We always head into the mountains at this time of year to enjoy the beautiful weather and view the beautiful scenery.  We’ve had an unusually warm start to Autumn in Colorado, so this was an absolutely gorgeous day to go hiking.

If you haven’t been to the Colorado high country to see the Aspen leaves changing color, you should put that on your bucket list.  We both grew up back east and have seen the leaves change in the northeast, which is a beautiful sight as well, but there is something about the vibrant gold of the Aspens against the dark green of the pine trees that is truly spectacular.

Mueller State Park is a great place to go hiking any time of year, but especially at this time of year.  It sits on the back side of Pikes Peak and has tremendous views of the surrounding mountains.  There are over 27 miles of trails in the park and there are trails to suit any hiking capability as well as plenty of trails that are suitable for children.  On this trip, we chose to hike the Cahill Pond Trail (#34), which takes you by an old cabin as well as a pond.  We didn’t see any wildlife on this particular hike, although there was plenty of evidence that they were around, but in the past we’ve seen elk, wild turkeys, and mule deer, and there are also black bear in the park as well.

There is nothing like hiking in the Colorado high country in late September.  Beautiful blue skies, golden Aspen trees, and cool Autumn breezes make this our favorite time of year to get into the mountains.  There is no doubt that winter is on its way, but until the snow flakes start to fly, we’ll get out and hike as often as we can.