Bridal Veil Falls Trail - and the joys of the off-season

I decided a while back that we get so bogged down by the day-to-day -- we are so plugged in with irritating noise, and often the pressure gets overwhelming -- so we need to carve out more time to get away!  We need to unplug, reduce the noise, and get back to the basics.  So I found a reasonable accommodation in Estes Park and away we went.  I took Friday off from work so that I could get things done and then we could take off early afternoon.  It was great!

We aligned a house sitter (my lovely younger sister stepping in to make sure our fur babies were well taken care of), we got packed up with all that we needed, swung by to grab some road snacks and off we went, grateful that where we were headed did not include use of I-25!  We used the drive time to talk, and I felt myself relaxing more and more the further we got from the city.  I had been happy and excited all morning leading up to our getaway, recognizing how stressful my current work is and the stress of balancing that with a near full-time school schedule, getting out of town seemed to relieve me of some of the strain.  We checked into the Sunnyside Knoll Resort in Estes Park, our room included a small patio area, a fireplace, a spa tub, and we did not have any neighboring guests which made it all the quieter.  We were able to settle in before going to dinner at Wapiti just in town and walked a very quiet Elkhorn Avenue, normally a busy and touristy old town in Estes.  Very little was open, it's still very early in the season, but it was lovely to walk, the evening air cool, the stars visible. I have to plug the off-season here...  Considering how much Colorado has boomed with people, there seems to be congestion and traffic and noise and people just everywhere all the time, that to reach Estes Park where we are very early in the season was remarkable and so refreshing!  No crowds, no traffic, and everything running on "Estes time" where things just slow down.  You have nowhere else to be.  You can sit and enjoy a beer or a cup of coffee without having a jumble of thoughts running on and on about where you have to be next.  This is something I will have to figure out how to create in the daily shuffle of city life!

Saturday morning we enjoyed a leisurely start to the day, eventually getting up for brunch at Notchtop Bakery and Cafe.  My partner decided to stay healthy with a veggie omelet and side of fruit, I indulged in a "Country Benedict" which was pretty much a biscuits and gravy with eggs (I would later discover the error of my ways as I am still adapting to a system that does not have a gall bladder - apparently rich fatty delicious meals like this are of the past for this chick!).  Then we made our way to the trail head for the Bridal Veil Falls Trail.

So I use the AllTrails app on my phone to track down trails for us to try.  What I have discovered however is that my app on my phone tends to lie a little... like telling me a trail is "Easy", the friendly little green banner under the name of the hike, when it is actually considered a moderate trail.  In reading the description I can sometimes catch the correct info, but my partner's app doesn't seem to have this trouble.  His will show the more appropriately listed difficulty rating.  Not sure why my phone is against me in this way, but we determined that despite the mention of this as a potentially moderate trail, it was worth a go.  6.1 mile total was listed (though according to the signage when we got there is was 3.2 miles to the falls, so it was actually 6.4 round trip), an out and back hike featuring a waterfall.  Given that there was still snow on the ground around where we were, we opted to fasten our new snowshoes to the back of our packs just in case, and off we went. 

 

At the Bridal Veil Falls trail head

The area around was very quiet, no other individuals around, no noise.  Just us, some snow, and the trail.  As we walked, I felt the crunch of the snow beneath me, my trekking poles making a little "schrunch" noise as it connected and released the snowy ground with each step.  We ended up using our snowshoes for a very short period on the trail, but determined that it wasn't really necessary because the snow wasn't very deep.  The air was chilled, brushing our cheeks, it was so calm and quiet.  It snowed a bit, though the sun was out for the majority of the hike.  On the entire hike I believe we saw a total of 7 other hikers, maybe 8.  The trail had a couple moments of being a little steep, but for the most part wasn't too intense. 

There was a moment as we were moving, we were a little over two miles through when suddenly, as I'm struggling with my sunglasses repeatedly fogging as I huffed and shuffled, there was a bill I forgot to pay before we left!  I felt the immediate stress of financial torment run through my, my enjoyment zapped away in that moment.  Chris asked me what was wrong and I let him know what happened and how it just got me stressed, he responded, "Do we need to go back?"  I was shocked.  No!  Of course we don't, we've come this far I didn't want to stop, and I realized quickly that even if we did go back I didn't have all the info I'd need with me in order to make these payments, so no! 

In that moment I made the most gratifying realization.  If you can't do anything about it in the moment, there's no reason to let it bother you since it is out of your control.  Our options were to turn around, or to keep going to finish the hike.  And I was not ready to leave!  

