Andrew's Lake

Finding powder in an old stomping ground always puts a smile on my face. To me, Andrew's Lake between Durango and Silverton is one of my favorite places, and certainly one of those important places.  Just like the poem that was written from a father to a son in 1986:

The Important Places

Child of mine

come as you grow

in youth you will learn the secret places

the cave behind the waterfall

the arms of the oak that hold you high

the stars so near on a desert ledge

the important places

and as with age you choose your own way

among the many faces of a busy world

may you always remember the path that leads back

back to the important places.

— Dad for Forest, 1986

I first heard this poem and learned about the film The Important Places during the 2015 Five Points Film Festival in Carbondale, and it reminded me of all of my "important places" in the San Juan mountains. When my husband told me he had gotten time off work for the holidays, I was excited to get back to my old stomping ground. We pulled into the parking lot for Andrew's Lake just as the storm was lifting, and we were ecstatic to see the pocket of freshly dropped powder. 

Justin's mom met us in the parking lot with her wooden skis, and we toured into the powder. It was invigorating and much needed. The clouds lifted, and we were greeted with blue skies and familiar views. It was the perfect start to a wonderful holiday week spent with family and friends in Durango, Colorado. 

Morning Glory

As October was nearing an end, we loaded up the vansion for one last desert "hoorah" before winter. We drove into Moab and found a campsite nestled in among ancient dinosaur bones and history.

We decided to hike to Morning Glory Natural Bridge, well, us and at least a hundred of our closest friends. The hike was absurdly busy, as most hikes in Moab are these days, but still lovely. There was an abundance of water, which the dogs were happy about. The trail follows a creek for a good while with several crossings.

We made it to Morning Glory Natural Bridge just in time to see a group repelling down from above. Although it wasn't the most peaceful hike and a feeling of solitude was seemingly nonexistent, it was still a great way to celebrate the changing season and soak up the last bit of warmth the desert had to offered.

Leaf Peepin'

Fall is a magical season, and every year, one of my favorite seasonal activities is leaf peeping. This year, we decided to pack up the vansion and head up Kebler Pass in search of golden leaves.

It was the perfect weekend to view the changing colors, but we were certainly not the only ones who decided that. Kebler Pass was busy and crowded with photographers and others out to see the stunning colors for themselves.

We found a campsite at the way to Lost Lake and enjoyed an crisp evening under a late September sky. The next day, we drove further up Kebler Pass to Lake Irwin, which was super crowded. Once we were past the lake, however, we pulled off the road and hiked up to Green Lake. We only passed a few people on the hike and were able to get beautiful views of the valley.

La Plata Peak

La Plata Peak is the fifth highest peak in Colorado with a summit reaching 14,336 feet. It has been one of my favorite fourteener hikes to date.

October was looming in the distance, and my husband and I decided we needed to head out for one more peak summit of the season. My sister was looking for a birthday adventure, and since this was her birthday weekend, she decided a summit was in order for her, too.

We arrived at the trailhead before sunrise and were surprised by how many cars were already there. With access just off on Independence Pass, this is a popular hike. After about an hour, we were greeted with a brilliant sunrise, which gave us a much-needed energy boost.

The wind began picking up as we neared the summit, and we were wearing all of our layers by the time we reached the top. It was worth it though; the views were spectacular and the smiles were bigger than ever.

Missouri Mountain and Clear Creek Campout

With summer nearing an end, my husband realized we had yet to camp with our families this summer. We quickly called everyone and made a plan to meet up Clear Creek Road outside of Buena Vista for a weekend campout.

Justin's sister and I began plotting an additional adventure which required us to meet a day early and climb a fourteener, Missouri Mountain (14, 067'). Missouri Mountain is a ten-mile round trip hike with 4, 500 feet of elevation gain. We set a date, and met for the hike. My sister and two friends also decided to join, making us a party of 5 strong women and 2 dogs.

Our alarm clocks went off at 4:00 am, and we huddled around the stove to make coffee. We were on the trail by 5:30, making good time up to Missouri Mountain's summit. The trail was great and well-maintained; we even passed by the Colorado 14er Initiative Group working on the trail. Once at the scree field, however, the trail became steep with loose gravel. We took our time and made it to the ridge quickly. The ridge is exceptionally long and beautiful, and I enjoyed walking the spine until I saw the final scramble, which required a bit of climbing. The guidebook calls this a class 2 climb, and it didn't say anything about any climbing - or scrambling for that matter.

Unfortunately, Loki (my puppy) and I didn't feel like we could maneuver the climb together, so we stayed back and didn't reach the true summit that day. We did, however, enjoy the beautiful views on our very private "false summit," only feet lower than the actual summit.

After the hike, my friends left and my family arrived. The next day we took our stand-up paddle boards down the road to Clear Creek Reservoir and played around. My mom and mother-in-law took to the boards and had a blast. That night, we roasted marshmallows and enjoyed some family time.

Fancy Pass Loop

"I'm so fancy!"

I woke up one summer morning in July and realized I had yet to put my backpack on this season. Knowing that had to change, I immediately began planning for an adventure.

After some time spent reading guidebooks and looking at maps, I settled on Fancy Pass Loop, also known as Missouri Lakes Loop. The trip is eight miles long with two passes, Fancy Pass and Missouri Pass. Once I decided this was the spot, I scoured the web looking for trip reports and such.

I quickly discovered that this is one of the more popular loops in the Holy Cross Wilderness. Website after website warned against overuse and crowded trails. I had already planned everything out; however, so I decided to give it a try anyways.

My husband had the grand idea to hike up Fancy Pass and down Missouri Pass, which turned out to be an excellent decision as most people seemed to day hike to Missouri Lakes. We hardly saw a soul until we reached Fancy Lake, and even then we only crossed paths with two other groups.

Fancy Lake is stunning, but Fancy Pass is daunting with a 35 pound pack and a surprising amount of snow. We took our time crossing snow fields and navigating a path to the top of the pass. The views were beautiful, and we scoped out an area to camp in near Treasure Vault Lake. Several other groups were camping in-between the passes, but the area was large enough that every group was able to find a secluded spot.

We toasted to adventure and enjoyed a dinner of couscous with bacon and veggies while soaking in the views. We had a family dance party in an alpine meadow at sunset, then we went to bed. The following day, we quickly climbed to the top of Missouri Pass and made our way down to the many lakes below.

It turns out the trail wasn't overly crowded, and the mosquitos were more obnoxious than any person we encountered. Happy trails!

Grizzly Lake

Our friends scored a campsite in a popular area up Lincoln Creek on Independence Pass outside of Aspen, CO, so we decided to go for an adventure. Lincoln Creek is accessed by a four-wheel-drive road that hosts several campsites that is almost always crowded due to it's proximity to Aspen and the numerous alpine hikes available.

We were planning on hiking Grizzly Lake one day and Petroleum Lake the next day. We made it to Grizzly Lake, a beautiful scenic high-alpine lake. The entire hike was beautiful starting with aspens and fields of wildflowers and ending with snowfields and craggy rock peaks. The following day, unfortunately, the rain kept us from exploring Petroleum Lake. Another day, another adventure.