AC Hiking

I woke up especially early (6AM) to head up to the Park and do some hiking.   As I drove through Estes Park I spotted the Overlook Hotel from The Shining (the inspiration for it at least) I originally intended to do the Emerald Lake Hike in the Park but when I got to Bear Lake road there were official looking people turning people around.  I did not bother to ask so I proceeded further into the park and found the Deer Mountain trailhead. There were several times I lost the trail (due to be being pretty overtired  and slightly hungover ) and needed to use my trusty Garmin inReach and Earthmate app to get back on track.  They were immensely helpful. I brought my GoPro for the first time to play around with so I was able to capture some on the fly activity.  Warning: this footage can get a bit jittery but I'm working on smoothing it out for the future. The final ascent to the summit Up at the...

This was a short hike we did about 45 west of Denver in Golden Gate Canyon State Park. Trail Info: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/mountain-lion-trailhttps://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/mountain-lion-trail

This terrific hike is in Boulder about 40 minutes away from Denver.  The ultimate payoff is not an expansive vista, although you get one by default, it is the  NCAR Mesa laboratory   and  visitor center  that stands atop the Bear Canyon Loop. It doesn't look too far but it's an almost 2 mile winding hike to the top.  This hike does not offer much shade for most of the trek so make sure to bring lots of water on those hot sunny days. Once you get to the top there are many educational plaques on the way to the NCAR building Inside the building there are many areas to explore that detail how weather works, especially in this area. There are bathrooms and a place to refill your empty water bottles as well.  I didn't have time to take it all in but this is high on my list of hikes/destinations I want to revisit sooner rather than later.  And the great thing it that his is free to the public.  You just ne...

Mayflower Gulch is about an hour and a half west of Denver.  There is no summit view here as this is the opposite, your payoff is when you look up all around you. The trail to the gulch is a dirt road which is rather heavily wooded on each side. When the trees open up you get an incredible view in every direction.  And then some post hike ironic beer drinking Hiking Info: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/mayflower-gulch-grand-traverse