Category Archives: Colorado

Colorado, Hiking

The DeCaLiBron Loop

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I have a new hike to add to my list of The Greatest Day Hikes in the USA. The DeCaLiBron Loop is a 7.6 mile hike that leads to the summits of four of Colorado’s 14er mountains. The trailhead is located at Kite Lake, which is up a 4-wheel drive road from Fairplay, CO.

7.6 miles isn’t usually that difficult, but the elevation changes as you summit one mountain, descend and reascend the next one make it challenging. My teenage son and I were both pretty tired after completing the hike.

You can complete the hike in either direction, starting with Mount Democrat, then continuing to Mount Cameron, Mount Lincoln, and finally Mount Bross. Or you can do them in reverse, as we did. I don’t think there is an advantage in going in either direction, but the scenery might be better going in the reverse direction.

There are a couple things to know in advance before starting this hike. The first is that once you start it and advance past the first summit there is no quick return to the trailhead. Thus you must keep an eye on the weather and start early to avoid afternoon thunderstorms. We saw people arriving at 10AM and hopefully they weren’t trying to hike more than one mountain.

The other thing to know is the trail and the mountains themselves are on private land. Because of a recent lawsuit private landowners are reluctant to allow the public to use trails on their land. Fortunately the landowner is allowing the public to use the trail as long as they complete this online form the day of the hike: https://waiver.smartwaiver.com/w/c2d3wpisftzvbznpjhsbnb/kiosk/ .

My son and I battled through the wind and cold, the altitude, steep terrain and later the heat and loose rocks to complete the loop. Overall it’s something to be proud of once you finish it.

I included a video of our hike below the gallery.

Colorado, Hiking, Outdoors, Travel

A Trip Up Mount Evans

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Despite living in Colorado for 12 years, we had not yet driven up the Mount Evans Scenic Highway as a family. With summer winding down I decided it was time to finally do this before winter set in (the road is only open a couple months each year in the mid to late summer).

I had once before taken a drive up to the summit with my older brother all the way back in 1997 when I was in college. Now twenty-six years later I wanted to take my family to the top to enjoy the scenery and the alpine wildlife, which frequently includes mountain goats, bighorn sheep, marmots, and pika.

We actually had more of an experience than we planned on. We hit a torrential downpour on the I-70 west of Denver that cleared up before we took the road south toward the mountain at Idaho Springs. Then we hit some of the thickest fog we’ve ever driven through. Still, like many others on the road that day, we carried on with a can-do spirit and had a really enjoyable time, even if we couldn’t see for a hundred miles.

We saw plenty of mountain goats and I took the short hike to the very top to get a photo of the very worn survey marker. When the clouds did part we had some fleeting vistas with impressive displays of light and cloud.

We made a fun video that’s included below.

Colorado, Travel, Waterfalls

Seven Falls and Manitou Springs

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My wife and I decided to spend an anniversary evening down in the Colorado Springs, Colorado area. Though we only live about 40 miles away and have been to Colorado Springs many times, we had never been to Seven Falls. I decided to get us reservations at the Restaurant 1858 at the base of the falls and we could then walk up the stairs alongside the falls.

The food at Restaurant 1858 was a bit pricey and we were a tad underwhelmed, but we enjoyed our dinner nonetheless. I climbed the stairs to the top in nice clothes while many other visitors were dressed in hiking garb. No problem for me, of course, surmounting the 300 steps dressed for success.

The Seven Falls are the property of the Broadmoor which owns quite a lot of Colorado Springs tourist properties including the Pikes Peak Cog Railway. The charge $18 per adult just to see the falls and to go to the restaurant. The Broadmoor’s power in Colorado Springs is controversial but it doesn’t appear to have any desire to relinquish control of the Seven Falls or the Cog Railway.

After enjoying dinner and the falls we drove to Manitou Springs and our hotel: The Cliff House. The Cliff House is a historic hotel in the historic town of Manitou Springs.

The Cliff House dates back to the late 1800s and has rooms dedicated to many of its past famous guests: Buffalo Bill, Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, and more. We initially had reserved a Junior Suite for the night but received a free upgrade to a King Deluxe room. I made a room tour video as well (there was a wedding at the hotel and I think they upgraded us to be away from the noise at the other end of the hotel as a courtesy).

The following morning we had some time to walk around the small town of Manitou Springs and had a quick breakfast at a coffee shop. It’s a nice little town although it does get very crowded in the summer tourist season.

Overall we had a very good anniversary evening and enjoyed our time at the hotel.

Colorado, Hiking, Outdoors, Rocky Mountain National Park

The Lawn Lake Trail

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On Father’s Day my 16-year-old son Daniel and I decided to go hiking. We didn’t have a definite plan in mind on where exactly to go but ended up driving up toward Estes Park and into Rocky Mountain National Park. I had entrance reservations already reserved for a few different weekends and we were there on the right day at the right time.

Once into the park I decided that we should try exploring a new area of the park that has lesser foot traffic, which led us to the Lawn Lake Trail near the (currently closed) Fall River Entrance.

