In a few short weeks I will be heading back to Denver,
Colorado for a short vacation to visit my family. My parents typically come out
Nevada to visit once or twice each year however, I usually only get to see my
siblings and niece and nephew once a year, when we travel home for the holidays
so, I really look forward to any and all opportunities that
I get to go home and see my family. All
of my immediate family lives within 45 minutes of each other, which makes it
easy for me to spend time with everyone when I go home. When I go home to Colorado, I always look
forward to eating at some of my favorite restaurants, visiting my favorite
boutiques and breweries, or maybe even seeing a band play. During this upcoming
trip in September, my family will most likely have a few family dinners/ movie
nights at my sister’s house, and I will definitely spend some quality time with
my niece and nephew. One of things I look forward to most when I go back to Colorado
is spending time enjoying the outdoor spaces which sparked my love of the
outdoors in the first place.
Whenever I go home, I usually try to plan at least one
outdoor adventure. On one of my first
trips back home after my move to Nevada, I hiked Grays and Torreys peaks (for
the First time ever). Colorado has 53
fourteeneers (mountains exceeding 14,000 feet in Elevation) and Grays and
Torreys are two of those peaks which you can summit on one day by hiking across
the ridgeline from one peak to the other. We left Denver around four in the morning in
order to arrive at the trail head by five AM. It is essential to start high
elevation hikes early so that you can avoid the afternoon thunder and lighting,
and risk of lightning strike. Early starts also help you to avoid the crowds on
popular hikes. Unfortunately, when we reached the summit, we were socked-in by
clouds, so the views were not fantastic, but the feeling of accomplishment was
still well worth the early morning start.
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On the way up Grays and Torreys, before I had an
appropriately sized day pack.
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Another memorable outdoor adventure I had while visiting
home was going skiing for the first time! Growing up in Colorado, I (shamefully)
never learned to ski, so conquering the slopes had been on my bucket list for a
long time. Luckily, I have an awesome big brother and sister in-law who were
willing to devote an entire day to teaching me how to ski. We went to Mary Jane
resort in Winter Park, CO and even though I crashed pretty hard a few times, by
the end of the day they had me going down a blue! I can absolutely see how
people fall in love with the sport, and I am kicking myself for not taking
advantage of the wonderful skiing opportunities in Colorado while I lived just
45 minutes from the slopes.
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Taking in the view with friends during a ski break.
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I also had the opportunity to go mountain biking with my
brother during one of my visits home to Colorado. The Mountain biking is Colorado is pretty
different from the biking that I usually experience here in Nevada. I am a pretty
novice mountain biker, but the routes I usually ride here in Nevada are
extremely narrow single track with rolling hills. In Colorado my biking experience
was wide well maintained trails with Long climbs followed by long descents.
Both experiences are uniquely fun, but the long climbs in Colorado kicked my
butt!
I also love to go for
short day hikes with my sister and her family whenever I am back in town. We
usually head up to evergreen, where we all grew up and hike one of the trails
our dad used to take us on when we were kids. I love being surrounded by the big
Pine and blue Spruce trees, and exploring the areas that I grew up with the
next generation of my family. There is something so special about experiencing
the outdoors through the eyes of a child.
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Exploring the hole left in the ground by an up-rooted tree
with my nephew. He is convinced it is a troll house.
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Even though I will only be back for about 3 days this trip, I am hoping to go on at least one family hike, and maybe even to learn how to rock climb/belay with my brother. Even if I don’t go on any epic outdoor adventures, I know that it will be a great time spent with the people that I love.
Happy Trails!
-Katie
