My husband and I were able to take a little Colorado road trip last week. It was long overdue, but his work schedule is so crazy busy that we just have to take off whenever the opportunity presents itself. Colorado is such a beautiful state and one of the things that I love the most about it is that you can really get away from the hustle so easily.We packed up Winston and decided to flee to the higher mountains.
Winston travels really well and even at only 6 months, he has put up with us dragging him all over Colorado. He is such a chill dog and pretty much just goes along with whatever we have going on with absolutely ZERO fan fare.
We rented a place from Air BnB in Granby, CO, so that we could find something pet friendly. If you travel and you aren’t using Air BnB, I can’t recommend it highly enough. It is such a considerable savings and we have always stayed in the nicest homes! I think Granby CO is one of the states best kept secrets. You can stay there and be just minutes from Winter Park, Grand Lake and Rocky Mountain National Park.If you love the outdoors and don’t need a lot of shopping, etc. stay on this side of RMNP. If shopping and restaurants are what you are looking for, stay on the other side, in Estes Park. Both are awesome.
We knew that we just wanted to do day hikes each day and just stay outside as much as possible. The weather was perfect. getting down into the low 40’s at night and then up to a high of 70 during the day. Absolutely gorgeous.
We quickly pulled up our area on the All Trails app and found that there were 214 trails nearby! Each day we were able to quickly find a hike, pack a day pack and head off.
If you are ever in the area and you want a lovely, easy hike, try the Monarch Lake trail. It is a 4 mile trail that goes around the lake but takes you through loads of different scenery. For so little effort, this one has a big pay off. And you can take the dog!
We hiked each day. We usually just stopped at the store and grabbed a few sandwiches and water and we would be on our way.
Dogs are not allowed on the trails in RMNP, but they are allowed in the common areas, so we drove through the park as well and had a picnic lunch with a view one afternoon. It was beautiful and sunny for our lunch and then………snow. Yep. We drove through snow showers in August up at around 12000 feet. This is Colorado. 🙂
One of the other wonderful things about the whole Grand county area is the amount of wildlife. Especially at this time of the year, when the tourists have gone and the weather is just beginning to change. In 3 days we saw coyotes, elk, a bear and several moose. And of course the views are hard to beat anywhere.
The trails around the towns of Granby and Fraser are very accessible and the views are fantastic.
One evening the husband suggested that we hike to the top the trail in Granby and watch the sunset. We packed libations, of course. What a brilliant idea! So, we sat with our drinks and watched the sun go down behind the mountains. Lovely way to end our little Colorado road trip getaway.
As far as my work outs went for this week, I did a leg day before we left and a leg day when we got back. I didn’t worry about the rest and we were hiking each day so that was all good. I didn’t track my food and I just ate whatever, whenever. This turned out to be not so awesome. Apparently after feeding body on a regular schedule, staying hydrated and eating very little sugar for 7 weeks, your body doesn’t like it when you just up and change things! I had stomach pain and headaches off and on the whole time. So. Lesson learned. Pack some chicken and rice for cryin’ out loud!
Back to the grind this week and I feel like I am seriously killing it in the gym right now. My macros are starting to get easier and easier to hit each day and I am getting into a grove.
Cheers!
Melissa
