Last week we spent three nights in Colorado. We rented a little cabin between Lyons and Allenspark (about 1.5 hour northwest of Denver and 45 minutes south of Estes Park). The best part of the cabin was that it backed up to a little river which was pretty relaxing to sit out next to.
The first full day we were there we hiked the Ouzel Falls trail which started at the Wild Basin trailhead. It was about 4.5 miles roundtrip. It started at an 8500 foot elevation and had a 870 feet gain through the hike.
Here's us getting ready for the hike. Matilda spent the hikes in our new hiking kid carrier. She really likes being in it.
The weather wasn't nearly as cold as we expected. We expected lows in the 40s and highs in the mid-60s, but when we got to Denver it was 85.
The hike was pretty nice. Not too steep. Mostly winded through the forest, with a few nice river and waterfall views along the way.
The couple hiking behind us told us that the waterfalls are much more impressive in the spring, but I still thought they were pretty nice.
We took a nice break when we got to Ouzel Falls. We let Matilda stretch her legs (since circulation isn't great in the carrier) and ate our snacks. The dang ground squirrels kept trying to steal all of our food.
Can you see Jason in the second picture above? Matilda thought it was hilarious seeing him up so high and kept yelling "Daddy!"
To our surprise, Matilda fell asleep on the hike back out. We knew we'd be hiking during her naptime, but she never just falls asleep when we are out. We figured the sound of the river must have reminded her of her sound machine and just soothed her to sleep.
Matilda hiked the last 1/10th mile or so by herself. Since she got a decent nap in, we headed to Estes Park for a couple hours to just hang out. The town is pretty touristy and crowded, so we didn't stay long. We were surprised by how many elk we saw in town though! We saw several different herds.
The next day we hiked the Emerald Lake trail and the Alberta Falls trail. Both trails started at the Bear Lake trailhead which was at about a 9500 foot elevation. Our total mileage for the day was about 5.2 miles with about a 650 foot elevation gain.
When we headed to the trailhead, we accidentally took the wrong park entrance much more north than we had planned, so we had to wind an extra 30 minutes through the park to get to where we meant to go in the first place.
It was incredibly windy for the first half of our hike. The Emerald Lake trail passes by three different lakes, and the second lake looked more like a river because the wind was causing so many waves.
When we got to Emerald Lake, we tried to rest for a bit behind a big boulder that semi-blocked the wind for us. Matilda wasn't real happy at this point. At first we couldn't figure out if it was because of the wind or because she was really tired, but we finally realized that the new socks I had bought her were cutting off her circulation and her feet must have fallen asleep. Once we rolled them down and she was able to walk around a bit, she was much happier.
We then hiked back out and to Alberta Falls. Matilda fell asleep again in the carrier, so she was in a pretty good mood once we got to the falls. We rested for a bit there as well. Matilda had fun gathering rocks and eating her goldfish.
Overall, it was a really good trip. We had a couple of hiccups along the way (like missing our first plane and Matilda getting carsick in the mountains), but I'm glad we got away for awhile. Matilda loves being outside, so that kept her happy most of the trip. I also think this vacation was easier/ more enjoyable than our Maine/ Boston trip because we had a better idea of what traveling with a baby/ toddler was like.
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