May 2016 – rocky mountain tot

Riding High in New Kid Carrier

On our most recent trip to Colorado we were excited to try out our new kid carrier for a hike up to Gem Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.

After renting packs for our last few trips, we decided to buy a Deuter carrier from REI (similar).

Cecy enjoyed the view riding up high. She seemed very comfortable and there was more space between her and my husband so they didn’t get as hot. We also bought a sun roof and rain cover for the carrier (similar) which will come in handy this summer.

The Deuter carrier came with a little stuffed bear which we nicked named ‘buddy’.Overall, I think this is going to be a great investment for family hiking adventures.

Toddler Self Guided Tour of Sprague Lake

We took a quick weekend trip to Estes Park, Colorado last weekend to celebrate my husband’s upcoming birthday! His bestfriend staid with us for part of the trip, so my husband got some good ‘guy-time’ hiking in while I took Cecy on a mommy-daughter hiking adventure around Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.

The weather was perfect, the scenery was gorgeous and we enjoyed taking our time to explore every rock, puddle and log along the half mile loop.

At 8,688′ of elevation, there was still a little snow melting on the path in a few places.

Cecy loved running across the wooden bridges that cross marshy areas.

She climbed on the smooth boulders that rest off the trail.

Several wooden benches line the path which are great for taking a snack break or just sitting down to enjoy the mountain views. These are also great spots for family photo ops!

A park sign points out the peaks you can see from Sprague Lake on the Continental Divide: Half Mountain, Thatchtop, Taylor Peak, Otis Peak, Hallet Peak, Tyndall Glacier, Flattop Mountain and Notchtop.

I cherish this special time with my little hiking buddy.

Rocky Mountain Tot Goes to Bridal Veil Falls

Rocky Mountain National Park’s Bridal Veil Falls is located in a more remote area of the park. The land was once a cattle ranch and was converted to a destination dude ranch before the park service purchased the land in 1988.

From the Cow Creek trail-head it is a 3.2 mile hike to Bridal Veil Falls.

The trail meanders along the creek.

When you get 1.2 miles into the hike you can split off to go to destinations like Balanced Rock or Gem Lake. We will keep this in mind for future hikes, but for this one we kept on our original path.

It definitely feels like an old John Wayne movie out in these parts!

Until we cross over the creek and into the woods.

Wait, where did the trail go!?

I’m pretty sure this is not the 20 foot waterfall we were looking for.

But, that’s okay our little dudette was pretty tuckered out.

We will have to try this one again. In the mean time if you are interested in hiking to the falls, I recommend reading this helpful post from Rocky Mountain Hiking Trails.com. Good luck!