Showing posts with label St. Mary's Glacier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label St. Mary's Glacier. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Cache Crazy Tuesday 06-25-13
Monday, October 3, 2011
Hiking & Geocaching - What's Not to Like?
Hiking & Geocaching - What's Not to Like?
(photo taken from Google photos)
One of things I like best about geocaching is that it gives me the opportunity to combine 2 of my favorite activites. I love to be out in the woods hiking around . But if there's a geocache hidden nearby, well, so much the better. The gals over at the blog Hiking Lady had a recent post about geocaching and I was telling Carol over there how much I like to combine the 2 hobbies.
We're not exactly what I'd call hard core hikers. I'd term us more as "hiker's lite." My husband is usually good for 5 or 6 hours, so I like to grab my back pack and accomodate this. I can usually tell when he's had enough and that's when we call it a day. We live in the midwest, so there isn't a lot of what I'd call "mountain" hikes, but we do live near lots of places with great hiking trails and we like to visit those.
I especially like the trails where there is a little something different to climb in, on, or around.....
I also LOVE it when I get a chance to climb a tree. For this cache I had to stand on my husbands shoulders, up inside the tree, to reach the cache.....
If you look closely you can see me half way up this one....
(apparently I spend a lot more time up in trees than I realized)
We spend a lot of time in Kentucky and the trails around Kentucky Lake are wonderful!
Wisconsin has some beautiful hiking spots also and I'd like to go further into northern Wisconsin sometime in the near future....
When I was out in Colorado last summer I got a chance to hike St. Mary's Glacier and that was definately the best hike of my life. At 11,000 ft, it was also the highest I've ever been. I have to say - I am HOOKED! I loved it! I will definately be going out there again for some more hiking.
One of things I like best about geocaching is that it gives me the opportunity to combine 2 of my favorite activites. I love to be out in the woods hiking around . But if there's a geocache hidden nearby, well, so much the better. The gals over at the blog Hiking Lady had a recent post about geocaching and I was telling Carol over there how much I like to combine the 2 hobbies.
We're not exactly what I'd call hard core hikers. I'd term us more as "hiker's lite." My husband is usually good for 5 or 6 hours, so I like to grab my back pack and accomodate this. I can usually tell when he's had enough and that's when we call it a day. We live in the midwest, so there isn't a lot of what I'd call "mountain" hikes, but we do live near lots of places with great hiking trails and we like to visit those.
I especially like the trails where there is a little something different to climb in, on, or around.....
I also LOVE it when I get a chance to climb a tree. For this cache I had to stand on my husbands shoulders, up inside the tree, to reach the cache.....
If you look closely you can see me half way up this one....
We spend a lot of time in Kentucky and the trails around Kentucky Lake are wonderful!
Wisconsin has some beautiful hiking spots also and I'd like to go further into northern Wisconsin sometime in the near future....
When I was out in Colorado last summer I got a chance to hike St. Mary's Glacier and that was definately the best hike of my life. At 11,000 ft, it was also the highest I've ever been. I have to say - I am HOOKED! I loved it! I will definately be going out there again for some more hiking.
We found geocaches on every single one of these hikes. So you see, it's really easy to combine the two and have a really fun day!
Be sure to stop by the Hiking Lady and say hi. They have lots of great hiking information and gear reviews. And guess what, you guys are welcome to drop by too!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Outdoor Photo Prompt - Goodbye Summer
Today I am linking up with The Outdoor Blogger Network because they're featuring an Outdoor Photo Prompt featuring everyone's favorite photo from Summer 2011.
So my favorite photo from this past summer is this.....
This photo was taken from the top of St. Mary's Glacier in Colorado. This day was one of my favorite days ever!! I was hiking in the mountains in Colorado, with my daughter, my sister and her family. It was a perfect day, weather wise - warm, not hot, breezy but not blustery, and the air was clear and crisp. We spent several hours up there, climbing around, walking in the icy cold lake, throwing snowballs and just relaxing while taking in the amazing view. It was a damn near perfect day!
Jump over to The Outdoor Blogger Network and see some of the other sights of summer. What's your favorite photo? If you post it, come back and let me know so I can see it too!
So my favorite photo from this past summer is this.....
