Eldorado

On our first morning in Niwot, we ate a quick breakfast and headed to Eldorado Canyon State Park for some morning hiking. With highs forecasted in the 90s, we figured that we should hike before the mercury hit sweltering level. It was a short drive from our posh accommodations and Susie decided to join us.

We thought that we took a wrong turn as we ended up on a dirt road in a neighborhood, but just as we were about to turn around we spied a sign for the park. Driving into the canyon through the giant rock cuts we immediately saw rock climbers scrambling over the sandstone cliffs. We parked the car and were thrilled to see the Zion-like spires surrounding us.

To get our bearings, we first hiked the relatively easy Fowler Trail which gave us expansive views of the area. We squinted into the sky trying to see the birds soaring high above us and admired the bravery of the rock climbers. After finding the edge of the park boundary, we made our way back to the Rattlesnake Gulch Trail which was quite a bit steeper. It took us to the ruins of an old hotel on the mountain which had views of the valley and the Continental Divide.

We spent the afternoon organizing our gear and made a field trip to Susie's barn to meet her horse: "Victoria." We took some videos of the horse trotting on the indoor track. With the heat, we spent the rest of the afternoon reorganizing our gear for the next leg of the trip and doing laundry.

Once things cooled down a bit, we took bikes to downtown Niwot to see "Soul School" perform in their biweekly concert series. What could be better? Food from a truck, a beautiful mountain view and good tunes.

Unrelated....but some funny signs that we have seen on the trip thus far:

"Discount Smokes"

"Used Forklifts - Cheap!"

"Gunbarrel Veterinary"