Carter Lake

It was a pretty day for a hike albeit windy.  We were tucked on the edge of the woods along the reservoir for the most part so we didn't have to deal with the wind until the end.  The kids were on fire (speed-wise) today because we had some friends with us that had kids.  I think we should invite them along every time!  As you can see below there were tons of rocks along the reservoir.  These were great for the kids to throw into the water.

 Some enterprising individuals even built benches and chairs out of this rock so we hung out there for awhile.

With 4 adults and 4 kids tromping through the forest we were able to see three deer (only 2 pictured).  They must be pretty tame.  Unfortunately my zoom isn't as good on my new camera as my old one was so this is the best picture I can get.

This picture made me laugh.  My daughter looks like a giant tick!

Hike: Carter Lake
Trails Used: Started at North Pines Campground and used the Sundance Trail and ended at the South Shore Campground
Distance: 3.62 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Overall average: 1.4 mph
Overall Time: 2 hrs, 37 min
Total Ascent: 822 ft.

Ramsay Shockey Open Space @ Pinewood Reservoir

I've never done this hike before so I was excited to get going in the morning.  After a pretty drive you come into a valley that is bare on one side with rolling hills and tree/rock filled on the other side.  In the middle is the reservoir.  It was half frozen and made for a great picture.  Our hike started over a bridge/dam that led into the tree filled area.

Upon leaving the dam area you quickly approach the Shoshone Trail head.  It was pretty muddy on the trail for me but the two little one's loved walking directly in the mud, of course.  The hike goes through a nice pine forest filled with large climbing rocks for the kids.

Half of our group made it to the lunch area first and waved the rest of us in.  

The hike ended with us walking along the lake.  There were many fishermen out.  We even got to see a rainbow trout that one of them caught.  Instead of staying on the Shoshone/Besant trail we took the Fisherman's Cove trail that was more traveled. It was, but it was also very icy and slippery.  We were worried about the kids sliding into the lake.  Everyone did make it through all right.

The picture looks much worse than the hike was.  The kids had no problem doing this hike and didn't seem to tire at all.

Hike: Ramsay Shockey Open Space
Trails Used: Shoshone to Fisherman's Cove
Distance: 2.75 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Moving average: 1.3 mph
Moving Time: 2 hrs, 03 min
Total Ascent: 476 ft.

Mountain Biking/Hiking Trail by Horsetooth

On the President's Day weekend we all went for another hike. This time we did one w/ views of Horsetooth Reservoir. Normally, in the summer, we wouldn't be able to walk this trail due to rattlesnakes. This is the perfect time of year to enjoy this hike. We had a picnic lunch to get energized for the last part of the hike. The views were fantastic but it could have been a little sunnier!

 Looking at this elevation chart makes me laugh.  Daddy kept telling the kids we were on our last hill...as you can see there were a lot of 'last' hills!  When doing anything athletic with Daddy I've learned that nothing he will tell you about distance, last anything, etc. is ever right.  It will always be longer and harder than what he wants you to believe!

 

Hike: Horsetooth Hiking/Biking Trail

Trails Used: ?
Distance: 2.67 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Moving average: 1.2 mph
Moving Time: 2 hrs, 17 min
Total Ascent: 633 ft.

Horsetooth Hike

Just a little hike with the kiddos today. We went to Horsetooth Falls. I was surprised that there was water flowing in the middle of January after a couple of months of no snow. It is barely more than a trickle:
As you can see the kids got tired and needed to nap.Just kidding. They were gung ho the whole way!

The Gojito!

I'm back to reminiscing about last summer. I'm proud to say I am now the master of the mojito! After much experimenting I feel my recipe can not be improved upon. What's even better is: It's easily transferable for that camping or beach trip. Hence the name: Gojito! How many more days until I have that fresh mint from my garden? Ahhh......too many, too many.

Reaping the Harvest

This is just a sampling of the root veggies I pulled out of the garden. I don't like carrots too much but my son loves them. I'm glad we planted them since I heard a funny comment from him in early spring. He thought carrots only came in the mini, cut, peeled variety. It was great to show him carrots in their true form. I've never planted potatoes before either. I can't believe one potato produced all the potatoes below!

65 degrees in January....

