Into the Wild

During our short stay in Colorado, Dan and I wanted to take advantage of the great outdoors available to us (and I gleefully took advantage of the fact that Dan wanted to go outside for once!) Here's what we did:

Hiking: On Thursday morning, Dan and I went to Chautauqua Park and climbed the First Flatiron. This popular, local hike is all uphill on the way up, all downhill the way back. I am glad it was only 3 miles. I don't know if it was the altitude or that I am out of shape (perhaps a little bit of both) but it was pretty hard (in a good way!) Climbing up was tough on the quads and the lungs, and the way down was all about tightening your core to keep your balance. What a great workout! I was definitely sore the next day--weirdly enough, in my calves.


As grueling the workout was, the scenery was really spectacular. The beginning of the hike, you walked up a grassy knoll that had beautiful grasses, an array of wild flowers and of course, a view of the mountains.


We spotted some wildlife along the way, like this grasshopper.


The trail then becomes more rocky and woodsy. We had to scale this 8 foot vertical wall of rock, which was probably the funnest part of the hike for me.


Ahhhh....A view from the top. It felt great to rest. This is where Dan informed me that he is a great hiker. Good! I hope that means I can convince him to come on another hike with me one day.

Biking: On Friday morning, we met up with Ara, Sandy and Matt, who were in Boulder from Los Angeles for the wedding. We rented bikes and rode the Boulder Creek bike path.


Here's Ara, Sandy, Dan and me on our cruisers.

Colorado is a huge biking city--we saw tons of bike riders everywhere we went so it's no surprise that they have a fabulous bike path that gives you a good view of the whole city. The flat bike ride took us from downtown to the university campus and points in between. Though to be honest, I don't remember too many details because I was busy talking to Matt or Sandy the entire time. We did pass a group of youngsters playing Medieval fighting games which is something I have only seen in the movies.


Dan and me near the Boulder Creek.

Mountaineering (well, sort of): On Saturday, a group of us wedding folks drove up to Nederland, a mountain town west of Boulder. It was drizzling, so we mainly just drove up the mountain in a big white van and stepped outside for a quick picture whenever we saw something pretty. Judging from my pictures, something pretty usually involved water.


Here's Dan and me standing next to a big lake.


Now the group next to other water (it's behind them, I promise). That group would be Sam, Dan, Cyndi, Chris, Kunka, Jacey and Matt.


Sam, our driver and the bride's brother, wearing his cap and driver's gloves just like all the professional chauffeurs I know.


A parting shot of Dan and more running water. Go water. Go Colorado. Go Obama.