This is one of Sara’s favorite trails and we excited to spend the morning hanging out with her as we had not been on any hikes together yet this year!

It’s too bad that we only made it a mile or so in before the rain started coming down.

Not sure if we’ll head back to Herman’s this year…but we’ll try!

Difficulty:     Class 1
Trailhead:     Grays Peak
Trailhead Elev.:     11,280 feet
Elevation Gain:     3,000 feet
Trip Length:    8 miles

We left the house around 5:30am and headed West.  After exiting the highway, we had to venture a few miles up a treacherous dirt road before we made it to the trailhead.

Here’s our view from the parking lot.

We hit the trail about 7:15am and here’s what we looked like before we started.  Don’t worry…Mike hardly ever smiles in pictures.

Grays Peak is the one on the right.  Can you see why it’s an 8 mile round trip hike?

The snow covered peak is Torreys.  It looks to be taller than Grays, but it’s actually a few feet shorter.

Here’s a shot of Ryan (he’s got the red camelback on in the middle of the picture) trekking up the mountain.

Mike and Ryan enjoying the view from the top of the mountain…and yes, Ryan takes after Mike as he doesn’t smile in many pictures either.

Here we all are on the top!

We elected not to cross the saddle between Grays and Torreys.  At some point we’ll probably climb Torreys from the bottom up.

The trip took about five hours and while we didn’t bring Dakota with us this time, I think we may take her on our next trip up a 14′er.  Anyone else want to join us for #3?

About two hours into the trip it started raining.  We weren’t sure if it was going to stop and we seriously considered getting a hotel room for the night.  Thankfully the rain held off long enough for us to put up the tents and enjoy a short, but nice camp fire.

Here’s a look at our camping spot.  Nice river front spot on the Arkansas River.

The only downside to the camp ground was that there was no running water and when there’s no running water, you know what that means.

The first morning (Saturday) we woke up early (although that’s because Dakota gets up between 5 and 6am every morning) and Mike cooked us pancakes and sausage.  Our plan was to head over to Cow Lake to do some hiking.  Traveling up the mountain, we realized that the 11,000″ starting point might be too high as this is what we saw at the Continental Divide.

Next we headed off to the visitors center to see if we could find a hike at a lower altitude.  They pointed us in the direction of Highway 101 where we found a challenging hike that was mostly all uphill.

Ryan kept asking if we were going to turn around soon.  It’ll be interesting to see if he joins us for our next 14′er this Summer.

We got rained on a little during our hike, but as it started to clear up I was able to snap the following picture.  Isn’t Colorado gorgeous?

Dakota was off of her leash for most of the hike and she definitely got her exercise.  She crashed in the car on the way back to the campground.

That night Ryan attempted to cook Jiffy Pop…

After almost catching himself on fire (well not really…but it sounds exciting!) Mike took over and we all enjoyed some popcorn as we sat by the fire.

The next morning we had another good breakfast followed by a trip up to Leadville.  It was raining again, so we didn’t want to commit to another hike until we knew if it was going to clear up or not.

On the way back down, we stopped at Agnes Vailles falls.  It was a short half mile hike up to the falls, but it was well worth it.

After the falls we did some exploring.  Heading up an old railroad grade to see what we could find.

As we traveled along, we saw the remnants of the train tracks as well as the abandoned mines in the area.

We attempted to hike up to the Alpine Tunnel, but between the rain and the snow we turned around and added this hike to our Summer hike list.

On the way back down we veered off the main road to check out Mary Murphy’s Mine.  The incline was so steep and rocky that we all joked about what would happen if we went over the cliff.  Thankfully Mike got us safely up and back down.

After wandering around this area for a while, we headed back to the campsite to have dinner, more Jiffy Pop and even some smores.

On Monday morning we woke up and after letting the tents dry out (Yes – they were still wet!) we packed it up and headed home.

On our way, we stopped at the Royal Gorge…we didn’t pay to cross the bridge, but I did take a few pictures.  If you haven’t been to the Royal Gorge, you need to as pictures don’t do this beautiful masterpiece justice.

We’re planning on next camping trip for Father’s Day – anyone interested in joining us?

Last weekend we headed up to Dillon, CO to try out our new Christmas presents – snowshoes.  Since I can’t ski due to my knee, we thought that snowshoes would be a good alternative that allows us to enjoy the mountains in the Winter.

