Archives for July 2022

July 18, 2022

Trails + Monarch Pass

Before packing up to go home I wanted to get some miles in on the trails.

Hartman Rocks has amazing trails for mountain bikers and runners. Some were a technical above my comfort level (double black diamond).

I figure this is good training for a half marathon in the San Juans, I don’t think that terrain will be easy either.

The kids joined me for the last bit of my run, they love to trail run!

When I got back we needed to pack up to head home.

I love going on gondola rides up in the mountains and since the weather was nice we decided that today would be the day that we would ride to the top of Monarch Mountain.

The kids and I were getting ready to go up the gondola when we saw that the trails were open. Instead of riding up with us Cory decided to ride his mountain bike to the top. What a great mid drive way to get some movement!

At over 12,000 ft I was impressed with his climbing skills.

The rest of the day was spent driving home, stoping for playgrounds and iced coffees along the way.

July 17, 2022

Wildflower Festival – Crested Butte Colorado

We woke up excited to visit Crested Butte during it’s peak wildflower season, I had seen online that Crested Butte was hosting a wildflower festival this weekend.

We started our day by driving from Gunnison to Crested Butte then up to the Peanut Lake area for a hike to see the wildflowers.

We did the Uper/lower Loop hike and loved it so much!

There were meadows full of flowers and stands of Aspen Trees.

The views were amazing.

After our hike we went into historic Crested Butte for some time at a playground.

Then on to find ice cream.

Humphry enjoyed lots of attention.

We decided to go check out the camping nearby to scout out spots for next summer.

We stumbled upon Lake Irwin and spent some time playing in the water.

We are hoping to get a \spot next July here but you need to reserve it six months in advance.

Then we drove back to Gunnison for pizza before a little climbing in our campsite.

This is one of Cannon’s favorite campsites!

Have you been in Colorado for Wildflower season? Where is your favorite place to see the flowers?

July 16, 2022

Kid Hike – Lost Lake

I woke up excited to get a run in because the unpaved road into our campsite had four tunnels.

It’s always fun to run somewhere new.

The weather was cool and perfect but running in the mountains is always humbling.

Since it’s Friday Cory had to work so we picked him up a coffee from our favorite coffee shop in Buena Vista then set off for adventure.

Humphry was with us as well and we were in search of wildflowers.

We decided on the Lost Lake trail near the top of Cottonwood Pass.

The hike was enchanting and reminded me of Austria.

There was some stream crossings, a mud bog and lots of mosquitos but it was worth it for the views.

We had lunch and enjoyed the views from Cottonwood Pass before a rainstorm blew in.

When we got down off the pass it was time to pack up Kermit and drive to Gunnison to our next campsite.

We love camping at Heartman Rocks. After a quick dinner we did a pre-bedtime hike. Summer bedtimes are an easily forgotten suggestion.

July 15, 2022

Camping Season + Too Hot

We had a busy day getting ready for a weekend camping trip in the mountains. Cannon started with a bike lesson from Cory and Emmy went for a scooter ride while I went for a run.

I LOVE summer mornings that are bright and only require shorts and a t-shirt. Although fall is my favorite running season.

We rounded out the morning with packing up our clothes and electronics. Then we spent a little time at a playground to get some more time outside and energy out.

We have a three hour drive to our campsite so it’s important to get some exercise. It was a bit hot so we didn’t

Then we stopped by the library to return a bunch of books and pick up some new movies for our trip.

Emmy picked out this Littlest Pet Shop movie, I made her trade it for a non Halloween one so we could save this for spooky season. It did make me smile because I used to love the Littlest pet shop toys when I was little. I will have to look online and see if they still sell them.

Our drive was uneventful and we arrived at our campsite in Buena Vista.

July 14, 2022

A super Full Moon + Finally a Race!

We spent the morning playing at home while I got some PT and chores done.

Please excuse my sandal tan lines!

We had an early lunch then hit the pool for most of the afternoon.

Cannon is finally big enough to go down the waterslides at the pool! He loved it so much, he has been waiting (literally) his entire life to go down these slides. You have to be 48″ tall and we just realized that Cannon is 49″

After the pool we watched the Movie “The Bad Guys” which was cute.

I saw online that today was going to be a super full moon. I was excited to do a full moon festival for the kids (not exactly sure what that mean, just that they get to stay up to see it and have some snacks maybe). But we had cloud cover so we sent them to bed at their normal time.

I finally signed up for a race!

I don’t think I have raced since 2019 when I did a half marathon in Moab. Thanks to injuries and Covid I have missed racing so much. I found a trail race in Telluride that looks amazing and my knee seems to be healing well. I am hopeful that I can finally return to the trails for a nice (slow) half marathon.

I mean……how cold I not?!?

July 10, 2022

Rocky Mountain National Park – Emerald Lake

We finally made it!

After four years of wanting to take Emerald to “her lake” we got reservations and made the hike all the way up to Emerald Lake.

If you include Bear lake this is about a four mile alpine hike. All Trails calls it moderate and I would agree, both kids did really well and hiked the entire thing on their own.

We had to reserve a spot a month in advance, park in the overflow lot and ride a shuttle to the trail head, but it was worth it for this gorgeous hike.

I think Dream Lake is my favorite of all four lakes.

So proud of these kids!

Have you been to RMNP? Do you have a favorite hike?

Archives for July 2022

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