Colorado Adventures Part III: Granby*

*A fair warning: this post is picture-laden. There were just too many beautiful moments from this part of the trip! 

On the last full day of our trip, husband and I headed out to Granby for a more serene outdoor adventure at Snow Mountain Ranch. We arrived at the park around 9am to rent our gear, then headed out on snow shoes to explore the seemingly endless trails, ridges and peaks. A mere few minutes into our trek, the buildings were small in the distance and not a sound could be heard. No cars, no people. Just a little bit of wind... and then we happened upon two moose! 

After winding around some of the flat trails we decided to make the climb to the top of Coyote Tooth and get a view from the ridge. The trail narrowed and steepened, and it felt like we walked into another world. The trees were so still and perfectly laden with snow. The sky was a brilliant blue that allowed the sun to cast perfect shadows on the untouched snow. It was magical.

The view from the top of the ridge was worth the short climb. We decided to brave the slightly chilling breeze and eat lunch atop the ridge. Once we were almost frozen, we decided to head back to the camp and try our luck with cross-country skis. I'll have to say that cross country skiing was not my forte. We only attempted it for about 45 minutes or so, definitely not enough time to figure out the right technique, so it's on our list for the next winter trip we take.

As much as I love downhill skiing, I have to say that this adventure was my favorite. There was something so special about being atop a ridge with untouched snow and feeling a million miles away from anything and anyone. There is a part of my soul that longs for solitude and a closeness with God, and I truly believe that I find that most in His vast creation, in nature.

xoxo

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Colorado Adventures Part II: Winter Park

After our brief time in Boulder, husband and I and our buddies headed over to Winter Park for a few days of skiing. The drive from Boulder to Winter Park was really quite lovely. I enjoyed watching the landscape change as the snow started to cover more of the mountains, the rocks began to fade and the trees began to grow in tall clusters.

Downhill skiing is one of my favorite things to do with K because we are well matched in our skill level {except I may be just a little bit better, ha.} so we always have a ton of fun. Winter Park was gorgeous, with plenty of good tree skiing, my favorite. I love finding skinny little trails off the sides of the runs that wind through the trees. A few times husband was behind me so I knocked some snow off the branches onto his head. Ha! Mary Jane was our favorite mountain with Edelweiss being our favorite run. It was long and winding with lots of trees and hideaways. We skied at Winter Park two days in a row and spent the entire second day skiing over at Mary Jane.

And although Winter Park was lovely and lots of fun, I didn't think it was necessarily better than the other places we have been. Wolf Creek, our honeymoon spot, was a great, smaller scale local place. And Breckenridge is probably my favorite ski destination in Colorado. We didn't eat out in Winter Park, mostly because nothing really grabbed our attention. Instead we spent our evenings in our condo, making dinner, playing cards and watching movies.

You know the night life is just not for me, 'cause all you really need are a few good friends.

xoxo

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Colorado Adventures Part I: Boulder

Last Friday husband and I packed up and headed out late to visit friends and find adventures in Colorado. We love to ski {we went skiing for our honeymoon!}, hike and basically do anything outdoorsy, so traveling out west is essential for us. Our trip last year was unfortunately cancelled, so we tried our best to fit in as much as possible this time!

We flew into Denver and drove about an hour north to Boulder, where two of our sweetest friends live. {We went to high school with this guy's brother, and honestly feel like a part of their family. K used to spend weekends at the family's cabin in North Georgia when we were in middle and high school.} It was so great to spend time with Joseph and Holly! We haven't been able to just hang out with them since I was in Athens at pharmacy school. They are such cool kids -- so laid back and fun, always up for adventure, and they share our love of delicious food. 

We spent Saturday morning wandering around Pearl Street, stopping for coffee at Ozo, hands down my favorite coffee in Boulder. The gorgeous blue sky and flatirons made a great backdrop for the cold day and hot coffee warming our hands. We bopped into the Patagonia store, where husband bought me what I call a "sleeping bag" jacket. It's just. so. warm.

We lunched at Illegal Pete's, and let me tell you, the chicken pesto burrito is where it's at. After lunch, the snow started and we packed up and headed to Winter Park with plans of skiing the next day. The evening was spent telling stories, eating homemade tacos, and playing spades and taboo. Ha! We love games, especially when we have friends to play them with.

We actually spent another 24 hours in Boulder at the end of our trip. We had dinner at a really neat new restaurant called Under the Sun. Delicious handhelds {sandwhiches} made of lemon rosemary chicken + sun-dried tomato aioli + arugula + mozzerella and pulled pork + bacon + honey mustard + arugula served with kale slaw. Um, yes please. The following morning we brunched at Snooze, which was akin to my favorite Athens spot. Breakfast burritos, egg scramblers with goat cheese, and a homemade hashbrown with each plate. 

Needless to say, I was pretty smitten with Boulder. If only we had family out there, we would move in a heartbeat... but we just can't stand being that far from our loved ones. So we will visit... often.

xoxo 

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A Quick Hello From 9,052 Feet

Hello from Colorado!

Husband and I left late on Friday to spend a few days out west visiting friends, touring towns and doing a bit of skiing. I'll be back later this week with plenty of photos and other fun things.