After parking we had about 7 miles of hiking uphill to Lawn Lake which sits in a bowl of the Mummy Range (14 miles round trip). I was hoping to go even further to Mummy Mountain but we found there was a bit too much snow and it was pretty cold above tree line (we weren’t prepared for winter weather conditions).

Overall it was a very enjoyable hike with terrific scenery at the end, although I have to admit the first several miles get a bit monotonous. We made a video of our hike which tells the story. We’re going to make more videos in the coming months as we continue to enjoy the outdoors and we’ll get a bit more sophisticated in our production.

The second photo is of a garter snake which was a surprise. We saw a moose near the trailhead but it quickly disappeared into the foliage, which was a bit disappointing.

Colorado, Hiking, Travel

Staunton State Park

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Staunton State Park is Colorado’s newest state park having been established in 2013. The park has some diverse trails of various lengths that climb to overlooks and past historic sites like the remains of a sawmill from the 1930s. There are lots of steep cliffs here too.

This was our first family hiking of the summer season with a lot more ahead. We enjoyed the lighter crowds from this lesser-known park on Memorial Day.

Colorado, Travel, Zoos

Denver Zoo

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We had a nice day on Sunday at the Denver zoo. We used to go more often but yesterday was the first time back in three years. They have a really nice elephant area and they are building out a new Australia exhibit.
Because we are transitioning from winter many animals were not yet on display. In the summer months the gorillas and most of the monkeys are out and we’ll have to go back to see them.

Colorado, Outdoors, Skiing

Keystone Ski Resort

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Near Silverthorne, Colorado, Keystone is a terrific ski resort with seemingly endless terrain for all ski levels. I went April skiing with my 10-year-old to finish out the season before we transition to summer of hiking, camping, and more.

In this video below we will travel a 3.5 mile green slope from the top of the resort to the base.

In the distance you will be able to see Dillon Reservoir at 2:38 in the distance.

Colorado, Outdoors, Skiing

Loveland Ski Area

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Tango Road at Loveland Ski Area

Our ski and snowboard journey took us to Loveland Ski Area which sits right off the I-70 at the entrance to the Eisenhower/Johnson tunnel at the continental divide. This ski area is more basic with lifts in two areas (Loveland Valley and Loveland Basin), a few eateries, a rental shop and no on-site lodging.

We actually found that the Basin area is much more enjoyable than the Valley area. The Valley area has only a couple lifts and is meant for beginner skiers and snowboarders. Since my kids have progressed tremendously in one season we had no reason to spend much time in this area which was also quite crowded.

After returning by shuttle bus to the Basin area we had more fun on more interesting terrain and it was also less crowded (and the people actually less rude and willing to wait in line to get onto the lifts).

While we enjoyed the nearby Arapahoe Basin area which is just over Loveland Pass when we went to it a few years ago, Loveland was somewhat disappointing overall. We’ll head further on to a larger resort next time we go skiing.

Colorado, Hiking, Waterfalls

Rifle Falls State Park

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If anyone were to ask me what the most impressive waterfall is in the state of Colorado I would give the edge to Rifle Falls. In a state that doesn’t receive a lot of rainfall, Rifle Falls is unique for its combination of height, breadth (actually multiple falls), the verdant environs of the surrounding area, and the caves near its base.

Rifle Falls State Park is located just outside of the town of Rifle, which is on the western slope not far from Glenwood Springs (a favorite town of ours with a lot to do in the surrounding areas).

The park has a number of short trails around the base of the falls. The falls mist the surrounding areas making it an oasis of greenery in an otherwise mostly arid region of Colorado. There are great vantage points on multiple sides of the falls.

The fun isn’t limited to the waterfalls. Trails lead off toward a series of shallow caves a short distance away that are a lot of fun for kids. We explored all of these with our dog too (she was only a puppy at the time).

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Colorado, Skiing, Travel

Thanksgiving at Crested Butte

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Overall we had a good time spending Thanksgiving weekend at Crested Butte, Colorado. We came primarily to ski, and ski we did.

Since it was only late November not all of the ski runs were open and there was a lack of natural snow except at the higher elevations, but the man-made snow was better than expected (winter is starting late this year).

Also a lot of the resort and the town as a whole wasn’t quite up and running as it would be in the middle of ski season. We were hoping to eat breakfast at our favorite restaurant in the town of Crested Butte (Paradise Cafe), but it was one of many businesses closed during the low season.

We saw a surprising amount of wildlife though. Lots of bighorns, a red fox, and some stellar jays all of which you can see in the photos below.

Overall I don’t think we’d go back at Thanksgiving just because it’s not prime skiing time. But the slopes weren’t busy and it was easy to get the kids practice time on uncrowded lists and runs. Daniel is just starting to learn the snowboard while Evan has a few lessons under his belt and is getting proficient at skiing. Both took lessons at Crested Butte Ski School.

We’ll be skiing again in the next couple months at various resorts.