Arapaho National Forest Colorado Trip
We love Arapaho National Forest in Colorado and have been there many, many times over the years. Our problem is, we can’t decide which season we love the best in the Rockies. Summer is beautiful with all the mountain flowers and sunshine. Fall is magical, especially when the aspens are changing colors. Winter is wonderful for skiing… we love to ski. And finally, spring is glorious and wet as we hike on the melting trails.
We took Alice to Colorado in late summer 2018. We were headed to Castle Rock, just south of Denver, and happened to find Castle Wood Canyon State Park, which is outside of Franktown. This State Park is a hidden gem and is a part of Colorado’s history regarding the Castlewood Canyon Dam. There are several trails in the Canyon, and we hiked as the sun was setting and returned the next morning as the sun was rising. We had the park to ourselves both times!
We then headed to the Nederland, Eldora, and Rollinsville area. As a child, Steve spent his summers in this area with his family, so we love to go back and hike new and memorable trails, like Stanley Mountain. We did several hikes during our visit. We went to Brainard Lake and hiked to Mitchell Lake and Blue Lake; we saw 7 lakes on this trek and 6 moose! They are huge, interesting animals.
I mentioned in an earlier blog that my first shower in Alice was in Colorado. Well, it was at the base of Brainard Lake, and the view was breathtaking.
The next day we drove on Rollins Pass Road in the St. James Wilderness area and hiked to North and South Crater Lakes. This area was a perfect rest and lunch stop, but we were not finished. We decided to continue climbing and took a very precipitous trail up to Upper Crater Lake. It was one of my most challenging hikes, but as always, well worth the effort! There was also a second lake at the top. The climb down was more challenging than our climb up.
We love discovering and hiking in this state, so expect many more blogs about Colorful Colorado!
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