This photo was taken from the top of St. Mary's Glacier in Colorado. This day was one of my favorite days ever!! I was hiking in the mountains in Colorado, with my daughter, my sister and her family. It was a perfect day, weather wise - warm, not hot, breezy but not blustery, and the air was clear and crisp. We spent several hours up there, climbing around, walking in the icy cold lake, throwing snowballs and just relaxing while taking in the amazing view. It was a damn near perfect day!
Jump over to The Outdoor Blogger Network and see some of the other sights of summer. What's your favorite photo? If you post it, come back and let me know so I can see it too!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Hiking to St. Mary's Glacier
We just got back from a quick little trip to Colorado. I've been wanting to get out there for ages, so I cashed in my credit card miles for my ticket and for my birthday my husband bought my daughter a ticket so she could join me. Talk about the perfect gift!
We crammed a ton of stuff into our 5 day mini trip, but I'm going to tell you about THE highlight first. On Sunday we decided to take a hike up to St. Mary's Glacier. The glacier is located just outside the town of Alice. We drove up the mountain to one of 2 parking areas and then walked over to the trail leading to the top.
This is what it looks like at the beginning of the trail...
The higher we went, the more rocky it became. The hike wasn't bad at all. If I were to do it again though, I'd be sure to wear hiking boots and take a walking stick. I hadn't brought my hiking boots with me, so I did it in gym shoes. Going up wasn't bad but I did a little more sliding than I cared to on the way down. Lesson learned - no more trips without hiking boots and I need to buy a collapsible walking stick.
At the top of the trail was a crystal clear lake....
We posed around the lake for awhile, but the base of the glacier in the distance was calling to us, so before long we were headed up another trail. Chablis & I took turns carrying the pack. You can see "Travelling Snoopy" who always goes along for the ride.
At the base of the mountain it was in the high 90's that day.
By the time we reached the lake, the wind was blowing with a vengence and it was very comfortable temperature wise. We were anxious to go play with the snow in August.
Skiiers and snowboarders were hiking up and down with their equipment and enjoying the snow.
We continued up a trail leading to the glacier. There was a steady stream of people up and down the trail so apparently we weren't the only ones trying to beat the heat that day.
Half way up we enjoyed this view....
When we hit the base of the snow, this is the view that greeted us!
We played in the snow for awhile....
And then continued climbing upward....
Yes, that lake in the background is where we had taken pictures earlier.
Each view was better than the one before it. We kept scrambling around from rock to rock and kept snapping picture after picture. Personally, I could have stayed up there for hours. It was so beautiful up there, the sky was so blue and the air was incredibly clean. All too soon it was time to start heading down.
We took a break by the lake to catch our breath, drink some water and take some more pictures.
I decided that I should walk barefoot in the lake since I may never get another chance to wade in a glacier fed lake. Within 30 seconds my feet were frozen. That water was COLD!
After one last look around, we headed back down....
And wouldn't you know it, but there was actually a geocache hidden along a side trail, so we hurried over and found it quick....
I can easily say that this was one of the "best days" of my life. I was hiking on a mountain and playing in the snow, higher up than I had ever been before, with my daughter, my sister and her family. John Denver's song "Rocky Mountain High" kept running through my mind. I was on Cloud 9 the rest of the day. I would go back and do that hike again in a minute.
We crammed a ton of stuff into our 5 day mini trip, but I'm going to tell you about THE highlight first. On Sunday we decided to take a hike up to St. Mary's Glacier. The glacier is located just outside the town of Alice. We drove up the mountain to one of 2 parking areas and then walked over to the trail leading to the top.
At the top of the trail was a crystal clear lake....
By the time we reached the lake, the wind was blowing with a vengence and it was very comfortable temperature wise. We were anxious to go play with the snow in August.
Yes, that lake in the background is where we had taken pictures earlier.
Each view was better than the one before it. We kept scrambling around from rock to rock and kept snapping picture after picture. Personally, I could have stayed up there for hours. It was so beautiful up there, the sky was so blue and the air was incredibly clean. All too soon it was time to start heading down.
We took a break by the lake to catch our breath, drink some water and take some more pictures.
I decided that I should walk barefoot in the lake since I may never get another chance to wade in a glacier fed lake. Within 30 seconds my feet were frozen. That water was COLD!
I can easily say that this was one of the "best days" of my life. I was hiking on a mountain and playing in the snow, higher up than I had ever been before, with my daughter, my sister and her family. John Denver's song "Rocky Mountain High" kept running through my mind. I was on Cloud 9 the rest of the day. I would go back and do that hike again in a minute.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
