Beautiful Colorado

Matt and I have been crazy busy this summer, so we haven't had a ton of time for my favorite summer activities: hiking and camping. Luckily, I was able to squeeze in a bit of outdoor fun in between all of the other stuff. A couple of weekends ago we made our only backpacking trip of the summer.

With a couple of friends guiding our way, we headed up the Poudre canyon and hiked into the Rawah Wilderness. Matt had his own little Rawah adventure last year, but this was my first time in this area and my first time backpacking.

Dave, Katie, Roxie, and Kanzi (you can try and guess which names belong to the dogs).

As you may remember, Dave is quite the photographer. We made a couple of stops to get some good pictures.

Dave, very carefully taking pictures in the stream.

Without too much excitement, we made it to our destination. After setting up camp and getting some dinner, we were pretty quick to head to bed.

Dave, cooking delicious freeze-dried dinners (though I'm not really sure if "delicious" is the right word to use).

Yep, we squeezed our books into our packs.

Michal, the spider who lived on our tent... until I accidentally knocked him off.

Roxie and Kanzi: cool dogs (owned by Dave and Katie).

The next morning we took a short walk up to Blue Lake. It was a little foggy, but absolutely beautiful.

Blue Lake.

Pretty.

And then we were on our way back down.

It was definitely a fun trip. And I only had one day of ridiculous crazy homework before I was off again, back into the mountains. This time, I went on girls' camping trip with a friend and her dog, who you may remember from here. Rachel, Keva, and I headed to Gunnison, Colorado, an area I had never seen before.

On our way. One of the Collegiate Peaks in the background (I don't remember which one...).

Because there are lots of whales in the mountains of Colorado.

The first night, we headed straight in to the secluded campground and set up camp.

Our cute little campsite.

Rockin' the headlamp look.

We had grand plans to go on a cool hike the next day, but our slow start and need to stop at the coffee shop for caffeine delayed us enough that the rain came in before we could head up the mountain. Instead, we explored the cities of Gunnison and Crested Butte, shopping and doing all the things that make Matt sigh with boredom. That's why girl-time is important. After a stop at the local brewery (cool vibe, okay beer), we were ready for a second night of campfires and conversation.

The area we stayed in was so beautiful, with valleys and streams and bluffs and plateaus. It was definitely different from many of the other Colorado areas I've hiked and camped in.

Driving back to our campsite.

Blue Mesa Reservoir. Our campsite was 9 miles into those bluffs somewhere.

Deer.

On the road to our campsite.

My castle. Doesn't this look like something out of a Tolkien book?

We were able to stroll up the nearby trail a bit in the evening. It wasn't quite hiking, but it was pretty. And I've really gotten into Colorado wildflowers recently, so it was fun to see so many on the trail.

Flower. This one wasn't in my new book...

Fireweed... and an ant.

Pretty.

Headed into the West Elk Wilderness.

Keva. Good dog.

We had more grand plans to go on a rain-check hike the following morning, but our attempts were again thwarted by Mother Nature.

Rain.

Instead, we drove around a bit and checked out the town of Salida. After getting caught in a crazy rainstorm, we decided it was time to head home.

On our way out. The sky cleared up and it was beautiful.

Sometimes, I feel so lucky to live in such a fantastic state with so many beautiful places close by. I haven't been able to get out in the mountains as much as I would have liked this summer, but I tried to make up for it at the end with an great week packed full of Colorado awesomeness.

A Hodge Podge of Summer Stuff

We've had lots of fun and exciting things going on out here. Of course, I've had lots of homework, as well. I'm only days away from finishing my crazy summer of way too many classes, and I'm so excited. Soon, I hope to return to normal schedules in work, homework, sleep, and blogging. Until then, I'm still super behind on posting. Since my last post, we've taken a little mini vacation to Glenwood Springs, had fun at the Renaissance Festival and in Colorado Springs with our niece during her senior trip, gone backpacking in with some friends in the Rawah Wilderness, taken a camping trip to Gunnison (me only), and spent two days at the Mile High Music Festival where we saw my loves, the Dave Matthews Band. And I leave tomorrow for a trip with my mom to see my grandparents in Arkansas. So by December, I may finally be up-to-date on blogging!

Anyway, looking back a few weeks, Matt decided that we needed a romantic and relaxing getaway. It was pretty awesome, especially given Matt's history with romantic gestures (they're usually genuine and sweet, but far between). So we headed out after work to Glenwood Springs, the location of our first romantic getaway over four years ago.

Our destination.

Whoa! It's a double rainbow!! What does this mean?

Our quaint and beautiful room at Hotel Denver.

When we got in Friday night, we went straight to the hot springs pool to relax.

Glenwood Hot Springs Pool.

The next morning we got up for a hike to Hanging Lake. The last time we were in Glenwood, it was too early in the season to make it up the snowy trail. So we were very excited to finally make it up to the lake. Unfortunately, the trail was closed for maintenance. I guess we're destined to not make it up to that lake. At least not for another few years.

Instead, we went up the Grizzly Creek trail, which was still pretty.

The creek.

A snail. We came across an area with TONS of snails.

TONS of snails all over the ground.

Matt, in a halo of light.

The trail.

Our hotel.

We had a nice lunch at the Glenwood Canyon Brewing Company (attached to our hotel) before heading back to town. It was a short, but fun trip. And I bought a wildflower book as a souvenir!

Now I can be an expert on hikes.

We got home from our trip just in time to greet our niece as she arrived for her Colorado senior trip. She came with a friend and was chauffeured by her grandparents (my in-laws). While she was here, we checked out the Colorado Renaissance Festival and Colorado Springs's Cave of the Winds. She and her friend also made their way to the top of Pike's Peak via cog train, went to the King Tut exhibit (Matt and I still haven't made it there yet!), and did some shopping.

We had lots of fun at the Ren Fest. I go every year with my sisters, so this year we met up with them for a bit while we were there. We saw lots of shows, including all three "episodes" of the joust!

Bria (our niece) and Heather (her friend) got Henna tattoos at the Ren Fest.

Ren Fest joust. This guy was the good guy, but we were rooting for the bad guy (only because we were sitting in his section... don't judge us).

Turkey leg!!

Enjoying the joust - round 2.

My sister cheering during the joust - round 2.

Washing Wenches show. It was pretty funny.

Prince Edward taking care of business. You may notice that Prince Edward looks an awful lot like Jack Swan. Hmm...

Everyone met up for the final joust! So exciting!

The bad guy won! It was crazy! But then he turned good, so it was ok.

Bria and Heather, our King and Queen.

We also had a good time at the Cave of the Winds with Bria, Heather, and Matt's folks, though it was pretty much the same as it was when I went twice in high school. But I think the girls enjoyed it.

View from the visitor's center entrance to the cave.

Us.

Bria and Heather. "It's so high!"

Rex and Debi.

Bria and Heather with our tour guide. They kinda thought he was cute.

We enjoyed having them all out for a few days, and I hope that Bria had a good time. We wish her lots of luck as she starts college!!

And then, we were on to the next event! But that's for another post.