Three Hour Tour + Hike

Remember when Gilligan, the Skipper, the Professor, Mary Ann, Ginger and the Howells set out on their three hour tour and it ended in a long island stay? Well, I sort of feel like I’ve been on a three hour tour that lasted longer than I expected. It was sort of fortuitous then that today Jason and I hiked for three hours and I finally have time to sit down and write about my latest adventure.

At the top: ready to descend.

We set out early for Horsetooth Reservoir, just west of Fort Collins, CO to get fresh air and a good workout. It’s been quite the up and down journey of getting in regular exercise, so I jump at the chance to walk around. We had little expectation of what we’d accomplish on this hike. The goal was simple: move.

That’s been the same mantra we’ve stuck with for the past couple months as we packed up our belongings and journeyed from central Iowa to the front range of Colorado to start a new chapter in our lives. The process kept us on our toes and busy every spare moment we had (thus my lack of blogging recently). Today, we started back into a routine we know and trust – being adventurous. We’ve been able to move around some but not with the same freedom and intensity we enjoy.

Enjoying a beautiful hike!

Horsetooth Reservoir offers many, many miles of trail, along with its neighbor Lory State Park. There’s a wide variety of trail – simple, strenuous, old jeep trail, single track. They all offer one thing in common – beautiful scenery at every twist and turn. We set out for one of the steepest trails and proceeded to take in the sights, sounds and smells of the beautiful, elevated landscape. I stopped to snap several shots, but for the most part, we simply proceeded to put one foot in front of the other.

As our view of the reservoir and the front range ended, we were greeted with magnificent blue skies that put mountains into sight, including a stunning panoramic view of Longs Peak. We admired the beauty for a few minutes and then began our decent with a steady jog back to our car. Three hours later, our lungs were filled with a new kind of air, our legs tired but toned and our minds renewed with excitement for more adventures ahead.

Longs Peak was in full view.

Looking out onto the reservoir.

At the top of a long climb.

On a new journey :)

The photo will never do justice to the
very long climb we had early in the hike.