Lost Lake

Oh my word, a month since my last post??  Yikes, I don't know that I've ever let that happen.  I have been a little more...busy...lately but no excuse.  So I'll try to catch up. 

We usually camp over Labor Day but it didn't end up working out this year. :(  So we still decided to do some fun outdoorsy stuff over the weekend.  I wanted to find a hike that was far enough out of Denver that you really felt up in the mountains but not so far that the kids would get whiny in the car...LOL.  I decided on  the Hessie Trailhead up past Nederland and Eldora and we hiked up to Lost Lake.  Lots of big boulders, waterfalls, log bridges, and a very pretty lake at the top.

Due to the hiking traffic on Labor Day weekend, we had to park about 1/2 mile from the trailhead which basically added a mile on to our 3 mile hike.  We don't normally take "the littles" 4 miles but they actually did really good; there was only a little bit of complaining at the end but for the most part they explored and had an awesome time.  Shannon was able to come with us so there were many laughs and the kids loved having her there.  Robb ran 18 miles that morning...no that wasn't a typo...but he was a trooper and carried Avery almost the whole time.

This is at about the halfway point.  See how everyone still has smiles on their faces?  Ahhhh....

There is a big section in the middle of the hike where the river winds through these huge rocks and then drops off in a huge waterfall.  We let the kids hop around the rocks and explore for about 15 minutes.  

With the sun streaming down...so gorgeous!

Avery picked this flower and carried it with her almost the whole time...even after she fell asleep.

We finally made it to Lost Lake!  It had little campsites all the way around (look to the far left of the pic) and we saw people hiking up there with their gear and setting up camp for the weekend.  I'd love to do that! 

Here is Avery on the way up...

...and here she is on the way down.  LOL...she was completely OUT.  It didn't matter what way Robb carried her, she didn't budge.  I think the dead weight was killing him by the time we got back to the car.

All in all...it was a beautiful day in the mid 60's, blue sky, and the Rocky Mountains.  You can't get much better than that!  I love where I live. :)