I’m still amazed at the mountains surrounding Golden, waking every morning to sunrises over Mount Galbraith, discovering new trails to hike, and ending the day with sunsets disappearing behind the snow-capped Lookout Mountain. Our little Colorado family has developed a passion for the never-ending trails; more often than not we discover something new on every outbound trip. Yesterday we decided to stay close to home, just making the short trip up Lookout Mountain. Downtown Denver was so close, the skyscrapers were visible from the trails. I’ve been longing for an elk sighting, but in all our adventures haven’t been that lucky. As we hiked along Forest Trail Loop, I noticed some “elk droppings”, at least they were larger than Texas deer droppings:) Concentrating on the trail, I walked right past the most amazing sight. Ika signaled for me to come back quietly. There he sat in all his majesty. He was comfortable under the fir trees, maybe believing he was camouflaged. I slipped in as close as I dared for a shot. He looked at me like “great, just another hiker”. I’m sure he’s seen plenty of us in his time.

Earlier in the week we found a hikers paradise just a few minutes from home, winding between local cattle pastures. I had been missing the cattle in Texas, and was happy to learn that Colorado is still filled with that same western lifestyle. These happy cows were living the good life, free to roam, and all within sight of Denver. The weather was so warm, we had to shuck off the jackets and hike in tank tops. Few folks outside of Colorado know that the Denver area hosts more sunshine than southern California! This wonderful hiking experience sent us in search of a trail through horse pastures. It wasn’t hard to find, as some local nature-minded rancher allowed hiking trails across his pastures near Evergreen. His horses were beautiful, and clearly well fed. What a beautiful place for them to call home. I’m so happy to know that my grandangels will grow up here as well.