- Located in Colorado
- High point: Grays Peak (14,276’/4351.3248m) (summit is on boundary with White River National Forest)
- Wilderness areas: Byers Peak, Indian Peaks, James Peak, Vasquez Peak, Cache la Poudre, Comanche Peak, Neota (partial), Rawah (partial), Mount Evans (partial), Never Summer (partial),
- Established: 1908 Arapaho National Forest, 1902 Roosevelt National Forest
- Website
A Hidden Gem: Backpacking to Mirror Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park
Every year when planning for my Rocky Mountain National Park wilderness campsite permits, I like to look off the beaten path of the crazy busy east side. This year the choice was Mirror Lake, one of the park’s northernmost alpine lakes. With plans filling July and August, I decided to make the journey to Mirror…
Colorado Hiked: Blue Lake in the Rawah Wilderness
Y’all! I just can’t with myself! I keep continually planning, and then driving to, Rocky Mountain National Park to hike… forgetting there’s an entire area the same distance to me with a fraction of the crowds, empty trailhead parking lots, and alpine areas to explore! After realizing I lacked the desire to wake up as…
Colorado Hiked: Crosier Mountain via Glen Haven
Adventurer Alastair Humphreys posted about “Local 7 Summits” at the beginning of 2024, and I decided it would be a good challenge for my hiking friends, Janice and Taylor, to complete as they continue their hiking journey. With Deer Mountain and Mount Margaret under our belts, I irrationally chose Crosier Mountain outside of Estes Park…
Colorado Hiked: Mount Margaret
It is not often you hike to a summit that is lower than the trailhead and one that shares a name with a princess that has been recent obsession in the friend circle! Taylor, Janice, and I loaded up our packs with freshly brewed British black tea, whiskey, twenty pounds of trailmix, and headed south…
Colorado Hiked: Mount McConnel
Sometimes you just need a wee lil’ mountain to climb! Luckily there was such a mountain tucked up Poudre Canyon in the Cache La Poudre Wilderness Area: Mount McConnel. With a summit elevation of 8,008 feet, Mount McConnel seemed to me like a great way to gain some elevation without committing to a longer drive, logistics, early…
A Weekend at Lost Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park
When you’re scrambling to figure out wilderness camping permits the night before they go on sale, everything seems like a good idea… especially hauling a forty-pound pack for ten miles up 3000 feet of elevation gain! Okayyy… the trip to Lost Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park was well worth it, and I should not…
Colorado Hiked: Hewlett Gulch
2023 is apparently flying by, and my winter hiking plans are slowly fading into spring hiking plans. Wanting to get some solid miles back in my legs (backpacking season will be here before I know it!), I debated where to go. Weighing a desire to sleep in a bit with my mileage goal, I settled…
Colorado Explored: Disappointment Falls & Deadman Fire Lookout
October 21, 2022 What to do, what to do on a Friday off from work? I debated weather – mostly wind – forecasts and went to bed with no plan. I originally wanted to explore the Thunder Pass area with a possible summit of Lulu Mountain, but the wind meant being above tree line would…
Lake Isabelle Winter Overnight
Type 1 Fun: Fun all the time, during and after.Type 2 Fun: Miserable during it, but not that bad on reflection, and maybe indeed a little fun. Type 3 Fun: Never fun, both during and after reflection when it is all over. I am trying to decide if my overnight adventure to Lake Isabelle was…
Colorado Hiked: Round Mountain National Recreation Trail
May 28, 2022 There is an adage in cycling – “It never gets easier, you just go faster.” This means that something will always feel hard, but you get stronger and are able to ride it faster. As I was plodding up the Round Mountain National Recreation Trail, I realized the adage also applies to…
Colorado Hiked: Cupid and Grizzly Peak D
June 4, 2022 With twelve 14,000 feet peaks under my belt, I oddly enough had not been to the top of a 13,000 foot peak (or “13er). Colorado mountain climbers can be funny like that… so with some approaching mountaineering and climbing trips, I decided an early June morning was the perfect time to finally…
Colorado Hiked: Twin Sisters Peaks
I am a bit of a planner, what can I say? After fretting over mountain-forecast.com for the past week, I was really at a loss of what to do when the weekend neared. The ridiculously windy spring had continued in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming. Needing a final training hike to “cram prepare” for Mount…
Colorado Hiked: Crosier Mountain via Garden Gate
“The weather sucks, let’s hike” I told my very best bicycle friend, Tom, in a text message. With a ridiculously windy spring shaping up in Colorado and Wyoming, I was seeking out other ways to stay active, and most importantly, to still get outdoors despite the daily hurricanes that were occurring. Tom, being new to…
Colorado Hiked: Greyrock Mountain
Sometimes the mountain does not have to be 14,000 feet for the hike to be awesome! I mean, that should go without saying… but in Colorado, there is an unofficial obsession with the 14ers that really overshadow other hikes. While I like climbing 14ers (in a form of Type 2 fun once I’m back to…
The Adventuring Heidi 