Miners Creek trail to Peak 6, Frisco and Breckenridge Colorado, Tenmile Range

Me, standing in an amazing field of flowers!

I've had a little time this summer to enjoy new trails in our beautiful state, exploring in Breckenridge a lot.  But before I share my hike on Miners Creek trail, I wanted to say "thank you all" for continuing to make this blog a great hiking resource for others.  It's been great to see comments about current trail info, positive words and even making some corrections and adding extra info or mileage on my older posts pre-smart phone days.  
Now, enough gushing, onto the posting.  
My parents are now retired and spent a month in Breckenridge to visit us and enjoy the mountains.  It was a treat to spend each weekend in Breck and to hike with my dad.   It was finally our weekend to do a long hike and the group chose Miners Creek trail to the top of Peak 6.  My dad had thought the hike would be 4-5 miles, I believed him, but it ended up being much longer. 

Rocks favorite Colorado hiking trails

It's been an outrageous amount of time since I updated this blog and I miss it!  In the last two years, I've spent some time hiking Front Range trails, mostly trails already on this blog, with a toddler.  So, that actually means, I walk about a mile, it takes a very long time, and I don't get to properly document the trail.  

Now that Magnolia is older, and she is in school a few days per week, I am looking forward to getting back to solo hiking a few times per month.  But recently, my favorite hiking buddy, our dog Roxanne (Rock), passed away.  She was 16 years old and left us just this past Monday the 12th of May.  My heart is broken and its hard to hike on without her.  She made each trail more fun with her excitement, and she was one of those dogs that always stayed near my side, no matter what.  Rock probably liked to hike more than me, so here are a few of her favorite trails.   The next time you hike one of these trails, think of her, her spirit lives on in the mountains. 

Leyden, Colorado hiking trail

In my quest to find new hikes, near the metro area, that are at least semi-toddler friendly, I stumbled across a trail outside of Leyden, Colorado -- which is fairly close to Arvada just off Hwy 93 between Golden and Boulder.  
When I arrived on a weekday morning, the parking lot was nearly empty and it took me a while to get Magnolia out of the car and into the Ergo carrier.  I still have not mastered this and its a struggle each hike to get her on my back.  I am much more comfortable when hiking to wear the Ergo (which is extremely comfy on the back), over the hiking backpack.  The downside with the Ergo, no place for water.  During this hike, I had the baby on my back and the water in the camelback on my front, talk about feeling like a pack mule!  
The trail has no sign, just paths, we started up the mountainside, which goes pretty much straight up to the top of the plateau.  The entire time we were hiking, we could hear coyotes hollering from across the street, I looked at my watch and it was 11am, so I was surprised to hear them in the day like that.   

Hike a 14er, Mt. Yale, Buena Vista Colorado, Denny Creek Trailhead

Guest post from fellow hiking sister, Bobbie Rappe.  Bobbie lives in the high desert of New Mexico and is an avid hiker and runner, when she's not hitting the trails, she's volunteering at the local animal shelter, helping to change the lives of our furry friends.

So you want to hike Mt. Yale?  DO IT!   

Mt. Yale sits atop the Sawatch Range and is one of the majestic Collegiate Peaks.  Mt. Yale comes in at a whopping 14,196 ft and is truly worth the 9.50 miles you will spend on the Class 2 trails. 

Palmer Lake Colorado, Hike the Reservoir Trail

Wow, in the entire time I've had this blog, I don't think its been this long since I've updated.  This fall and then winter were very busy for our family, my daughter turned 1, we had a barrage of visitors from out of state to visit her, then after they left it was holiday season and we were busy making gifts and decorating our house.  Then, just when things started to settle down, we all got sick.  And it wasn't just a little sick either, I ended up with pneumonia, Magnolia had 2 ear infections and a horrible cold and my husband also caught the mess and was sick himself.   The pneumonia was very bad and I ended up with complications that landed me in the hospital for 5 days.  It was miserable.   While I am not better yet, I'm getting there.
This hike was done back in November, before all the illness began.  We had planned on taking a small weekend getaway to Monument, Colorado and decided to hike the Palmer Lake Res Trail that took us to 2 reservoirs just outside of the town in the mountains.  

Review of Cloud Rest Base Layer Top from Mountain Mama, Expecting Adventure

Several weeks ago I was given the opportunity to test out and review two items from one of my favorite maternity/nursing clothing companies, Mountain Mama Expecting Adventure. 
(let me set the record straight, I am not pregnant) 
Its been so warm in Colorado, and their Base Layer Top is so snuggly, that I haven't had the chance to properly hike in it, until our trip to Monument, Colorado last weekend. 

