Chasing My Joy

My journey to becoming an Ultra Runner and Ironman

Rocky Mountain National Park – Emerald Lake

We finally made it!

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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. 

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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. 

Nymph Lake
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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. 

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Emerald Lake

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

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So proud of these kids! 

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

Kids Hike – Lily Lake RMNP

One of our favorite hikes is up in Rocky Mountain National Park called Lily Lake. It’s a very easy to navigate hike with great accessibility. It’s one of my go-to trails when it’s just me and the kids because I know it’s safe and I won’t have to carry Emmy.

The main loop is just shy of a mile and can be navigated with a stroller.

Back in 2018 Cory made it around with our double stroller and a busted Achilles in a boot.

Now the kids hike on their own!

We brought lunch to enjoy while watching all the wildlife. I LOVE summer in the mountains so much.

We choose to add some elevation and distance by going up over the ridge. There are many other trails that connect to the main Lily lake trail so you can add distance if you like. You can also paddle on the lake and the kids want to bring our boards next time.

If you are in the Estes Park area we can’t recommend this trail enough! We have also visited in the fall and winter….all beautiful!

Previous years:

Chautauqua Loop Trail

Today was a super fun day, we met seven other mamas at Chautauqua Loop Trail where we took all of our kiddos (at least 14 kids) on the 3.6 mile hilly hike.

It’s so beautiful and the kids did great!

We stopped at the playground after the hike after so the kids could play. We ended up leaving way later than I thought we would.

My favorite trick to get kids to hike further is brining dum dum suckers (we call them power up suckers) works like a charm!

We relaxed for a bit after lunch before heading to the pool.

I am aware that we go to the pool an obscene amount but it’s either that or stay inside when it’s above 85 degrees, and we are always working on 1,000 hours outside.

Earth Day 2022

Happy Earth Day! I hope you found a way to celebrate the earth and the beauty of nature.

Cory had to work but the kids and I got to run up to Rocky Mountain National Park. Seemed fitting since it’s national parks week.

We found Lumpy Ridge to hike since most of the trails deeper in the park are still covered in snow.

There were so manny wild flowers and bees and birds out.

Lots of stairs, a couple tumbles and a few tears but it was all worth it for the views and the time out together.

After our hike we grabbed lunch then stopped at a playground.

This season of life where the kids love to play and move their bodies is the best. Anytime I can say yes to a playground I will.

On the way home we grabbed a pie to share with Cory to make up for leaving him out of our adventure.

How did you celebrate the earth today?

SPRING BREAK ’22 | Fruita Colorado

We woke up in a hotel on the day we were supposed to drive home, towing our trailer, problem solving our blown tire.

We were stuck in town without a car and being told it would be at least two weeks before they could fix our truck. We rented a car so we could get out to our trailer and get around. My kind parents offered to come and tow us home (huge favor to offer) but luckily a mechanic was able to fit us in between his other work so we didn’t have to leave our Tahoe out in Moab for weeks! We really lucked out with the kindness we were shown! The tow truck driver was also very sweet to us, our crazy dog and two sleepy kids.

It felt like magic when we got our truck back just a few hours later totally fixed.

We got a later start then planned so we decided to drive just part way home to Fruita Colorado.

This little campsite is one of our favorites.

The kids weren’t sad about our extended trip.

SPRING BREAK ’22 | Goblin Valley State Park

Utah has some amazing National Parks but the State Parks should not be overlooked! We LOVE Goblin Valley State Park so we made the day trip over from Moab. It’s only 1.5 hour drive so not too bad.

In the morning we woke up to a bit of snow in our campsite.

It was a surprise but also pretty.

On our way to Goblin we stopped for coffee and treats.

When we arrived we decided to start with a hike.

We did the Entrada Trail along some drainage areas and it was such a cool, unique experience. Dogs are allowed so Humphry came along with us.

We then made our way to the Valley of the Goblins, which is a big open area full of Hoodoos that you can climb and explore.

It is so fun to see the kids playing in the best (biggest) playground ever.

It’s the perfect day trip from Moab or this is a good stop if you are seeing some of the other National Parks. Last year we camped here on the way home from Capitol Reef.

On our way back to Moab we decided to grab a pizza and go back into Arches National Park to eat dinner.

This was such a fun way to eat dinner I highly recommend. At this time in the evening the park is pretty quiet.

Then we went down to the Double Arch area to go for a little sunset hike.

We have been down to this area many times but always hiked up to the Windows section. This was our first exploring the double arch side and I can’t believe we waited so long, it was stunning!

This hike is super easy and accessible to view the arches. To get up inside takes some scrambling.

The kids loved the sandy trails.

It was amazing watching the sun go down over the desert.

I will never get over this place! Hiking out in the dark was a fun experience since there is so little light out here.

Then on our way back to our camper disaster struck, I won’t go into the long story but we ended up in a hotel overnight, searching for a way to get our Tahoe fixed. Luckily we were all safe and together so it could have been WAY worse.

SPRING BREAK ’22 | Arches National Park

We spent our second day in Moab visiting Arches National Park. This is one of my favorite places and it never get old.

We started our day by going to the visitors center.

We needed to pick up our workbooks so the kids could do the Jr. Ranger program and stamp our passports.

The visitors center is super beautiful and has so much good information.

Our first stop was Broken Arch Trail, this one was a new one to us and a new favorite! It was really kid friendly and so fun.

I think this might be our 5th visit to Arches and we still find cool new places to explore. I am excited to do more epic hikes when the kids are bigger.

We had our picnic lunch and enjoyed some more overlooks. Then we went to Sand Arch which is our kids’ favorite.

We stopped on our way out of the park for the necessary picture with the sign.

Then we went into Moab for ice cream then back to the campsite for dinner.

The sunset was amazing!

Then we set out for another night hike because it’s the best way to get some energy out before bed time.

The kids love hiking with flash lights! And these trails are so pretty. Another magical day in Moab, I love this place so much!

Spring Break ’22 | Canyonlands National Park

We woke up early in Fruita, Colorado, made breakfast and coffee before hitting the road. It’s only about an hour to get to Moab.

We set up camp on some BLM land where we could have direct access to some awesome trails.

Canyonlands National Park is just down the road from our campsite so we set out to find some hikes.

First stop is to get a picture with a sign.

Then into the Visitor Center so we could participate in the Jr. Ranger program and stamp our passports.

It is so beautiful here!

We hit up some trails we didn’t do last time we were here and enjoyed a picnic lunch.

After a long day of hiking we went to Moab to grab some dinner and shopping. The kids got to pick out a souvenir and new sweatshirts.

Emmy picked out a dino puppet and was hilarious with it.

We had dinner at the Spoke on Center and then went back to our campsite.

Last year we started doing evening hikes after dinner and have continued it this year. It’s the perfect way to end the day.