But for now.... 

I have a snow-shoeing/cross country skiing adventure to get to!

xoxo

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Run This: Leadville Trail 100

The Leadville Trail 100 mile race began 29 years ago when ex-miner Ken Chlouber invented the "Race Across the Sky" to generate tourism in the city. The first LT 100 had 45 runners, only 10 of whom actually finished. To date the course follows the same 50 miles out and back as the original route, winding through the Rockies and topping out at 12,600 feet at Hope Pass. (It's important to note, too, that the lowest point in the trail is 9,300 feet.) The racers are provided with flashlights and batteries as approximately half of the race is run in utter darkness, (old mining roads in the mountains don't have street lights) and typically only a little over half of the runners make it to the finish. Exhaustion, broken ankles, and altitude sickness are common in the Leadville ER the weekend of the race.

{image credit}

While I will admit that the idea of a 100 mile race is slightly intriguing, I definitely don't see myself actually withstanding 30 hours of running, half of which may be in the dark. (The 4:00 AM start time and mandatory medical check are also great deterrents.) The Marathon and Heavy Half Marathon, however, are a bit more within my reach. The half/marathon course winds its way through the historic mining district of Leadville via old mining roads and tops out at the 13,185 feet of Mosquito Pass. Not exactly your weekend trail run, but an appealing challenge nonetheless.

{click to enlarge}

So if you are in the Leadville, CO area during the summer months, there are a number of events for you to attend. From Lance-approved mountain bike races, to 10ks and training camps, Leadville has definitely made a business out of its trial running. But don't worry about the crowds of racers, Leadville still maintains it's small town affections. One participant described the trail 100 mountain bike race as riding with 1500 of your friends.

{image credit}
{read more about the LT 100 history here.}

Happy Trails.
xoxo


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adventure no.95 : colorado road trip {part 2}

{Sorry it has taken so long to post these! School got in the way of blogging and photo editing and sleeping and emails for a while, and then my computer hard drive crashed, taking many of our photos with it! You canfind the first part of this series here.}

{leaving Pagosa Springs, CO}

After we left Pagosa Springs and the ski resort behind, we headed an hour west towards Durango. As soon as we drove into the downtown area, I was enamored. I absolutely adore this city and really can't wait to go back. It's the quintessential little mountain town, rich in history and filled with independent coffee shops, restaurants, shops, and breweries. We loved taking in the local scene. Our favorite stops were the homemade turkey-cranberry sandwiches and strong, flavorful coffee at the Durango Brewing Company coffee house and the Evergreen seasonal brew and chipotle chicken wraps at Steamworks brewery.



We stayed in the historic Strater hotel where the furniture was original from the 1920s. The rooms were small compared to your standard Marriot, but they were so very charming. A trade I would gladly make any day. The hotel lobby was filled with authentic Indian and Western American artifacts, and with it being just before Christmas, the town was brimming with life and full of twinkle lights, Christmas trees, and snow.

After leaving Durgano, we took the long way back to the east coast, stopping in small towns like Silverton and Ouray along our way. We had lunch at the Brown Bear Cafe in Silverton, which was actually the only place open in this three street town.

{The small town of Silverton, CO}

Our stop in Ouray, Colorado allowed us to watch a group of ice climbers traverse the frozen waterfalls that ran along the roadside. It looked incredibly cold, but fun, as the climbers made their way slowly up the frozen water.

{Ice fishing!}

After a few more photo stops, we headed towards Colorado Springs and then onto Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and {finally} to Georgia.

Overall, it was a really great trip, and I look forward to going back when we have more time to spend in each little city.
xoxo

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adventure no. 95: colorado road trip {part 1}

a few weeks before christmas, husband and i set out on a road trip from georgia across the country to colorado. the plan was to ski for three days, then spend three to four more days in various small mountain towns.... durango, silverton, ouray, wherever the wind took us. everyone kind of thought it was weird that we chose to drive, but being on the road together was part of the fun.


i have to admit that kansas and oklahoma almost made me regret driving. not to say that there aren't lovely parts of kansas and oklahoma, but the regions within view of interstate 40 and 70 don't provide much to look at except tumbleweeds. {and i did see a few of those.} it was during this portion of the trip that husband convinced me that jackalopes are real, so i spent about an hour looking for one until i realized he was pulling my leg.... gullible much?

new mexico was lovely.... complete with wildlife and sunny skies, and we stopped at the rest area for a picnic. unfortunately {for me}, new mexico is also home to quite a significant snake population.


the drive through colorado itself was breathtakingly beautiful. blue skies, snowy mountain tops, an open landscape as far as you can see.

we skied at wolf creek, a smaller resort that was mostly locals and pseudo-locals from texas on school breaks. skiing is one of our favorite sports to do together because we're at the same level {actually i am the slightly better skier, but husband won't admit it}. the runs at wolf creek are really fun. some are wide and long with intermittent steep parts, some are short and steep, and others criss-cross through the woods with varying levels of technicality. these last are my favorites {and husband's too}, so we had a blast traversing through the trees into the knee deep snow.

the second and final leg of the trip took us through durango, silverton, and ouray up to colorado springs. stay tuned for those pictures soon!
{see the second part here}

xoxo


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