Turtle Rock Trail at Vedauwoo, Medicine Bow Mountains, Wyoming

When we go camping, one of the things that I always look for in a campground is if there are hiking trails nearby.  Vedauwoo doesn't disappoint in that department!  The Turtle Rock Trail, which is the most popular in the area, encircles the large Turtle Rock formation, and there are numerous other trails within the area as well.  We opted to hike the Turtle Rock trail because there was a way to pick it up from the campground and because I thought it would take us to the top of the rock formation.  How wrong I was!  We actually came across some other hikers on the trail who asked us if that trail continued up the rocks and I said that we had hoped the same thing, but since we had both done half of the trail we realized it did not.  And after looking online after the hike, we realized that it was pretty obvious that it did not continue up the rocks when we were given a map by one of the park rangers.   Here is a great map of the trail and area.  We still had a great hike even though it didn't go as planned. Click here for my post on the Box Canyon trail which does continue up the rocks. 

Vedauwoo Campground, Buford Wyoming - Finally, some summer camping!

We haven't camped all summer; which is crazy for our family because we love it so much, but July was packed with things to do each weekend and when August rolled around and my 33rd birthday; Josh asked what I wanted to do and I replied "go camping!"
Since this was our first camping trip with Magnolia, we wanted to stay in a campground for conveniences like use of port-o-pots and running water and we  wanted to camp somewhere that it didn't get super cold at night, which meant not camping at 10,000 feet in Guanalla Pass, it meant finding somewhere new.  I can get easily overwhelmed with all the places to choose from while searching online and can spend hours looking at one place after another.  But I don't have time to be indecisive anymore, Magnolia keeps me very busy, so I asked for some suggestions from friends.  My friend Suzy from Hip Mountain Mama (an amazing family owned shop) suggested that we check out Vedauwoo in Buford, Wyoming (pronounced Vee-da-voo); they often frequent the campground and have a great time with their kids.  She sent me her photo album with amazing shots of huge rock formations and big sky; I took one look and decided Vedauwoo was the place to go!  The one thing that I liked about this campground was that every review I found online remarked that each site had lots of privacy from the next and there are views from every site.  Privacy is the main reason we don't often choose campgrounds, we enjoy being far away from everyone, but Vedauwoo provided the best of both worlds; a port-o-pot and running water, combined with secluded sites and great views plus a trailhead which you can pick up from the campground.   All of this meant, staying put and enjoying the weekend hiking, camping and checking out the great views and big sky.  

Sunset Park and Bellows Park, Lakewood Colorado - take a walk in the park

Now that my days are occupied with Magnolia and I can't just (as quickly) jump into the car and go to a trail, so I often try to find parks to walk in.  I can take our Bob Stroller, which will cover most terrain that any of the parks in the city can dish out and we hit the pavement/dirt/concrete!  

Last week, I decided to load up the stroller and drive to Bellows Park, a place that I noticed a few times while driving.  I wasn't sure of the size of the park, but figured that it would be at least an hour of walking and if worse came to worse I could just walk the stroller into one of the nearby neighborhoods for a stroll down the street.  However, I ended up finding that Bellows Park is a pretty neat little place, and it connects to another Lakewood Park called Sunset Park which is significantly larger and offered more walking trails and a playground.  

Meyer Ranch, a great getaway from the heat!

I've hiked at Meyer Ranch numerous times over the years, but when I went to search for it on my own blog I was shocked to see that I had never done a blog post about it before.  Meyer Ranch is a great place to get out of the heat in the city, the trail is a shaded pine forest and the hike is a gradual incline up the mountainside.  

A new friend that I recently met asked if I wanted to hike, so I suggested Meyer Ranch, easy, shaded and out of the city. We were on the trail before 11:00am, hiked up the Lodgepole Loop out to the neighborhood access, then back down the loop to the picnic tables for some lunch.  I carried Magnolia in the Eddie Bauer hiking pack gifted to us by my friend Christina; and it felt pretty good, although a lot of the weight was carried in my hips and I still have some adjusting to do on the pack. 

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.