One of the BEST ways to enjoy the out-of-doors in the winter is just that – get outdoors! We took our own advice and in the company of a couple friends, hit one of the trails in the Wild Basin area of Rocky Mt. National Park, just two miles from us.
As you can see, the day was sunny and very bright, with lots of snow! A bit windy, but hey, you have to have some sort of challenge. Quite a few people were enjoying the great day, so we ended up parking a good ways out from any of the known trailheads, so we just hoofed it snowplowed our way across the unbroken snow to the horse trail that runs next to the Middle St. Vrain River. A few people had used it, making it perfect: you knew where the trail was but it wasn’t packed down snow. This trail has a good bit of up-and-down to it without a great elevation rise; perfect for four people who have not been doing much strenuous exercise since the advent of winter.
We arrived at the trailhead for Finch Lake (maybe 3/4 of a mile) and had worked up an appetite, so when we spotted a dry spot under some trees by the road, we made camp of sorts, removing snowshoes and plunking our backsides down on the ground or handy rocks, to devour our bag lunches.
We finished up by hiking back to the car, using the road. At one point we crossed over the river on the bridge and had to have a Kodak moment waving at the fish in the open spot of ice. OK, we pretended we saw fish there. In all honesty, we all had such a great time, we forgot to take many pictures. In fact, Bill and I were so excited, we forgot to even take a camera or phone, so fortunately our friend had his phone.
Juanita
