Sunday the forecast called for 80 degrees, so we decided to head to the mountains for a hike. We went to Golden Gate Canyon State Park near Boulder. We arrived at the park around 9 in the morning. Aaron talked to the forest ranger who told him that their would be some mud due to the melting snow and that on the back side of the mountain there may be a little snow. No problem, we thought.
At the beginning fo the trail we had a choice to make. Do we take the 4.5 mile Buro hike or the 6.7 mile Mountain Lion hike. Being the novice hikers we are we decide to do the longer more difficult hike. We are a smart group!! Below see Aaron's recount of the trip.
I took the family out Sunday for a hike out in Golden Gate Canyon State Park. In looking at some of these pictures, I'm questioning my criteria for safe family fun. In the middle of our hike, in 80 degree weather, snow covered the trail... deep snow... obscuring the path in spots. That didn't affect baby girl, she's light enough to walk over it, but the missus and I sank to past our knees in some places. Baby boy was on my back, freaking out in the spots where the sinking snow sent us closer to the rushing water. Did I mention we were all in shorts? It was 80 degrees out, snow wasn't on my mind! We had to cross the same creek about 10 times on little logs over rushing water... baby girl was a trooper... she only started crying in one spot... I think a rope is in order for the next hike. We also found a bunch of tracks... rabbit, deer, dog... and something bigger than a dog (see for yourself in one pic: baby girl's hand, suspect track, and obvious dog track in the snow)... I've had two people tell me they were mountain lion tracks... Along with a rope, a .40 or a .45 is in order for the next hike. Our 6 mile-er took us 6 hours. We all got back with little more than a few scratches and a good family story between us. We'll stick to City Park for the next few weeks, until the snow is all melted and the creeks aren't running so fast...
At the beginning fo the trail we had a choice to make. Do we take the 4.5 mile Buro hike or the 6.7 mile Mountain Lion hike. Being the novice hikers we are we decide to do the longer more difficult hike. We are a smart group!! Below see Aaron's recount of the trip.
I took the family out Sunday for a hike out in Golden Gate Canyon State Park. In looking at some of these pictures, I'm questioning my criteria for safe family fun. In the middle of our hike, in 80 degree weather, snow covered the trail... deep snow... obscuring the path in spots. That didn't affect baby girl, she's light enough to walk over it, but the missus and I sank to past our knees in some places. Baby boy was on my back, freaking out in the spots where the sinking snow sent us closer to the rushing water. Did I mention we were all in shorts? It was 80 degrees out, snow wasn't on my mind! We had to cross the same creek about 10 times on little logs over rushing water... baby girl was a trooper... she only started crying in one spot... I think a rope is in order for the next hike. We also found a bunch of tracks... rabbit, deer, dog... and something bigger than a dog (see for yourself in one pic: baby girl's hand, suspect track, and obvious dog track in the snow)... I've had two people tell me they were mountain lion tracks... Along with a rope, a .40 or a .45 is in order for the next hike. Our 6 mile-er took us 6 hours. We all got back with little more than a few scratches and a good family story between us. We'll stick to City Park for the next few weeks, until the snow is all melted and the creeks aren't running so fast...
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