A gloomy, chilly, and icy day @ Riverbend Ponds

This hike became day 3 of our 3 day exercise plan to rid the kids of all their negative energy (ie. constant squabbling that mommy couldn't put up with).  I wasn't very motivated since it was gray but wanted to stick to our original plan to tire these kids out!  This was a quick close to home adventure and the kids have always had fun with the water and rocks.  I was hoping we were going to see lots of geese (since they are everywhere in town lately) but hadn't counted on all the ponds being frozen.

The kids quickly got in the spirit of the walk by trying to break the ice.  Try as they might it was just too hard.

We spotted quite a few beaver chewed trees right out of the parking lot by the first pond but didn't see any beavers or dams.

The ice provided many opportunities for play.  It was hard to keep them off of it.

The boardwalks provided areas for exploration.

Smiles=no squabbling=happy mom! 

We discovered that when you hit the air bubbles in the ice that water would come shooting out.

When we got along the Poudre River we finally saw some ducks and geese.

Hike: Riverbend Ponds

Trails Used: Riverbend Ponds off Prospect Road

Distance:  2.82 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Overall average:  1.7 mph
Overall Time:  1 hr, 40 min
Total Ascent:  151 ft.

Gone Fishing?

 Nope, but I did head out to Swetsville Zoo.  I hadn't been since the kids were little (I think Q had to be propped up for pictures).  I had to get away from the fishbowl my house has been for the past couple of weeks.  The roofers are done, the painters are almost done, and the windows will be done in two weeks.  I need my space back!  This visit provided some much needed relaxation...

 until I ran into this dinosaur!

 Okay, who are we kidding?  I did need to get out of the house but it was also my last 70 degree day for awhile and I wanted to take the jeep out for a spin with the top off.  I headed over to the Strauss Cabin next.  I'd never seen it before and I guess this will be the closest I ever get thanks to those darn arsonists.

Riverbend Ponds Natural Area

 What a great place!  There are quite a few different ponds and a rather lengthy trail.  I didn't realize that we would have so much to explore!

 

We were able to see baby geese,

 

 

snakes,

 

 

 fish,
 turtles,

 

 and birds (a lot of red wing black birds) throughout this hike.

 

 

We hiked on boardwalks,

 

 played on logs, played with sticks and grasses in the water,

 

 threw rocks in the ponds and river, watched people canoe and fish.
 We were able to walk along the Poudre River for awhile and saw red seaweed!

 

There is so much to do and we even hiked quite a bit (3.5 miles)!  I would highly recommend this for families.

  The roses had just come out to bloom:

 

 The Donkeytail Spurge was pretty:

Hike: Riverbend Pond's Natural Area

Trails Used:

Distance: 3.53 miles
Difficulty: Easy for adults, Moderate for children (can get hot out there so start early)
Overall average: 1.2 mph
Overall Time: 2 hrs, 52 min
Total Ascent: 462 ft.

 

Trying to run again (trying, being the key word)

  I'm trying to get back into running after a winter of swimming (hadn't done that in 16 years!) due to plantar fascitis (contracted last May).  I've been enjoying the swimming but I'd like to get back outside for the summer.  Last weekend I played tennis, did my hike, and played some more tennis.  My foot really hurt by the end of the weekend again.  I iced it on Sunday and things seemed better Monday.  I decided to give it a try (running) today and see how it feels later.  So far, so good!

Hike: Lee Martinez Park to the West and back

Trails Used: Poudre Trail
Distance: 3.94 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Overall average: 6.0 mph
Overall Time: 39 min
Total Ascent: 90 ft.

Hewlett Gulch

What a gorgeous day for a hike.  We took a scenic drive up the Poudre Canyon this morning with the grandparents and kiddo's and went for a snow hike at Hewlett Gulch.  The trail was nicely packed out so we didn't need snowshoes.  Had we been thinking and on top of it parents, we would have remembered the snow pants so the kids could have played but we weren't on top of it parents!  They still had fun.  There were many streams to cross:

Ice chunks to play with:

And scenic vistas to look at:

There were a couple foundations left of some old homesteads:

 

We had a little one that was a tad under the weather (coughing and snotty) so we didn't go quite as far as we would have liked.  It would be fun to come back up and do it again.

Hike: Hewlett Gulch
Trails Used:Hewlett Gulch
Distance: 1.9 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Overall average: 1.4 mph
Overall Time: 1 hrs, 23 min
Total Ascent: 311 ft.