January Hiking in Colorado

It started out chilly for the Hussies - Beth, Carol, Val and Donna all bundled up for our hike on January 5. The first Hussie Hike of 2012 at Bear Lake in Lakewood.

Lake was still frozen but we started to shed some outer layers as we made our way to the top of Mt. Carbon.

Weather got so warm we ate lunch in our shirtsleeves. Another great day in Colorado!






At the end of the hike, Beth, Val and Donna decided to take a quick swim in the refreshingly cool water.

Surprisingly, we found this lovely Asteraceae flower blooming next to a warm rock!

Butler Gulch/Jones Pass

The middle of July, Val and Beth took off to finally see Butler Gulch. After hiking up the trail for only a short while, we came to the overflowing creek and with no logs big enough to cross and not willing to ford the stream (it was flowing fast) we sadly turned around and went back and took the trail to Jones Pass. It was beautiful and we saw a lot of wildflowers (we needed Donna to identify). Had a great lunch overlooking the river and although we didn't go to the top of the pass, it was a wonderful hike!

Three Mile Creek and Counting!

On June 29, Hussies Donna and Val hiked the Three Mile Creek. A beautiful hike where we encountered lovely wild flowers and a partridge (pheasant, quail?), with her chicks. After reaching the meadow, we realized we forgot the number of creek crossings (which we believed to be 15). On our way back, being the intelligent and scientic women that we are, we decided to keep track through photos, creatively numbering each crossing using our fingers, hiking poles, rocks, sticks and even pine cones.

Since I have been unable to load any photos on the blog (I'm not kidding) except this video of our first "crossing".......



I cannot prove that there are no less than 17 crossings (although we do have witnesses that may or may not come forward). We finished the hike dipping our feet in the freezing cold waters (photo available upon request but not on the blog).

South Valley Park

Lookout Mountain - All the Way!

Val and Donna, minus all the other Hussies, headed out to summit Lookout Mountain on a cloudy, misty morning. The trail starts at 6th Avenue in Golden, and crosses Lariat Loop Road several times before reaching the Nature Center at the top. We experienced several climate changes on the way up, and could see our breath while eating lunch at the top. Thankfully, the rain held off until we were back home.

The views of Clear Creek were spectacular, and it was fun to look down on the Table Mountains. All together, we logged a whooping 7.6 miles! Note to Hussies: if you hike alone with Val, be prepared to have a smokin' fast pace. That gal can move!

Along the middle segment of the trail, there are remnants of cars that have tumbled off the road above. Given the inevitability of certain death to hikers in such an occurrence, Val made an instructional video demonstrating proper procedures to avoid a tragedy. It's blurry (again, dang it), but it's very informative. Please study it closely, there will be a short quiz on the next hike.

South Valley Park #2

Beth was tired after that long horse ride!

Nothing like tamales after a long hike. Hussies know how to eat!

South Valley Park - April 8, 2011

Four Hussies (minus Connie) planned to hike Deer Creek Valley Park, but decided to veer off course and try South Valley Park instead. It was a good decision! South Valley brought us countless surprises: stunning rock formations, more spring wildflowers, a rock horse for Beth to ride, and an introduction to the  fascinating and tragic life of Cathy Johnson. (More about that to come from Carol...). Anticipating crowded summer hiking trails, the Hussies made an instructional video demonstrating proper turns on the trail. This will long be remembered as the hike with the most belly laughs and the most tamales. We logged 5.5 miles.

Could they possibly be any cuter?

Beth demonstrating her equine skills

Leucocrinum montanum (Sand Lily)

A guest appearance by Mickey Cactus