Vermonting in Colorado

While I haven't come up with any brilliant ideas yet on how to make my basic strength training more exciting, I have found other non-traditional ways to fit it in my daily life. Monday's aquatics was very much strength based this week and we focused a lot on our arms and abs.  It was nice to have the class mixed up a little and to get those exercises in that way.

Yesterday, Joe and I drove up to Estes Park and into the Rocky Mountain National Park.  We had picked out a short round trip two mile walk out to a waterfall and back.  Once again, my perception of what the hike would be was much different than what it actually turned out to be.  Joe and I walk a lot in Denver and often go to places that are about a mile from our apartment and the 2 mile round trip walk feels like nothing special.  I knew this walk would be more mountainy than our walks downtown, but I did not expect snow.  Yup.  Snow.

While it was kind of cool to walk on the snow at first, it was a bit difficult as well.  Parts of it was very slushy and slippery, other parts were deep and your foot would sink into it, and I would say it covered about 80% of our hike up the mountain.  I did find that because I was so concerned about my footing, that I hardly noticed I was walking up hill the whole time.  It wouldn't be until we reached the end of a snow bank that I would realize that I was breathing heavily.  Plus, the incline was nothing compared to the incline we hiked a few weeks ago at Cheyenne Canon.

I did feel that going up the snow was easier than going down because I was able to get more secure footing.  Anyone who knows me well knows my fear of slipping on ice, so I was thankful that I managed to stay on two feet the whole time.  While I did slip a little here and there, especially on the hike back down, it helped me to work on my core and balance.  There were a lot of 'whoas' and arms out kind of moves to keep me upright.  Only once did my ankle twist in a way that didn't feel right, but thankfully I was able to walk it off and it feels fine this morning.

This hike definitely reminded me of my time in Green Mountain as it was constantly snowing in Vermont and we often would hike on the snow.  I was happy to have had that experience so I knew I could handle this hike as well.  I do feel like my legs got a much better workout than I was expecting as well because walking on the melting snow was similar to walking on sand.  Each step took a little more effort and my quads could feel it.

All in all, though hiking in snow wasn't ideal, it was completely worth it.  The scenery was totally worth it and the waterfall was beautiful.  I look forward to hiking this trail again when the snow is gone and compare it to yesterday's hike.

Our friend, Stanley Muzzleton V

The Alberta Waterfall

A snowy guy we met on the trail

Look at how beautiful the sky was at 9450 feet up!