The last mile of the hike to get to the falls was the hardest, it was the steepest, there were some switchbacks, the trail wasn't as defined and there wasn't any signage.  We even questioned if we were on the right trail!  But when we saw a horse hitch with a sign saying "no horses beyond this point", we knew that we were close to the falls.  Just a few feet later the imprints in the snow stopped.  There weren't any signs, but this must be where we would have seen the falls if there weren't still a bunch of snow! 

Bridal Veil Falls is under there somewhere...

A kiss and a high five to celebrate the victory, we then turned around to get back to the car.  The 3.2 miles back actually seemed much easier.  We were in good spirits and chatted as we made our way back, discussing goals of purchasing a someday cabin on a nice plot of land to have weekends in the mountains with our someday children, and we talked about steps that we would like to take to lose weight including weekly hiking adventures.  This hike left me so grateful in so many ways. 

On our way back to the resort we went to Via Bicycle Cafe, thank you Google Maps App for the recommendation!  Enjoyed the best cup of coffee I think I've ever had!  Plus the gentleman working there was super nice.  (Seriously, if you are in Estes, this is a place everyone must experience!)

We got back to the resort, peeled off our layers from our trek, showered off in the tiny lukewarm shower, and rested a bit before going to the Rock Inn Mountain Tavern for dinner.  Very fun little place, nice wait staff, quaint and a little eclectic - a perfect cap to the day.

Sunday morning we packed up, grabbed a cup of coffee from the Kind Coffee Shop, got a bag of salt water taffy (you can't go to Estes without getting some!) and returned to home.  As we were unpacking and greeting our animals, I started giggling, a warm feeling coming over me.  Chris asked me what was so funny, and all I could say in response was, "I just love our life together."

Taffy - a staple of Estes Park!

Another wonderful weekend experience with a good hike, some good local food, lovely mountain accommodations, and number-crunching efforts to start planning our someday mountain cabin in Estes Park.
#love #EstesPark

Volunteering at Easter Seals Camp - March 11-13, 2016

I had a unique opportunity this last weekend to volunteer at the Easter Seals Camp - a camp for persons with disabilities - near Idaho Springs.  I was connected with this opportunity as part of a project through my grad school program.  While hiking was only a small portion of the activities, the camp is a 200 acre property so there was a lot of walking as a part of the weekend!

The view Friday night

Check-in for the volunteers was at 4pm on Friday, so I took Friday off of work to ensure that I had the morning to take care of packing and get on the road with enough time.  Well... my procrastination won against the punctual side of me and I ended up leaving for camp later than I had hoped, meaning that I was scrambling to get everything that I needed.  My phone was halfway dead without even having gotten through Denver with having the gps on, and I realized too late that I had forgotten an important piece of paperwork that I needed for school.  I was flustered and my anxiety had heightened, plus I rarely drive to the mountains on my own, often going with my partner or other friends.  I was worried about not making it on time, I was worried about getting lost, I was worried about not having what I needed for school... but most importantly, the piece I had been nervous about leading up to the weekend was that I would be paired with a camper who wouldn't like me...  I felt almost as insecure as a kid on their first day at a new school.  Thankfully my partner gave me words of encouragement while traffic had me at a frustrating stand-still, so I did my best to remain calm and simply drive safely to my destination.

Thankfully I was able to get there on time, was greeted warmly by other volunteer staff and was provided with information about the type of children who were attending this respite camp with their caregivers, as it was unique even to them, and I was provided with basic info about the two campers that were assigned to me: teenagers.  The camp was actually an opportunity for children who recently experienced some form of trauma specifically related to transitioning to their grandparents for custody for various reasons.  Unimportant, we were not there to counsel or diagnose or "make it better".  The role of the counselors: to ensure safety and that the children have a fun camp experience.

This meant opportunities for walking, hiking, running, fishing (well, ice fishing since it's still pretty cold up there!), costumes, a talent show, movies, snacks and excellent meals, rockets, arts and crafts, board games, horses, a therapy dog...  (I must say, if you are looking for a place to volunteer, this is a life changing type of experience and I highly recommend it!!)

Even with all the wonderful things available, the pair of sisters that I had been assigned were quite "un-enthused" about most all of the activities.  It somewhat felt like pulling teeth during dinner on Friday night to try getting to know them, but eventually they warmed up enough to share a bit about themselves.  I tried to simply hold space for them, not trying to force a dialogue but also trying to be present so that they could feel safe.  We broke the ice just enough that I could go to bed that evening feeling a bit better about the weekend ahead.