Based on a recommendation from the personal trainer that Sara and I workout with, we went in search of the Soda Creek Trail in Summit County.  We met Sara just off C-470 and the first 30 minutes or so of the drive were fantastic.  Then we hit the ski traffic.  Sara had thankfully printed out directions, so we got off the I-70 and headed over Loveland Pass.  Not having driven through there before it was an interesting ride, but thankfully I was not driving.  The snow was blowing like crazy and we could barely see 8 feet in front of us…but we made it.

After locating our breakfast destination (by fluke!) we headed out to the trailhead to get started.  It was a COLD day, maybe 2 degrees and with the blowing wind it was bitter cold.  I somehow forgot my jacket, but thankfully we had enough layers in the car that I was able to bundle up.  My fingers almost froze putting the snowshoes on, but I warmed up after we started out on the trail.

We hiked for about 2 hours and figure we traveled 3 or 4 miles.   Here are some pics from the trip:

Here’s Mike and I on the trail.  At one point I think Sara got tired of looking at our butts, so she asked us to stop and look at her and she grabbed this photo.

With my adventure at Bear Lake not going as well as expected, I sat my butt on the rocks and enjoyed my snack with Mike ventured out, climbing on a few rocks.

Typically I’m ALWAYS the one with the camera, but this time around Sara snapped a picture of me chillin’ in front of Cascade Falls.

Here’s a picture of Mike and I in front of Big Pool.  The hiking guide we used to locate this trail showed people jumping into the pool, but not us!

Thankfully, we had no issues heading up and after checking into the condo and dropping our stuff off we headed downtown to check out what was going on.  We did a little shopping and then enjoyed a beer and a snack on the patio at Deno’s.

After heading back to the condo for a short snooze, Sara arrived and we planned the rest of our day.  Since our last visit a couple of weeks ago, we had been wanting to drive to the top of the Moffat Road.   We had ventured part way up back in May 2007 (that’s when the picture below was taken) and again a few weeks back with Sara, but we were not successful in making it all the way to the top either time.

So, with Mike behind the wheel of my Jeep, we started out.  The first couple of miles appeared to be well traveled. but as we go further along the bumps and holes seemed to increase drastically in size.   It was so bumpy that Sara’s pedometer registered almost a mile of steps!

At the top we got out and walked around.  Unfortunately with me in Crocs and Sara in flip flops, we didn’t walk far, but here are a couple of pictures from the top.

The trip down the mountain took us two plus hours as we couldn’t go more than 10 or 15 miles per hour due to the terrain.  Plus we stopped to investigate an old train bridge along the way.  I didn’t include that in my post as I figured my description wouldn’t do it justice.

After returning to condo we relaxed a little before making dinner.  We dined on fine cusine from Whole Foods while waiting Ninja Warriors on G4.  Sara discovered this show while in Santa Fe and I don’t claim to be a fan…at least not yet.  I was a sleep by 9pm that night and while it was hotter than all get up in the condo, I slept fairly well.

The next morning (Sunday) we woke early, headed to the Rise and Shine to enjoy a protein packed breakfast before heading up to the outskirts of Rocky Mountain National Park to hike.  Mike had done his homework and knowing that we wanted to get a 10 mile hike in, he selected Cascade Falls and Big Pool as our destination for the day.  Just outside of Grand Lake, CO we found the trail head and started out on our trek.

The first two miles of the hike were relatively flat, however at the two and half mile mark we started to climb a little.   Here’s a shot from the path before made it to the falls.

Surprisingly on our way to the falls and ultimately Big Pool we only saw a handful of people.  On the other hand we did see a lot of horse poop and even a dead mouse!

Around the three and half mile mark we made it to the falls.

We took a break by the falls and enjoyed a snack and snapped a few pictures.  The rushing sound of the falling water was not only soothing, but also cooling.

Next we proceeded up the trail and on to Big Pool.  We figured it was another two miles from the falls, which would get to us to to just over the five mile mark, which on an out-and-back would give us the ten mile hike we were looking for.

We didn’t talk as much on the second leg of the hike, but we were still cruising.  Upon making it to Big Pool, we snapped a few pictures, looked at the fish swimming around in the pool and then headed out as we still had five plus miles to hike before we got back to the car!

