Colorado Adventure Recap Part 1

From our day hike at Greyrock. The snow covered mountains in the
background are a part of Rocky Mountain National Park.

My trip to Colorado was excellent. The area was beautiful, it was great seeing my friends, and it was an overall wonderful experience.

My car nest when I stopped at a rest area for the night. I can't be truly comfortable unless I know people can't see me.
Of course I wasn't truly comfortable anyway with the rather hard van floor.

Having said that, I did learn some things about myself: I'm not a huge fan of big elevation changes when I am carrying a 40 pound pack; hiking in the glaring sun of Colorado may be pleasant for some, but I'd much rather have cool temperatures and some cloud cover; I missed the trees and lakes of Wisconsin; I won't be moving to Colorado any time soon; if I am going to survive hiking the Ice Age Trail, I have to find an alternative to GORP/trail mix, Ramen and dehydrated foods. I also packed way more food than was necessary for me.

A prairie dog, I started calling them prairie puppies.

The drive there was uneventful, which I had hoped for. No flat tires this time. (Read about my last long distance trip here.) I stayed at a rest area along I-80 in Nebraska. It was too close to the interstate, there was some kind of refrigerator truck that kept running all night long, I got cold, and the back of my van is not designed for someone to sleep right on the floor, so my smart watch recorded "No Data" because I didn't fall asleep enough for it to record my sleep patterns. I'll need to work out some things there in the future for other road trips where I plan on sleeping in my van. (I had a similar experience on the way home at a different rest area.)

A sculpture that was reminiscent of me.

When I got to Colorado we had an afternoon with a walk where I was introduced to some of the flora and fauna of my home for the next week, including prairie dogs, cacti, yucca, and the Steller's Jay. The next day we went to a sculpture garden and drove to Fort Collins and wandered around some of the shops there. I found some pottery I had to have, I can't seem to help myself.

Greyrock Trail information. We made it to the little hook at the top of the map.

The next day we took a day hike in Poudre Canyon at Greyrock Trail. We had on day packs with water, food, and minimal gear so I could see what the terrain was like without my 40 pound pack I'd need for our long hike. We didn't make it to the top of Greyrock, I started to get nauseous and my legs started to shake from the hike at about 7300-7400 feet in elevation. The top of Greyrock is 7600 ft.

Greyrock from the trail below.

On Friday we took it easy, we packed our backpacks and then we walked into Loveland and wandered the shops there. We had lunch at a park where the ducks and squirrels expect you to share your food. The next morning we'd drop off my car at our end destination and be dropped off at the beginning of our hike...

One of the "HeArts" in Loveland, that is Art Hearts, each one is different.