AC Hiking

The first time I attempted this hike I was not in great hiking shape for the elevation but after a couple of months of acclimation we made the trek back up there the payoff was fantastic. The parking lot was deceptively full as we saw almost no one on the trail the whole way up. The wooded trail to the pass was the same as it was before. However, once we got passed where we stopped before the section leading up to the pass itself has some stunning scenery. And then the pass itself. We decided to trek a little further towards Holy Cross to take in some equally as stunning views And the post hike reward This 4.3 mile hike is well worth the steady incline to get there as the views are the most beautiful I have seen since being out here.  Highly recommended. Trail Info: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/half-moon-trail Bonus video:

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...

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...