Hiking Colorado: Reynolds Park

We've finally hit that time of the year where we can consistently get out to the mountains! We met a family last weekend who we knew right away would be instant friends (kids the same age, K-State fan, outdoorsy) so we invited them to go hiking.

We headed out to Reynolds Park which was about 40min from our front door and is part of the Jefferson County Open Space. There are a bunch of short loop trails that intertwine with each other, but we opted for the longer trail that led to some sweeping views of Pikes Peak and nearby Pine National Forest. The trail was about 4 miles long, so it was ambitious with 2 three year olds and 2 almost one year olds, but off we went!

You start hiking through meadows and then go in and out of shade through the forest as you make your way up to the lookout point. There are a lot of junctions as you start hiking but we mostly kept veering to the left until we hooked up with the Eagle's View Trail.

We stopped at the lookout for some water, snacks and pictures and as we made our way back down the trail my son discovered something that might be cooler than the normal {waterfalls} he's usually looking for...BUTTERFLIES! He was so excited to see them, and they were out in abundance pretty much the whole way back to the car.

Once we made our way back to the cars, we stopped at the picnic area which was right next to a little creek that was perfect for dipping your feet in. It's the perfect creek for kids to explore and I highly recommend it on a hot summer day! All-in-all our hike ended up being about 4.3 miles and the {babies} finally fell asleep about halfway down on our hike back. This is a perfect family hike where the kids can explore the many loops or the adults can carry up to some spectacular views! Thank you Sixta family for coming out with us. We hope to have many more adventures with you!

Hiking Colorado: Geneva Creek and Father's Day 2016

Father's Day started a little early for Reid this year when he decided to {ditch} work Friday and head to the mountains for some climbing! Looks like it was a beautiful day and I'm glad he was able to get out and do things he hasn't had much time for lately.

The past few weeks we've (and by we I mostly mean Reid) been on a roll with house projects. So it seemed he might keep at it on Father's Day so I suggested brunch at a nearby restaurant on the river. Well he woke up that morning and came to me with a proposition... brunch or quickly gather our stuff, get donuts and coffee and hit the road to the mountains. It didn't take us long to decide to head to the mountains and escape the scorching temps that were forecasted for the day. So we quickly gathered our things, Reid took to the computer and we set off to a general area (nothing specific) but not before getting coffee and donuts first!

I'm almost hesitant to spill the beans where we went because it's getting harder to come across less-populated trails near Denver these days, but I'll be nice and share :) We headed west on 285 to the Guanella Pass Road (this is the road that takes you to Mt Bierstadt but is usually accessed by I-70). Reid said there were a bunch of trailheads off the road so we planned to just pick one and stop. And that happened to be the first one we came up on which had a bridge crossing the creek (a rushing one) over to some picnic tables...perfect because we also packed lunch! The trailhead sign was called Geneva Creek but when we got back home and I Googled it, it seemed to label the general area and not a specific trail. But with 2 small kids in tow, we don't do many full trails these days, just more exploring!

The trail followed the creek and the road and was in and out of tree cover. It was very mellow until we hit a fork and went left to try and escape the road a bit. From there it was up, up, up and my 3 year old was a champ and hiked all the way til we stopped for a snack! Then it was "I want to ride in the backpack" back to the car. I think what kept him going was searching for all the "waterfalls" on the trail. Before heading back we took some pictures, ate a snack and then had lunch at the picnic tables. We also found a good climbing tree and the 3 year old enjoyed that while little brother snoozed.

I have no doubt Reid enjoyed his Father's Day hike, especially not having to carry our hefty child up the trail. Unfortunately we headed back home to the heat of the day in Denver so it was fun in our kiddie pool and sprinkler for a while, then a movie on the couch followed by dinner out in an air conditioned restaurant!

Happy Father's Day to our adventurous, hard-working daddy! We love having fun and exploring the trails with you.