Minton Park Cemetery Trail, Empire Colorado hiking

Empire Colorado is one of my favorite towns on the Front Range; its at the heart of the Rocky Mountains and the gateway to Berthoud Pass with Clear Creek River running through it.  Last weekend I wanted to try a hike with Josh and the dogs someplace new, farther into the mountains to get away from the 100 degree heat in the city!  I also wanted to test out the second of two hiking packs that we were given by friends now that Magnolia fits into this one.  I tried out the first pack by myself at the Centennial Cone trail but it bothered my shoulders, and this second one that I wanted to try with Josh around so that he could help me adjust it while I was wearing it.  This pack is an Eddie Bauer pack, and I was hopeful that it would work for me after trying on every single pack at REI and not finding one that fit me comfortably.  Even with the staff helping me to find the best fit, none were quite right.  I guess that's a downfall of being petite.  
I was pleasantly surprised that after several adjustments with the Eddie Bauer pack, that it ended up feeling pretty good, not great, but I could get used to it and this trail starting at Minton Park in Empire Colorado happened to be a great trail to test out the pack on.  The hike was easy with scenic views of the river and surrounding mountains and no other hikers to speak of, probably because its more of a local walking trail than a hike. 

Denver Mountain Parks, hike in Morrison Colorado with Yeti Sighting!

Yes, a Yeti sighting!  
Our friends recently moved into the foothills outside of Morrison, Colorado and found this trail last summer.  I had been meaning to hike on it numerous times, but just never got around to it until now.   
I hiked this trail with Laura her daughter Amelia, who is the exact same age as my daughter Magnolia, who was also in attendance.  On our way back down the trail, we came across this scary creature (in photo to left) and it stopped us in our tracks!  The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and I was pretty sure we were seeing something crazy, a small bigfoot perhaps or a bear in a tree?  We stood there, it stood there...then Laura said that she didn't think it looked like any of the primates she saw at the zoo the day prior and it wasn't moving, so she ventured forward.  I was still a little tentative, and decided to hang back with the camera to take some pictures, ha!  As we got closer, we got braver, it got smaller and it still wasn't moving and I said "its a fake bigfoot" and indeed, it was.  There was a tube with paper for your signature attached to the tree that said 'Yeti Registry' and I actually remember seeing the tube as we passed it on the way up the mountain, but the Yeti was out of site from that direction unless you looked back on the trail and I just ignored the tube because Magnolia was fussing.  There are more photos of this farther down in my trip report.  

Baw Beese Walking Trail, Hillsdale Michigan - part of the North Country Trail

Road trip!  We spent half of June in Michigan to spend some quality time with our families and introducing Magnolia to her extended family who hasn't seen her yet.  During this time I was itching to get out on a trail for some hiking and one of our friends suggested the Baw Beese walking trail, which connects to the North Country trail which is a huge trail that spans 4600 miles in 7 states from New York through Minnesota.  There is a section of the North Country Trail which is around Baw Beese Lake and I was glad to hike on such a cool trail which was so close to my mother in law's house.  I wondered why my husband never rode his bike farther on the trail, but he didn't really get into hiking until we moved to Colorado 10 years ago.  

With the entire family in tow, we loaded up the stroller with water and started out of the house.  It was at least 1 mile before we reached the paved trail and started down the path.  

Corwina Park and the Panorama Point Trail

As an avid hiker, especially along the Front Range, I expect that I know a lot of the hiking trails in the area and when one is brought to my attention that I haven't hiked, well I just need to go hike it! 

Since having Magnolia, I have become familiar with some local mama's hiking groups, but I only recently decided to do a hike with the Colorado Mountain Mama's group.  We had a great time on the trail at Lookout Mountain and I checked their schedule to see when we could hike again and came across the Corwina Park hike.  Unfortunately, Magnolia and I weren't able to hike with the Colorado Mountain Mama's group that day, but we hiked it as a family over the weekend.  The hike was perfect, a beautiful trail with scenic views, a pine forest to keep you shady, a stream that the dogs were able to drink from (for part of the trail) and tons of wildflowers along the way!  The trail is part of the Denver Mountain Parks System and the trail is actually the Corwina - O'Fallon Trail. 

Alderfer Three Sisters Park and Open Space, Evergreen Colorado

Hiking with a baby is part of our lifestyle now, and I am constantly trying to find a good hike that I haven't blogged about or visited lately, which is not too difficult making it comfortable to carry Magnolia.  This weekend we visited Alderfer Three Sisters, a park that I have frequented many times, but oddly, had never blogged about.  This park has over 10 miles of trails, some in the pine forest and others with views of the surrounding foothills but the park is most popular for its rock formations.  The formations are named the Three Sisters and The Brother.  This weekend we hiked the Sisters Loop and then continued along the Ponderosa Trail back to the car.  In total we hiked 2.5 miles and it took us about 1.5 -2 hours of moderately slow hiking with a few stops along the way to nurse the baby, take photos and to let the dogs sniff around.  