Several years ago I found Mountain Mama clothing on facebook and loved their style!  I wish that I could find non-maternity clothing this well made and comfortable, so I was super excited when they asked for ambassadors to try out both maternity AND nursing clothing and I was one of the few chosen to review.  Hurray for me! 

Coyote Ridge Natural Area, Loveland and Fort Collins, Colorado

Guest post from fellow blogger and father, Andy Hawbaker, you can check out his site here and more information at the bottom of this post.   

Coyote Ridge Natural Area is a wonderful spot for a fun family hike. My kids enjoyed seeing a snake, prairie dogs, and lots of birds. The Natural area is a City of Fort Collins Open Space located between Fort Collins and Loveland about 1 mile south of the Larimer County land fill. Visit the Larimer County Site for information about this trail.
This particular open space does not allow dogs and I have seen Fort Collins police ticketing people with dogs, so please leave the four legged ones at home.

My favorite Colorado hiking trails; need a hike suggestion?

Mt. Sniktau, Continental Divide

Lately I've been asked by several readers and a few hikers on the trail about which hike is my favorite and I'm always stumped by this question because I love so many trails for different reasons.  Some hikes I love because of the trail itself, maybe the scenery is great, or the hike ends in an awesome peak, lake, waterfall, arch or view that leaves me amazed.  Other hikes are memorable because of the way that I felt on the trail, maybe it was just a great day overall, or the hike was difficult and I felt accomplished when I completed it. 
After much thought on my part, I have included some of my favorite hikes and trails, they are my favorites for various reasons as well.  
The first trail I'd like to include (in no particular order) is Mt. Sniktau, which starts on the Continental Divide at Loveland Pass near the Eisenhower Tunnel.   This trail is at high elevation, starting at the top of the pass and my reason for listing this trail as one of my favorites is twofold.  First, I love looking at views while on the trail and I'd rather hike where I can see scenery than in a treed forest any-day.  Mt. Sniktau offers views in all directions including great views the Continental Divide; its also a high altitude hike which leads to a peak and when I reach a peak I always feel a sense of accomplishment.  But the reason that this trail stands out to me was because I was just having a great day on the trail. 

Hiking a social trail in Coal Creek Canyon - Boulder Colorado

 The Flatirons are some of the most well known mountains visually, on the Front Range of the Rockies here in Boulder; the flat rock faces reflect the sunlight in the morning which creates a stunning glow and they are full of wildlife, scenic views, steep climbs and even an arch!  Today I stumbled across a trail that took me through a burn area on the southern end of the Flatirons near Coal Creek Canyon.  Before you read on, I must first say this trail was not marked and I just happened across it; there is no map or parking lot, I just stopped on the side of the road, parked and hiked.  As far as I could tell, the trail was on Open Space land and it lead to the train tracks that you can see from Hwy 93.  After hiking through the burn area, then up a steep hill and down toward the train tracks, then the path continued on a service road beside the railroad.   Eventually the road crossed over the tracks and at this point we turned around and went back.   I wondered if the trail was a social trail to get to the train tracks, for photos maybe?  Or maybe that is just my guess, because I love photography.  

Upper Maxwell Falls, Hiking in Evergreen Colorado

 The lower Maxwell Falls trailhead is one of the most popular on my website and I wanted to put up another post about it, this time I went to the Upper Maxwell Falls instead of the Lower Falls as I hiked here.  I actually hiked this trail mid-September, but am just now posting about it, the little lady keeps me so busy these days! 
 It took me about 10 minutes longer to reach the Upper Parking lot, there were 2 other cars in the small parking lot when I arrived on a cloudy weekday afternoon.  It took me a while to get Magnolia situated in her pack, and then we hit the trail.  Immediately, I was faced with 2 trails from the parking lot, since there is no formal map, I just chose left and started walking.  The trail is wide and continued through the forest and next to the stream.  Eventually the trail comes to another trail split, there is a trail sign here (although it was knocked down), and you could take the trail left and up to the Cliffs Loop or down/right toward the falls.  I decided that I wanted to check out both the Cliffs Loop (since I was not familiar with it at all) and the falls, so Magnolia and I took the Cliffs trail up for about 20 minutes and shortly after the split the trail continues out of the woods and you have views of the surrounding mountains which were full of fall color!   We hiked on this until we reached another trail split; I wasn't sure which way to go, and so we turned around to go back to Maxwell Falls.