We didn’t chat as much on the hike back to the car.  We only stopped once or twice to re-tie our shoes or get a rock out.  With about two and half miles to go, I realized I was out of water.  Oops!  The good news is that that part of the hike was relatively flat and whle the last mile is always the toughest, I powered through without any issues.

After visiting the port-o-potty which I was extremely excited to see after a ten mile hike, we headed into Grand Lake to enjoy a treat.  Sara and I split a carmel apple with peanuts and Mike enjoyed a waffle cone with cookie dough ice cream.

On the drive back to Winter Park, I felt like taking a snooze, but I knew if I did, there was no hope of getting me moving later.  So, we left Sara at the condo to relax and Mike and I headed down to Doc’s Roadhouse to enjoy a beer and a snack.  After we headed into town and bought new hiking shoes, had another beer and then returned to the condo to pick up Sara for dinner.

We enjoyed a nice dinner at the Untamed Southwest Grill.  I will mention that we’ve been in there twice as they are a vegetarian friendly restaurant, but the service is decent if not sub-par.  Oh well, with only a handful of restaurants in Winter Park, what do you expect!

Mike enjoyed a little dip in the hot tub when we returned while Sara and I watched the end of the CSU/CU game and then it was off to bed.  A ten mile hike can be draining, especially without a nap!

This morning we woke up early and Mike and I enjoyed another breakfast at the Rise and Shine before heading out of town.  We were home by 10:30 and look forward to relaxing at home today.

Happy Labor Day to everyone.  Hope you’re weekend was as much fun as ours was!

The morning started with the alarm going off at 4:30am and after a quick shower and breakfast, we set out for the Guanella Pass.   Neither of us said much on the drive up, although maybe that’s because we were still half asleep.

When we arrived at the trail head I was shocked at the number of cars that were already parked.  I know people like to start our as early as possible to avoid the afternoon storms, but I’m not sure that I could have gotten out of bed any earlier!  Although part of what slowed me down was the fact that I washed my hair.  I know most of you are thinking this is crazy, but you only climb your first 14′er once and I wanted to make sure that I my hair looked good in the pictures.

After putting on our boots, I made a pit stop at the outhouse.

My biggest fear related to climbing the mountain was having to pee behind a bush or rock.  It’s one of those silly fears where I’ve envisioned peeing on myself or falling down the hill with no pants on.  Crazy I know, but if you ask Mike it’s just part of my OCD personality that he’s learned to love.

Here’s a picture of the mountain from the parking lot.  I’ve circled the summit of Mt. Bierstadt to help give everyone a sense of how challenging this 9 1/2 mile hike is.

As we headed out on the trail, we stopped to fill out our registration form.

After we attached the registration card to Mike’s pack, we were off!  The first mile or two was relatively flat and we moved along at a steady pace.  After hopping over the river, carefully stepping on the stones and making sure not to fall in, we started to climb.

The trail was a little deceiving as it kept winding back and forth so it was hard to tell how far we had gone or how high we were.  After about an hour and a half, I started to slow down.  Typically I’m pretty good at pushing my self to keep going, but as we were jumping over rocks and avoiding the water flowing down the mountain from the snow that was still melting, I found myself stopping more often.

Here’s a picture looking West as we took one of our breaks.

At 13,000 feet we agreed to stop and have a snack and rest for a few minutes.  At this point I was wearing a long sleeve shirt, but the wind was picking up so I pulled my fleece out of my Camelback and put it on.  With only 1,060 feet to go there was no way I was giving up now!

Our next goal was to make it to ridge which we later figured out was at approximately 13,600 feet.  (Mike carries a hand held GPS with us when we hike which tracks our time moving, stopped, current elevation, etc.)  Here’s picture from the ridge.

From the parking lot the mountain looks like one big piece of rock, but upon reaching the ridge we quickly found out that we would need to scramble up the remaining distance to make it up to the top.  I removed my fleece and started up the last section of the mountain.

It didn’t take us but 15 or 20 minutes to make it to the top!

After enjoying another snack and the view for a few minutes, we decided to head back down the mountain.  We had been traveling for approximately three hours at this point and were ready to take our boots off and enjoy some lunch.

Surprising, there were plenty of people who were just hanging out on top of the mountain.