The next day we tried to engage more, but one of my two campers had some challenges with the altitude adjustment so we needed to keep things a bit more mellow.  So we had some time with arts and crafts, and participated with the meditation session that led to creating vision boards.  The back side was for the past, things that made us hurt or angry.  The front side was for our futures, and these were the images I found for the future side of mine:

We had some time trying to fish in the pond, one of my two campers really got into the fishing, the other wanted to hike but when the camper who was fishing didn't want to we had to figure out a compromise of hiking later in the day.  This arrangement still had the hiker distressed, the fisher tried to make up for it.  I drank tea while we sat quiet for a bit.  The sibling that wanted to hike and I went on a hike with some of the other campers, the other was the one who had been having difficulties with the altitude so she stayed behind.  The hiker and I got to see several really neat things including an abandoned cabin, a small cave and a cemetery.

 

Abandoned Cabin

One of the graves at the cemetery

On our way back to the lodge my camper and I kicked a pine cone all the way.  It was playful, and not something discussed, it just sort of happened.  She had kicked it a few times, it happened to land in front of me so I kicked it, and back and forth we went.  The closer we got to the lodge the more we joked about the "journey of the pine cone" and we buried it in the snow just outside the main entrance of the lodge.  It was the closest to a bonding experience we got, but I took it as a win.

There was a dance that night, my hiker camper was eager to head back to the cabin but my other camper (the fisher) wanted to spend time at the dance.  So I walked the rest of her family members back to their cabin and hung out with my camper at the dance to enjoy some more time.  All of the kids appeared to be having so much fun cutting loose and rocking out.  I joined in the line-dance of the "Cupid Shuffle", a song that I admit I haven't heard in many many years!  It was a fun time, but I was definitely ready for bed by the time I made it back to the cabin where the female volunteers/counselors were staying.

This morning I loaded up my belongings and routed myself by the horse barn on my way to breakfast.  It made my morning just standing with them, petting them.  I wished I had a carrot or something, but they still let me stroke their necks.  It brought me peace.  I was excited to have been on this journey this weekend.  We went in for breakfast and initially I didn't see my campers so I planned to sit with some of the other counselors but as I was waiting in line for my French toast their guardian called me over and invited me to join them for breakfast.  I was warmed knowing that she wanted me with them.  We talked about the weekend and both of my campers said that they want to come back to camp this summer.  For as disinterested as they had seemed, they liked it enough at least.  While the adult guardians/grandparents finished up their respite portion of the weekend, all the camp counselors and kiddos got to play parachute games together and it was so much fun!  Running around and playing, it was uplifting!  I don't remember the last time I enjoyed some genuine play like that, to let the inner child in me out, running around and playing, and watching how much the kiddos were enjoying themselves.  It was truly heartwarming.

I have to say... I feel changed after the weekend.  Got outdoors time in the mountains and some exercise, some time to explore with some youngsters who needed a break from life just as much as I did, got to experience some new things.  I'm sore and sleepy, and I am blessed.

I'm already so excited to go back!

Brainard, Eldora and Mallory Cave - March 5-6 weekend getaway

March 5th-6th, 2016

My partner and I decided to have a weekend getaway to reduce some stress.  Sometimes you just have to get away from the noise of the city.  We reserved a room at Eldora Lodge after receiving the recommendation from a friend of mine.  Because check-in wasn't until 3pm, we decided it might be nice to do some snowshoeing beforehand.  I've never gone snowshoeing before, so we invested in some starter gear (snowshoes, trekking poles, and winter gaters) in anticipation for the journey.  We loaded up the car and took off for Brainard Lake trails in Ward, near Nederlands Colorado.  We started at the Brainard Lake Recreation Area only to discover that there wasn't a lot of snow.  We took our queue from some of the other individuals looking to venture on these trails and no one appeared to have snowshoes with them.  So we grabbed our trekking poles and bundled up, leaving our snowshoes behind.  There will have to be another snowshoeing trip someday.

We checked out the map at the start of the trail head, and determined that we would take the Waldrop Trail to the lake and head back.  It wasn't far into the trail that we came upon snow.  Thankfully the path was packed enough that we didn't struggle too much against the snow since we only had hiking boots on.  I'm grateful for having the trekking poles with us to help us on our route.  The trail markers were to assist cross-country skiers, so we had green, blue and black markers to guide us along the way.  However similar to many hiking trails throughout Colorado there weren't a ton of signs to ensure that we were on the correct path the entire time.  At some point we ended up on the South Saint Vrain Trail.  We moved slow and steady, and eventually we got to Brainard Lake.  It was majestic!  Cold, snowy, frozen.  We saw very few individuals braving this trail, many of whom had more gear than the two of us.  It was nice to have the peace.  There was quiet all around, just the crunching of our feet and poles connecting with the snow.