What does that make me think of? Sun, fresh garden veggies, and margaritas. I was going to post these pics this summer but: I was too busy, I was having too much fun to go inside and work on the computer, or I was plain lazy. Take your pick...any of those excuses would work.

On the bright side this gives me something to post when everyone is experiencing the doldrums of the winter months. I can let everyone dream of grilled pizza (home made crust) with Sun Gold & Italian Ice tomatoes (home grown), falafel, feta cheese, and a peanut/soy sauce. That's the picture above.

Not your taste?...I'll try again:

How about a grilled pizza (home-made crust) with Sun Gold & Italian Ice tomatoes (home grown), banana peppers (home grown), basil pesto sauce (home-made, fresh basil from garden) , and blue cheese?
I admit I was spoiled this summer. My lunches consisted of whatever type of pizza I could create from my garden. Due to our Indian summer I was able to keep the pizza's going until early October. Fresh pesto (pictured below) was a mainstay in most of the pizza's I constructed.
When I wasn't eating pizza I was eating grilled kale, kohlrabi, zucchini pie, hamburgers (beef from South Dakota), and freshly cut tomatoes. All of the veggies seen here are from my garden. My taste buds are salivating!
Another favorite, of course, is your good old BLT (mine might be a little different from your version...I'm a big fan of blue cheese), South Dakota bacon (look how thick that is!), BBQ sauce and mayo, spring greens, kale, and roasted kohlrabi.

Well now I'm off to cook dinner and I'm a bit disappointed. It's not going to be anywhere near as good as dinner this summer! Bummer!!

Breckenridge for Christmas

We spent a nice Christmas up in Breckenridge. That's the hubbie and my mom in the pic above. There was lots of snowshoeing, opening presents, seeing movies, some skiing (the little people), wonderful family time, swimming and hot tubbing, watched a fun play (the kids loved it-A Christmas Story), and sledding.

Snowshoe Day 1: Double Loop
Trails Used: House to Iowa Mill, Ski Jump, True Romance Mine, Trail of Tears, Sally Barber, up mini Heart Attack Hill, back to House
Distance: 5.52 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Moving average: 2.6 mph
Moving Time: 2 hrs, 09 min
Total Ascent: 1048 ft.


Snowshoe Day 2: Straight up
Trails Used: House to Iowa Mill, up the mountain to mine, over and down to ski jump, back to house
Distance: 4.25 miles
Difficulty: Difficult
Moving average: 2.1 mph
Moving Time: 1 hr, 59 min
Total Ascent: 1344 ft.

Snowshoe Day 3: Double Loop
Trails Used: House to Iowa Mill, Ski Jump, True Romance Mine, Trail of Tears, Sally Barber, up mini Heart Attack Hill, back to House (took a turn before I was suppose to)
Distance: 5.69 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Moving average: 3.1 mph
Moving Time: 1 hr, 51 min
Total Ascent: 1062 ft.

Snowshoe Day 4: Double Loop
Trails Used: House to Iowa Mill, Ski Jump, True Romance Mine, Trail of Tears, Sally Barber, up mini Heart Attack Hill, back to House
Distance: 5.51 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Moving average: 2.8 mph
Moving Time: 1 hr, 59 min
Total Ascent: 1076 ft.

Snowshoe Day 5: Straight up
Trails Used: House to Iowa Mill, up the mountain to mine, over and down to ski jump, back to house
Distance: 4.11 miles
Difficulty: Difficult
Moving average: 2.6 mph
Moving Time: 1 hr, 34 min
Total Ascent: 1300 ft.
Notes: Butt burner day!

Snowshoe Day 6: Double Loop
Trails Used: House to Iowa Mill, Ski Jump, True Romance Mine, Trail of Tears, Sally Barber, up mini Heart Attack Hill, back to House
Distance: 5.52 miles
Difficulty: Difficult
Moving average: 3.2 mph
Moving Time: 1 hr , 42 min
Total Ascent: 1035 ft.
Notes: Winds blowing 70-100mph that day; 3-4 dead fall trees on trail the next day

Snowshoe Day 7: Little Loop
Trails Used: House to Ski Jump, to Iowa Mill and back down to House
Distance: 3.3 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Moving average: 3.1 mph
Moving Time: 1 hr , 04 min
Total Ascent: 635 ft.
Notes: I'm beat, need a break, got the job done today but that was about it!