AC Hiking

An hour west of Denver in the Arapaho National Forest is a fairly heavily wooded hike full of  aspen groves and bristlecone pines.  There was a rare yet distinctly autumn feeling hanging over the day as it was overcast, slightly chilly and there were leaves already changing colors at the higher elevations. It was a steady upwards incline with small bouts of flatness. We ended up cutting the hike short as it started raining fairly hard. There are no major vistas to see but it was a quiet and very low trafficked trail. Trail Info: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/hells-hole-trail

This morning was another early start to get to Lake Isabelle in the Roosevelt National Forest.  A hike not much known for its elevation but for its'  4.5 mile hike to beautiful Lake Isabelle.  We met for coffee to go in Denver at 7 and then took the hour and 45 minute drive northwest to the destination. Even though we got there early there was still a half hour wait to get into the park. The  official recommendation was to get there by 5:30 AM to avoid any waits. The immediate views and subsequent walk to the real trailhead were a great start. We then hit the real trailhead.  At this point the strong smell of fresh pine was all around us. A pic to start the hike The entire hike up to the lake is stunning.  No words will do it justice so here are the pics. Made it! And the requisite post hike drink Roosevelt National Forest info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roose...