Brainard Lake - photo credit yours truly

As we rounded our way back, following the Brainard Snowshoe Trail to get us back to our car, my left hip started to really hurt causing us to slow down even more.  Every step I felt pain surrounding my hip.  Step, step, step, step, stop.  Deep breath, I tried stretching a little bit during each break.  I am so grateful to my partner for giving me encouragement, "we're almost there!" he would say to get me moving again.  The real thing about hiking, is that you really have only two options.  Either you make it, or you don't.  And if you don't, you are surrendering yourself to the elements.  So you do!  You keep at it, one foot in front of the other.  I felt myself sweating through each layer of my clothes, breathing heavy and thinking how nice it would be to get back to the car and chomp into one of the red gala apples we had waiting for us in the car.

After the hike I slumped into the car, my feet hurting, my hip aching, my head pounding.  I didn't drink enough water during the hike and I could really feel just how long it had been since my feet hit a trail.  We treated ourselves to a quick coffee stop at the Train Cars Coffee and Yogurt Company.

We drove over to the Lodge and were given a tour.  It had a beautiful view, they were very easy going, the bed was comfortable, there was no cellular reception and while they did have wifi I didn't have a steady connection.  It was recommended that we go to a German restaurant nearby, Westfalen Hof, for dinner which was tasty, the ambiance was a little eclectic, and the service was slower than what we are used to in Denver.  What is nice about this is that it forced us to slow down a bit, I actually felt myself enjoying it a lot.  We had a great conversation and enjoyed good food over a couple of hours.  It was nice simply to be.

This was our table decor - our little companion during dinner :-)

We relaxed the next morning, enjoyed the complementary breakfast, and looked up a mild hike for the day.  We were both sore from the Brainard Lake hiking.  Unfortunately the limited internet connectivity at the lodge what we had initially determined was a longer drive than we anticipated, so I looked up another "easy" hike when we had reception in the Boulder area.  I had just downloaded the AllTrails app on my phone and excitedly announced the Mallory Cave Trail was just a few minutes away, a two and a half mile hike, listed as an "easy" hike.  When we got there, we found a lot more people at the trail head, unlike the experience the day before.  Lots of people, and kids, and dogs.  Much busier a place!  It's nice to see families getting out and enjoying the nice day.  We all get so "plugged in", it can be easy to forget that we live in such a beautiful place in the world.

We didn't even grab gear, anticipating a low-key jaunt as opposed to the hike that we ended up getting.  (And a quick note to anyone going on this particular hike, there didn't appear to be any bathroom facilities of any kind in the area, and it's too busy a place to just jaunt off the trail to take care of business, so plan accordingly!)  Apparently there are multiple lists for this hiking trail, and we had ended up on a moderate trail.  There were switchbacks and steep areas.  There weren't good trail markers to ensure that we were on the appropriate trail and initially the only markers said "Mesa Trail".  It was a ways down the road before we actually saw the signs for Mallory Cave Trail.  About half mile from where the cave was supposed to be I felt myself struggling for air and made us stop.  Again I told myself "either we make it up, or we don't".  And I am a person who hates to get close to the end of something and then "giving up", so I took it as slow as I needed to but I knew I had to get up that mountain.

View on Mesa Trail before getting to the start of the Mallory Cave trail

 

There is a 100ft steep climb in order to actually get up to the cave, an area closed during certain times of the year so that the bats who live there could do their bat business, and this was that time of year.  So, we made it to the cliff head before the gate at the cave's entrance.  I took it as a win.  We sat for a bit, looking at the area around, I was grateful that I had at least thought to grab a water bottle.  I was envious of a three-year-old boy whose mother gave him a Snickers bar for making it as far as he did.  I didn't have a Snickers bar to enjoy, and when I was a child that was my candy of choice to get me motivated for any athletic event!  (Yeah, one morning at a swim meet I refused to get in the water, my mother totally bribed me with a Snickers bar if I would just do one race.  I totally did it and enjoyed every bite of that candy bar as my victory!)

The hike back down wasn't as challenging, though I think there were some sections that were different from the trek up.  My legs shook almost the entire way down the mountain.  My partner asked, "Are you happy?" and I responded, "I'm glad we did it."  He laughed and said, "So you're not happy?"  I thought for a second and said, "Well, I'm glad that we did it, we definitely needed it, but I don't like how hard it was from what I had anticipated.  My app said that it would be easy, and that wasn't easy (just a note: my app did say it was easy, Chris pulled it up on his phone and it said moderate).  And lugging all this up the mountain is just hard!  But I really love being in the mountains."  And that's when I decided that I would document my hikes and progress.  We stopped at a Mad Greens in Boulder for lunch on our way home.  I was so happy to see Dexter and Oscar, our fur babies, when we got back.  I went to the grocer and was very proud of myself that no unhealthy foods made their way into my cart.  It's time for me to commit to my health!