones I enjoyed in May and June. Hiking is kind of like home improvements- the more you do the more you notice you want to do next. It will be years before my Colorado hiking wish list is exhausted.

First "summer" hike was on Memorial Day. But within a half mile the trail was snow covered and often we were walking on three feet or more of packed snow. We did not really have a destination but we walked about seven miles round trip on the Longs Peak Trail. Note to self: if a super fit local tells me a cool spot is ten minutes away, count on it being more than 50 minutes away.....but still worth the trek.

Greyrock- west of Fort Collins. This seven mile loop was an excellent way for me and three other teachers to start off our summer vacation. This also was Willow's first real hike. This trail had meadows, views, streams and after the uphill workout we enjoyed a stop at O'Dells Brewery in Fort Collins. Definitely want to plan a bike and brew trip back to Fort Collins.

Geocaching is not as good here in Colorado as it was in NJ but this short trek to "Colorado Stonehenge" was certainly a find. Hope to get back here in the autumn for a campfire and picnic with the family.

While not officially a hike, walking around Lake McIntosh is how I stayed conditioned between hikes. I never tire of the views and animals I see on this walk. The animals include bald eagles, prairie dogs, blue heron, pelicans (yes pelicans!) and even cows procreating- first time seeing that!

St. Mary's Glacier in Idaho Springs is a short two mile round trip hike but the views are spectacular. It is well worth the 90 minute drive and five dollar parking fee.

This was my first time to the Wild Basin entrance to RMNP. Great place and I look forward to exploring more of the trails here. Katie and I were on the hunt for the wildflower, Fairy Slippers, which is in the Orchid Family. We successfully located some on the way down. We also saw a large snowshoe hare.

Even though we set our hiking club dates over a month in advance, so far Colorado weather odds of 300 days of sunshine have been in our favor.....another spectacular day in the mountains. We left Longmont with a forecast of 90 degrees but enjoyed a perfect 70 degrees once we doubled our altitude from 5000 to 10000. The Dream and Emerald Lakes hike is really popular so it is good that we got to the trailhead by 8:30. Of all our hikes so far, this was the hardest to pick a single photo to represent.....there were so many great views. We were hoping to check out Lake Hiayaha too but that will need to wait for another time because there was just too much snow on that trail. On our way back we met a man with some fairies around his neck. He places them along the trail for photo shots. Pretty cool idea. I want to try to find him on tumbler.

On Father's Day we decided to take a family hike to Lost Lake which is a little past Nederland. When we arrived the trailhead was full so we needed to use a free shuttle from the High school parking lot. Just when the shuttle dropped us off we heard thunder and the skies darkened. Even though I checked the weather right before we left, I was starting to doubt our plan. Thankfully as we walked the skies brightened and we never did have to deal with a storm, just a lovely family hike.

While L&O were in NJ, Justin and I planned a long weekend for hiking and camping. The first hike we did was in Basalt, Co to Thomas Lakes. We thought this was going to be a quick hike but it turned out to be twice as long as we expected (7 instead of 3.5). But it was still a beautiful morning in the White River National Forest.

I had seen pictures from Hanging Lake pinned on Pinterest and I knew I wanted to visit this place while we were in Glenwood Springs. It was a short but very steep 1.2 trek up to the beautiful view. We did this hike on June 30 so that will wrap up part one of my summer hikes. Stay tuned for more shots of beautiful Colorado!