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?  

Getting there:  From the Denver area, head out I-70 and exit #216 toward Loveland Pass; drive the 4 miles up to the top of the pass and find a place to park.  There are two smaller overflow lots if you start to head down the other side of the mountain.   The trail starts on the left side of the road, opposite side of the Loveland Pass sign.  You will see plenty of other tourists and hiking enthusiasts starting up this trail, however many won't make it to the top and are just checking out the scenery.  

The red line traces the trail, make it into a loop by hiking
through the alpine valley.

Specs:  The trail is moderately difficult, the altitude makes the hike harder than it would be at a lower elevation.  There are no restrooms, just a small parking lot and a few trails on the top of Loveland Pass.  This area is typically busy all times of the year, in the summer with tourists and in the winter with backcountry skiers.  Come early to ensure a good parking spot.  

The Hike:  I didn't make it to the top of Loveland Pass to start my hike until about 10:45am and it took a while to find a parking spot with all the tourist traffic on top.  As I got my pack on, and Rock ready several people passed me smiling and saying "happy trails" to me as I started up the mountain.  I remember thinking, 'they must be tourists' with a smile as I started up the well maintained wide gravel path.  The trail heads up the mountain toward the top of an unnamed peak that is about 12,300 feet high; there is a shorter side trail that will take you through the valley and up to Cupid without summiting the 12er first, but I wanted to do both peaks to make the trail a little longer and more challenging.  You can see the route that I took in the photo above traced by the red line.  Click any photo to enlarge.  

Several hikers stopped at the snowfield to throw snowballs in the 70 degree weather in July.  

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Rock posing for a photo opportunity about 1/3 of the way up the trail.  The trail is steep in some sections and I took my time by stopping and taking lots of photos of the beautiful wildflowers.  

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Marked with a large carin, the trail split to the right heads over to Cupid Mountain, or continue straight up to the un-named peak and then across the buckle to Cupid.  This is well marked in the summer months without snow, but in winter it could be hard to see without a foot path to follow.

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Final steep section near the top of the first 12,000 foot un-named peak.  

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Wind blockade at the top of the un-named peak with views of A-Basin ski resort in the distance, which only closed just a couple of months prior. 

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From the top of the un-named peak, you can see the trail heading over to Cupid, the tippy top can't be seen in this photo, but it's pretty close.  Most of the trail traffic stopped on the 12er and I continued over to Cupid alone without anyone else on the trail. 

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Daisies along the trail, the alpine flowers were in full bloom as I hiked along.  I love the fields of flowers in all colors, it's exactly what I remember picturing Colorado looking like when I dreamed of moving here in high school.  

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Nearing the top of Cupid Mountain, the rocky outcroppings are the top of the mountain at 13,117 feet.  

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One of the marmots at the top wasn't too happy with us eating our lunch so near to his home, and he kept chirping at us while we sat here.  Rock kept stalking the other smaller animals on the top of the peak and she seemed like a puppy instead of 13 years old as she ran around chasing the chirping with no change of catching anything! 

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Rock stalking one of the marmots on the peak.  

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Torreys Peak in the distance (pointy peak) and Grizzly Peak to the right.  Torreys peak is a 14er that I have yet to hike, its one of the few 14er peaks besides Pikes Peak that I haven't hiked on the Front Range.  

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My trusty hiking pole on the top of the peak!  I lost the matching pole last winter while hiking in Evergreen.  I love these poles, they are from Leki, very adjustable, and will fit both my husband and myself.  

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Photo of me, 26 weeks pregnant on the top! 

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This is hiking back downhill, you can see on the left that I am pointing at the trail that cuts through the valley instead of going back to the un-named peak.  I took the valley trail which was filled with wildflowers and snowfields!  

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Views of the road and the only other hikers that I saw coming down on Cupid, they actually came from Grizzly Peak a tougher peak that Cupid connects to. 

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Some of the wildflowers along the path, you can see Cupid in the center of the shot

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The rock stairs that start and end the hike coming up from the road to the trail. 

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At the end of the day I actually felt pretty great, it took 3 hours to do the hike, but I did eat lunch on top and took in the views and solitude for a while.  I'd love to find another easy peak to hike before I get too tired and the baby comes.  I'd love to hear your comments or any questions you have regarding this trail or any others.