Catamount Trail in Green Mountain Falls

On June 19, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Colorado, Hiking2 Comments

The weather was beautiful this weekend, so we decided to get up into the mountains and go for a hike. We drove to the quaint town of Green Mountain Falls to hike the Catamount Trail, which is a trail that we haven’t done before. You aren’t able to park on the road where the trail starts, so you have walk about a mile on a very steep road to reach the trailhead. Walking up the road was almost as hard as hiking on the trail itself.

The trail is considered to be moderate, but anytime you go hiking in the mountains, it is likely to be fairly difficult and this trail is no different. The entire trail is about three miles one way and the first two miles are steep switchbacks with a lot of rocky steps. At the start of the trail, there are a couple of wonderful waterfalls where you can stop and enjoy the beauty of nature. There is a reservoir at the end of the trail, but we didn’t make it all of the way to the end on this hike, but we will definitely return another time and complete the hike.

The scenery was absolutely stunning, especially as you near the summit where you are rewarded with incredible views of the valley below. There isn’t much to the town of Green Mountain Falls, it is really just a community of homes for people who want to live in the mountains and don’t mind having to drive a ways to do their shopping. It must be a relaxing way to live, but we’re not sure that we would want to be that isolated.

This was our first real hike of the season, so climbing the steep switchbacks took its toll on our legs and we decided to keep it to a two-hour hike and turned around after making it a little over the halfway point. For us, hiking is all about getting out into nature and getting some exercise, which made this a wonderful hike. Although it was our first time doing the Catamount Trail, it most certainly won’t be the last time we hike there.

Flying Over Wyoming and Montana

On April 28, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Montana5 Comments

We flew up to Montana for work this week, which we have done about fifty times over the past twenty years. Because we go to Montana on such a frequent basis, we tend not to give much thought to the beauty of the area. The area is truly spectacular, not just Yellowstone National Park, but the entire area. It isn’t as though the beauty of nature somehow stops at the border of the park, it is just where protection of the land and wildlife comes to an end. On this particular trip, we decided to take a few photos of the landscape as we flew over northern Wyoming and then into Montana. It might be Spring throughout most of the northern hemisphere, but here in the high-country, winter is still clinging on for another month or so. We are still getting snow occasionally as you can tell from the peaks of the mountains as our plane flew over the Rocky Mountains.

Once we crossed over the mountains and entered the valley where we were to land, the scenery turned from white peaks to lush green farmland. The growing season for plants in this region is very short, so seeing all of the green grass was very refreshing. It also means that there is a reduced chance of fires, a risk that is unfortunately high in our home state of Colorado. We decided not to go into the park this trip, mostly because of the road conditions as it continued to snow in the mountains and on the mountain passes during our entire time in Montana.

We will try not to take the beautiful scenery of Wyoming and Montana for granted during any of our subsequent trips. We live in a gorgeous part of the world and seeing it from an airplane is a wonderful way to truly appreciate how wild and wonderful it really is.

First “Real” Hike of the Season

On June 7, 2016June 7, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Colorado, Hiking7 Comments

We did a fair amount of hiking while we were in Bolivia and we also walk thirty to sixty minutes every day, but this weekend was the first chance we’ve had to get out and go for a hike in the mountains this year. Mostly because we’ve been travelling as well as the poor weather that we’ve had this spring, but at last we were able to do one of the things that we love about summertime in Colorado. We are very fortunate to be able to drive thirty minutes or less and be in the mountains with all of the beauty that they offer. This is one of our favorite hikes as it isn’t too strenuous and offers the opportunity to hike for as long or as short as we would like since there is an entire interconnected trail system.

The trail is called the Palmer Lake Reservoir Trail and is located just outside of the little town of Palmer Lake. The main trail follows a stream that is the run-off from the reservoirs, which was running pretty swiftly at this time of year as there is still snow melting in the high country. It takes you past the two man-made lakes that provides fresh water to the town of Palmer Lake as well as fishing opportunities for those willing to make the hike. We’ve done this hike dozens of times and it never ceases to please us. As with most trails in the mountains, despite the fact that the parking lot was full and we even had to park in the overflow parking lot, which was also full, we rarely saw anyone else on the trail with us. Getting away from people and connecting with nature is one of the main reasons we like to hike, it is so serene to hike through the woods, listening to the breeze blow through the trees above, and seeing all of the various wildflowers that grow throughout the area.

It was a beautiful day with the typical bright blue skies of Colorado. We pushed ourselves as far as a first hike of the season, going for a full two hours and four miles round-trip. Perhaps because of the hiking that we did in Bolivia, it didn’t seem like too much of a strain, despite the gain in altitude. To be fair, if you ever read descriptions of hiking trails in the mountains, you’ll often see them described as “moderate”, but any hike in the mountains is going to be strenuous at times, so we usually take the rating lightly and judge for ourselves the difficulty of a trail. With that said, this really is a moderate trail for anyone used to hiking at altitude. The trail starts at about 2,200 meters (6,700 feet) and gains about a 700 meters (2,200 feet) depending on which side trail you decide to take, but it gains less if you just hike up to the second reservoir.

It was great to get back into the mountains and do some hiking, we’re really looking forward to a full season of exploring new trails. It is going to be a busy travel season for us, but when we’re not on the road, we want to get out and hike as much as possible. We live in a gorgeous state and a beautiful part of the country, so we want to take advantage of every opportunity to explore it, even after living here for over twenty years. If you ever get a chance to visit Colorado during the spring, summer, or fall, get up into the mountains and do some hiking. Despite how strenuous hiking can be, it is also extremely relaxing and definitely recharges our batteries.