Hiking day bust.

Today I went hiking.  Sort of.  Well, I did...but I realized I'm not a very smart experienced adventurer.
Hey, I just moved here from MN...flatland USA.  Cut me some slack.

I decided last night that I wanted to go hiking today.  This meant that I would need to get up at 7 AM because first I needed to stop at the DMV.  Last time I stood in their line for two hours to get my CO license, they made a mistake.  They had forgotten to add my motorcycle endorsement. No way am I letting that one slide. So I woke up at 7:30 (hey, I had to press snooze a couple times...its my day off!), made myself an omelet, and I got there just 15 minutes after it opened and I was already 22nd in line.
 
I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  The DMV has to be one of the best places to people watch.  I don't really understand it.  Why are there such strange and interesting people here all the time? I guess strange and interesting people are everywhere, but you just notice them more when they're right there next to you and you have nothing else to do but stare at them.

Yes, I have a people-watching hobby with an occasional staring problem.  

Oh, DMV.  I love to watch your people, but I hate waiting in your lines.

About an hour and a half later...I'm headed towards the mountains.  I really wanted someone to go hiking with me, but the small handful of new friends I've made were all busy or working.  Boo.  But, at least I asked.  And out of that I got one friend to give me some tips on a few good places to hike.  I loved that because usually I just wander until I find a trail head.  Good for my spontaneous side, but bad for the part of any normal person that wants their 45 minute drive to actually be worth it.

Once I got to the park, I realized I had made a critical mistake.  I dressed for Denver weather (68 degrees)...not mountain weather (45).  Shorts and a t-shirt probably weren't going to cut it. 

But, hey, I'm from Minnesota. I'll tough it out.

So I grabbed a trail map and picked out which trail I would start on. 

Ponderosa Trail: Pleasant, serves as a connector to many other trails.
Wild Iris Loop: Pleasant meadow trail.
Bluebeard Meadow: Meadow trail with wildflowers and wildlife.
Bearberry: A gentle and shady trail that passes a historic homestead.


Did I choose any of those? Nope. 

Sisters Trail: Strenuous; weaves through large boulders.

Sisters Trail it is!

But really, it wasn't strenuous at all.  I mean it wasn't super easy but it definitely wasn't hard.  The thing I liked about it was there were boulders to climb along the way...(like the ones in the back of this next picture), so that was fun.

Just when I was having weak moment in the form of a pity party, thinking about how it was not so much fun to hike by myself....I overheard these people right behind me :)

Two 20-something guys that started with the Lion King song
...and probably had no idea anyone could hear them.  Gotta love it.

Another rookie mistake I made was not realizing that although all the snow in Denver is gone...there probably is still some up in the mountains.  Yep.

Almost half the trail was covered in mud or snow/ice.

Last time I went hiking on my day off there wasn't any snow at all on the trail, AND I overdressed.  But that trail wasn't as high up in the mountains. 

Once I finished the Sisters Trail loop, I did a couple other shorter ones.  But I was freezing and by that time I was trekking around with an extra 10 pounds of mud on my shoes...so I decided to just head back to Denver.  I was only up there for barely two hours.  So much for my day of hiking. 

When I got back to Denver I decided I was not going to let my hiking day bust get the best of me. 

I almost went running again, because yesterday I found a fun new trail close to my apartment when I did my 6 mile run.  But today is a Cross-train day...so I decided to be good and not run. 

Rollerblading it is!

Yes, helmets are cool.  Didn't you know?

So I rollerbladed.  And rollerbladed.  And just kept on rollerblading.  Not realizing that eventually I was going to have to turn around and cover all that ground again.  But I have this thing where I can't just stop on a trail without finding out where it goes.  This is why loops are good for me. And endless connecting trails in a brand new big city are bad.  Bad only because I didn't have any water with me, and I haven't rollerbladed in at least two years so I am going to be very sore. 

So I just kept on going until finally I got to a park with a water fountain. I didn't even realize I was thirsty until I saw it.  And I didn't even realize I was starting to get tired until I stopped.   Good one, Kirsten.

Good news is...I found a LAKE!

So, I turned around.  14.60 miles of rollerblading!  I was only planning on doing like...5. 

Oh well.  Good workout.  Maybe tomorrow will be a rest day :)

I'm glad I can go out and do stuff by myself...but being a loner is definitely getting old.
Maybe I need to get a dog. 

Speaking of pets.  Next weekend is Quincy's 1st birthday!!

He doesn't like birthday hats so much. 

Well, that's all for today.  I'm going to get me some Chipotle.