“Hiking is like Sex. You think you can do a lot until you get into it.” ~ unknown
I enjoy a good hike – well, that is, when it’s over and I’m safely ensconced in a hot tub with a glass of wine in my hand mentally going over all the fantastic views and adventures of the day. Many times I’ve been enticed into an all day excursion by these simple words “it’s mostly a flat walk” only to find that half the day is spent trudging uphill, with me huffing and puffing like an overheated dog. This summer we visited Estes Park in Colorado where we hiked a few days in the Rocky Mountain National Park. The trails there are well maintained, easy to find and have wonderful views. You can hike a meadow or a mountain and once you are past the tourist hike destinations and on your own up on the mountain the peace, quiet and scenery will astound you. If you are lucky, like we were, you will see an elk or two. One day my husband and I did a five hour “walk” beginning at Bear Lake up past a few more stunningly beautiful lakes and then on to the top (11,000 feet – we began at 9,000) then over and back down past Alberta Falls to Glacier Gorge. I may complain, but I do love these hikes simply because I can still do them. Soon there will come a day when I cannot. Every hike is an accomplishment and I find that a simple lunch of apple and cheese tastes the best when eaten while sitting on top of a boulder in the sunshine on the side of a mountain. This particular painting is of a view taken from Dream Lake in Estes Park, CO at the beginning of our hike. Hallet’s Peak is a mountain I will admire from a distance.
