Adventure Is Out There: September 2016

Hiking Colorado: Ice Lakes

While down in Durango for our fall family adventure, Reid and I knew we would have the chance to go on a hike by ourselves so we found the Ice Lakes Trail outside Silverton. After seeing the pictures I was very excited to hike this, but when we woke up to snow and gray, cloudy skies my excitement quickly diminished. But it didn't stop us from enjoying some trail time together.

The drive in to Silverton was actually quite beautiful. The trees popped even more against the snow and gray skies and I was amazed.

We reached the trailhead and soon were off. I could tell the scenery around us was one-of-a-kind but it was hard to see due to the weather. The trail up to the lower lake I'd say was a medium difficulty and was nothing special but it really opened up when you got to Lower Ice Lake. You could stop here or continue across a tricky creek crossing (which I almost turned back on) to Upper Ice Lake. It just got prettier and prettier as you approached the upper lake and I'm glad I made the hops over the creek to continue on. But this is also the point I wish the weather was clearer for some pretty spectacular views of the surrounding mountains and Upper Ice Lake.

I think the trees changed even more on our hike as our drive back to Silverton seemed more brilliant than we we got to the trailhead. No hike is ever a bad hike, do despite the dreary weather we enjoyed our time on the trails but also enjoyed see our boys again for lunch in Silverton.

Fall Family Adventures in Durango

My favorite time to hike in Colorado is the fall so every year we make a trip to view the changing aspens. This year we headed southwest to Durango and invited my parents out for the trip. Before heading to our cabin north of town, we took some time to tour around Durango. We walked the trail along the Animas River, grabbed a bite (and drink) at Animas Brewery, played at a park and walked around downtown after eating at Fired Up Pizzeria.

Our cabin was a few minutes away from Electra Lake, so before checking in we drove over to take in some scenery. While it was beautiful I felt it was very overpriced at $5 per person as there isn't really much to do. But we went, parked at one area and walked over to the lake, then drove around the lake for more views. Then the rest of our afternoon/evening was spent at our cabin where we rested up for more adventures.

The next day Reid and I planned a hike by ourselves while my parents watched the boys. They were going to meet us in Silverton later in the afternoon. We headed out in the morning to hike the Ice Lakes trail (read here) and even though it was a gray and snowy day, the trees were a brilliant orange which made the drive in to Silverton beautiful!

We very much enjoyed our adult-only hike but were happy to see the boys back in Silverton as you always feel like something is missing when they aren't around. We walked around downtown Silverton, ate at Avalanche Brewery and made a stop at the candy store before heading back to the cabin.

Of course the next day was a beautiful blue-bird day and we decided to make the drive back to Denver on the Million Dollar Highway through Ouray, Colo. I have heard this is a very mountainy road with hair-pin turns and lots of exposure, but it wasn't near as bad as I thought. Had we driven from Ouray in to Silverton would have been a different story!