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. 

What I moved here for...

Today I had the option to have the day off.  I seriously considered going in to work anyway, because I could use the extra money.  But...then I remembered that I didn't move to Colorado to work overtime :) So, I decided to do one of the things that I DID move here for.  Hiking in the Mountains.

I had some errands to do first, however.  I paid some bills. I stood in line at the Post Office for 40 minutes.  But I didn't mind the wait too much because I got to practice striking up conversations with strangers.  Yes, I intentionally practice that.  And...I bought pepper spray.  I feel weird saying that, but I guess its not a bad thing to have when living in a city. I already tested it out just to make sure I knew how to use it.  The spray is actually red.  Who knew?

Then, the moment I had been waiting for, I put "Boulder, CO" into my GPS.  Roooaaadtrip! Not really, because its only about 50 mins from my apartment, but I was still excited.  When I got there, I was just giddy.  Mountains were beautiful and the town just seemed...fun.  I had an emotional moment over wanting sooo badly to live in one of the smaller towns closer to the mountains like Fort Collins or Boulder, instead of the big, bustling, not-so-scenic, smog-filled city of Denver (Love ya, Denver...but I'll always be more of a small-town girl, don't take it personally).  But I took a deep breath and got over it.  Then I ate Bacon-Mac-and Cheese from Noodles & CO. 

After finding the trailhead parking lot....I deeply regretted not using the bathroom at Noodles.  Now, I've used many port-a-potties in my day, but this one.....takes the cake for being the absolute worst.  My eyes literally were watering.  It didn't kill me, but instead of getting stronger, I felt like I was gunna faint.  It was a growing up moment.  

View from parking lot.  Right away the trail heads right up to the top of that peak.

Time to hike! 

The trail was called Mt Sanitas.  It was a pretty easy hike, and although it was one big loop, the terrain was super different as you went.  The first part was my favorite...it looked like this:

This is at the top of the peak in the previous picture.

There was a narrow visible trail to follow, but....I was standing on it.  This is what was alongside of me. (Kind of dull pics, just had my camera phone this time.)  I tried doing some climbing off the trail...but I quickly realized how badly I need to invest in some hiking shoes/boots.  My Asics are great for running...not so much for climbing.

The second part of the trail was the most boring.  It looked like this: 

Still pretty? Yes.  But I saw many-a grandma on this part of the trail.

 Then here was the third part of the trail...still very easy, but a little more interesting. You at least had a rock or two to jump over. 

 Hi, mom!

 

 While hiking, I had alot of time to think.  I brought my ipod, but decided not to use it.  None of my thoughts were earth shattering, mostly just reflecting on my journey to live in Colorado in the first place.  Now that I'm here, what am I going to make of it?  Alongside thinking, I did a lot of praying/praising as well.  It's hard not to when you're surrounded by this kind of scenery!! 

I usually have a pretty good picture of what lies ahead of me in my immediate future.  But after my big move, I kinda feel like now I'm just coasting through the day-to-day life.  I like my job and feel so blessed to still be working for World Vision (if you missed it, you can read that story here). But I still sort of feel like I'm on auto-pilot.  Hard to explain I guess.  Once I start getting more involved in church and making more friends, I think I'll be in a better place.  I just have the deep down feeling that this season of life is more of just a stepping stone.  But I guess that's kinda how every season is...I just am more conscious of it this time.  

 

Anyway, back to the hike...one of my biggest realizations was how much more energized I felt after being up there.  When it comes to how I feel most connected to God, it is definitely by being in nature.  Even in Minneapolis, when I needed to recharge I would either go running on a trail through the woods, or sit by a lake.  It just centers me somehow.  So in regards to all that, I guess Colorado is a great place for me to live :)