Colorado Part 2

After I'd been sufficiently wowed by Estes Park, I headed out to Boulder. Specifically, the Chautauqua Trailhead.

The elevation proved to be more taxing than I'd expected, but I made it to the outlook near the end of my trail, and hopped up on a big rock to rest and catch my breath. It was March, but Colorado weather is volatile-- mid-60s, though there had been snow on my car that morning.

Looking back from the trail, towards the trailhead

One of the Flatirons

Terrible picture of the view from my perch

I made my way back down to the trailhead, which doubled as a cute city park. Boulder seems like a great city-- somewhere I wouldn't mind living.

From there, I drove to the city's downtown area to hit up Native Foods-- a vegan chain restaurant I fell in love with out in California and sometimes seriously consider driving to Chicago just to eat at. I don't necessarily mind chain restaurants on vacations-- my rule is not to eat somewhere that I can eat at home (the exception being when I'm on the road and subject to whatever the rest stop gods want to throw my way). If it's a chain we don't have in Detroit, it's okay with me. This trip was low budget, so this was the only meal I treated myself to the entire time-- the rest of the trip, even when I was on the road, was full of peanut butter sandwiches and a truly shameful amount of Sun Chips and Pringles.

After my soul food bowl, peanut butter parfait, and mint lemonade (hiking at elevation must make me hungry...) I headed out. On the way to Boulder I'd been amazed at the scenery on the drive, but was too excited to hike to stop and enjoy it. On my way back, I pulled over at a few scenic overlooks.

Snowcaps!

I was a little intimidated by the roads-- like I said, mountain driving was pretty new to me. But it wasn't nearly as scary as I expected, and there was never a time when I felt like my tiny Yaris couldn't handle the road ahead.

Back in Estes Park, I took a walk down to the lake.

Statue of a moose named Samson

I got back to my hotel and promptly passed out. It was a short trip and I was trying to see what I could, but sometimes your body just doesn't give you a choice.