We left Peaceful Valley this morning to spend the weekend closer to town. We knew it was going to be hot (very hot in fact) at the lower altitudes, but Mom said she wanted a change of scenery anyway. Once we arrived at Union Reservoir (only 40 minutes of driving)...
We drove into Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park to show Mom the sights as best we could in a half-day. Mom is still getting too winded at our altitude to go for any treks down the trails, but there are still a lot of things worth seeing right...
Actually, the Peaceful Valley campground was still closed due to downed trees, but Camp Dick (same road, just further down) was open. Really, that is the true name; Camp Dick. They knew I was coming I guess. As you can see, we got everything setup; Mom in the trailer, Tim...
Conor spotted a small lake (un-named) atop a small mountain via Google Earth. Since we had been looking for a nice spot for an over-night backpacking trip, and this was only 20 miles away and in National Forest land, we found out spot. The road was not marked as national...
I have passed by this road many times on my way up the mountain to numerous other hikes over the years. It is only a few miles outside of Lyons, which is right up the road from me. It was not until late last year that I finally traveled the...
Conor and I went out for an early morning hike, this time we stayed at lower altitude thanks to everything beginning to bloom down here with the early spring. We tackled the 6 miles round trip of Picture Rock Trail again and made sure to take the time to snap...
Our final park of the trip was Mesa Verde National Park where we stopped in the museum to take a tour of the Spruce Tree House cliff dwelling and then a quick auto-toured of the various other cliff dwellings and sights. After a half-morning here, we planned to BBQ at...
Friday morning, Conor and I drove up Hwy 14 to hike up Mt McConnel up at 8000ft. It was not to be a particularly long hike at only 4.6 miles round trip, or hard hike with only 1400ft altitude gain, but as luck would have it we would still fail...
Conor and I ran up to Rocky Mtn Ntnl Park on Monday to get in our first hike of the year. Our last hike together was in the snow so it is fitting that we start this year with a snow-hike as well. Sadly, I left my snow-shoes in California...
Prior to our 4th-thursday-of-November meal, Conor and I headed out for an early hike. This time we stayed local, going only to Heil Valley Ranch Open Space; a favorite destination for local mountain bikers. Heil Valley Ranch is a foothills forest area with two main trails (Picture Rock and Wapiti...