The hike back down the trail was harder than I anticipated.  Scrambling up rocks is one thing, but going down them is another.  Especially when they are wet or snow covered.

On the way down, I don’t think we stopped more than three or four times.  it’s not that I didn’t want to stop and take a break, but I knew that if I did it would be that much harder to get moving again.

If I had to guess we must have seen 200 people on the trail through out the day.  All at varying skill levels and ages.   I’m not sure how many made it to the top, but I give each and everyone of them credit for getting out there and being healthy!

When we returned to the car, Mike quickly took his boots off.  Both of us had sore feet, but little did I know that he had blisters on the backs of BOTH of his heels.  OUCH!

No having climbed a 14′er before, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I can tell you now that it was both mentally and physically challenging.

Would I do it again?  In a heartbeat!  Only 52 more to go to climb them all.

The first part of the hike actually had us descending, which is great when you start out but what you have to remember is that the last piece of your trek back to the car will be uphill.  Here’s a snapshot that I grab during the first half mile or so.

Starting out at 11,000+ feet we knew it would be a little chilly as we gained elevation.  The trail was a little bit wet and there was still snow in places.

The same book that we used last week listed this hike as moderate, but due to the higer elevation we had to stop and catch our breathe a few times.  Once we reached the first lake we took a break and enjoyed some trail mix and spicy pumpkin seeds.

We decide to push ourselves a little more and head up to the second lake.

If you’re wondering, yes…his foot did get wet!

While climbing down, Mike and I decided that we’re going to make Mt. Bierstadt our first 14er.  It’s the mountain to the very right in this picture.

We estimate that it will take 6 to 8 hours to climb.  Wish us luck!

Trail Rating – moderate to strenuous
Trail Length – 5 mile-out-and-back
Elevation – 9,960 to 11,300 feet
Location – Mount Evans Wilderness, Arapaho National Forest

We had a rough start to the morning as the book were were using to locate the trailhead did not list the name of the street we were to turn on, so it took us an extra 30 or 45 minutes to figure it out.

Once we found the trailhead, we set out on our adventure.

I immediately realized that this was going to be a tough hike as we immediately started climbing and kept climbing for the first hour.  Good butt workout right?  You got that right!  If you figure that a standard flight of stairs is 14 feet, we climbed 95 floors during this hike.  Here’s a snapshot of one of the sections that we trekked up.

If you’re not an experienced hiker, note that the upper part of the trail is thick and requires that you follow the cairns left by the hikers who had previously hiked the trail.

While we didn’t see much other than a chipmunk or a bird, we did see some droppings…

Not sure what animal left these behind, but I’m going to study up on what to do if a bear attacks you just in case!

A picture from the top.

Overall, I believe that this is the most strenuous hike Mike and have ventured out on to-date.  Hopefully we’ll hit a few more before the Summers over!

If you’re headed up to the area and want to check out the trail, you’ll want to turn right off of Mount Evans Highway (CO 103) onto Hefferman Gluch Road – as seen here.

When we first arrived at Mt. Falcon, I wasn’t sure what to expected, but Sara mentioned ruins and pieces of a story related to a Presidential Summer Home.  So, we headed down Castle Trail to figure out what was out there.

I was surprised by the number of bikers and trail runners out that morning and after hoofing it up some of those hills, I have a greater respect for the athleticism that it takes.

The first ruins that we came to were that of the house that John Brisben Walker built.  It burned to the ground after being struck by lighting in 1916 after his second wife Ethel died.

After checking out the ruins, we continued down Castle Trail until it intersected with Walker’s Dream which took us up to the second set of ruins.

Looking out from this point, you could see the ruins of the Walker home.

We headed back out to do some more hiking which included Old Ute Trail, Devils Elbow and Meadow Trail.

Somewhere along the way we ran into a wild bird who seemed friendly at first and then proceeded to “attack” Mike.  I thought that it was going to peck his leg, but thankfully he just got tangled in his feed.   Here’s the culprit…

Sara had her pedometer on and we walked something like 16,000 steps or close to 6 miles.  It got a little challenging at the end, but we all pushed through and rewarded ourselves with a little treat afterward.  Sara and I had a salad and Mike had a cheeseburger.

We’re already looking forward to our next hike with Sara!