Lookout Mountain, Boettcher Mansion; a snowy hike on a sunny January day

Clearly, I didn't hike this trail very recently; it was actually hiked in January 2012, but as a busy mama with a 2 month old baby, I didn't get a chance to blog about it until now.  But, its worth the write-up, so here it is!  The trailhead starts at the Boettcher Mansion and Nature Center on the top of Lookout Mountain; which is worth the visit even if you don't like to hike.  The mansion was built as a summer home in 1917 by a prominent business man Charles Boettcher and the property was donated to the Jefferson County Open Space in the late 60s.  Its a beautiful, rustic property on the top of the mountain and is a great place to visit in the springtime with all the wildflowers in the area. 

Lookout Mountain offers a great number of trails and several places to park to pick up these trails.  We decided to hike here because it got us up into the mountains, a little bit, and it's a trail that I hadn't hiked before. 
It was a bright and sunny day in Golden as we drove up Lookout Mountain, and we quickly realized that there would be deep snow along the trail and I hoped it wouldn't be too much of an inconvenience for my sister and brother in law, who didn't bring their hiking boots to Colorado this trip.  However, they braved the snow, and we saw some elk, so it was worth the wet feet and knee deep snow drifts. 

Centennial Cone Park; back to hiking and blogging!

I've taken quite a hiatus from blogging and I miss it terribly.  The past 6 months have been the busiest of my life; my husband and I welcomed a baby girl to our family in November, Magnolia Gwen.  She is a fun, feisty little girl and we have hiked several times since her arrival but I just haven't had the time to write!  Because my time is more limited, my trail reviews are going to be a little shorter; the same great information and directions, with less text and more beautiful photos.  Some of the hikes might be repeats from earlier in the blog, but hiking with a child presents a whole new set of challenges; I am not able to hike as long and I have to be flexible regarding her mood, but it feels great to get outside and share my love of the trail with her.  I'd love to hear from other hiking families out there regarding which pack you use, or how you handle the trail with kids?  Please leave a comment! 

Mayhem Gulch Trail, part of the Clear Creek Canyon Park System

Mayhem Gulch, Clear Creek Canyon

About a year ago, I was driving up highway 6 in Clear Creek Canyon and noticed that the Open Space workers were building a parking lot for a new trailhead about 9 miles up the Canyon from Golden.  It wasn't completed and so I was not able to hike it back then, but I always remembered it was there and knew that Jefferson County Open Space was adding more trails in the Canyon, so I decided to head back this September to see if it was completed.  And it was!  Complete with a large parking lot across the road from the river, restrooms and trail maps that show this trail system meets up with the Centennial Cone Park trails in Golden Gate Canyon and there are numerous miles of trails for bikers and hikers here!

The Manitou Incline; Colorado Springs - One of the most intense trails I have hiked.

I have heard lots of things about The Incline, a 0.9 mile hike up the old cog railroad which gains 2100 feet in elevation; its hot, its steep, its hard, its crazy, its feels endless; and its all of those and more!  I kept thinking, how hard can it really be?  It's just under a mile to get to the top, I can do anything for a mile; but it was definitely an intense trail that was so steep in some places that it gave me vertigo to stop and look down and I am not afraid of heights.  The trail reminded me of a roller coaster, when you are looking over the top and you can't see the track in front of you just the track at the bottom because it's so steep; that's exactly what The Incline is like.  
The Incline is a favorite trail for fitness buffs who frequent the trail as part of an exercise regimen, some people will even run up the trail and back down it as well.  Most people however, take the 4 mile Barr trail down the mountain instead.  The entire trail provides amazing views of the foothills and as far into the distance as the eye can see and as weather permits.  

Cupid Mountain, 13,117 ft, Colorado's 555th highest peak

Views and wild daisies in bloom at elevation

 Hiked July 29th, at 27 weeks pregnant.  

One of my goals with pregnancy was to hike a peak at least once before the baby comes, and last week I decided that it was time to do one.  I chose Cupid Mountain, at 13,117 feet; which begins at the top of Loveland Pass on the Continental Divide.   The hike is around 3 miles round trip and you can make the hike into a loop by hiking to the top of the un-named 12,000 peak then turning right and hiking over to Cupid.  Many people curse Cupid as the "hump" on their way to hike Grizzly Peak, but it's actually a ranked peak, 555th highest in Colorado.  
This peak is an easy hike to the top; there are some steep sections, but I knew that I had cell signal the entire hike and there were plenty of people nearby if something happened but I felt confident in my pregnant body that I could do the trail just fine, and it was a beautiful day as I hiked up to the top.  I kept thinking that someday the baby will hear this story of it's mama hiking over 13,000 feet and I wondered if this kiddo will think its cool or weird; hopefully the former?