The temperature wasn’t too cold, but we were immediately blasted by strong, frigid winds. For the first five minutes I wanted to quit, but I’m glad we toughed it out! Soon we were shielded from the wind by trees and Cecy took a nap on her Daddy’s back. We added (less than half a mile) by hiking the Lily Ridge trail for views of the frozen lake with Estes Cone and Longs Peak as the stunning backdrop.
We also took Cecy on her first sledding adventure with a trip to Hidden Valley in Rocky Mountain National Park.
The valley used to be a winter ski destination, but now families use the slopes for sledding. It’s pretty steep for a 1 year old, so we took turns sledding with her down the hill. We also took a couple of turns for ourselves. I forgot how much fun sledding is!
We bought our sled at the Warming House, an outdoor adventure store in Estes Park.
A couple of days into our early October trip to Estes Park, I woke up ready for a little challenge. After reviewing some of my go-to Rocky Mountain National Park guidebooks, I convinced my husband that Estes Cone’s short distance at 3.3 miles each way would be doable with our little one. I underestimated this hike a bit…
There are a few ways you can get to Estes Cone and we chose the shortest distance by starting out at Longs Peak trailhead. This lot can fill up before dawn, but we arrived late into Longs Peak’s climbing season and easily found a parking spot.
Longs Peak from road lookout
Estes Cone from parking area
We followed the Longs Peak trail for about .5 miles before the trail split off towards Estes Cone. From the turn, we hiked .8 miles to get to Eugenia Mine ruins which are marked by a sign that reads, “Eugenia Mine, at the turn of the century produced more dreams than gold”.
Keeping slightly right, we hiked beyond the ‘mine’ and soon found ourselves in a grassy clearing where we could spot our destination.
View from grassy clearing up to Estes Cone
We followed the trail left back into the woods. This is when the trail starts to get noticeably steeper! The views of Longs Peak were really amazing though.
trail views of Longs Peak
2.5 miles into the hike the trail meets Storm Pass junction where you have the option to go on to Lily Lake or Bear Lake Road. We were huffing and puffing up the last .7 miles and began to worry that the trail was getting too steep to carry 10 month old Cecy safely up. My husband was nice enough to stay back with her so I could finish the last .3 miles of the climb solo.
Looking back down towards my husband and baby on steep trail
The views from Estes Cone made the steep hike worth it!
View from Estes Cone
Furry friends at the top
We celebrated hiking Estes Cone by going to downtown Estes Park for a waffle cone at our favorite ice cream shop, Hayley’s.
Beautiful Lily Lake is right across the street from Twin Sisters trailhead on highway 7. A flat .8 mile trail circles the lake. This is an easier walk for anyone who struggles with strenuous terrain. Several benches are available offering an opportunity to rest and soak in the gorgeous views. We enjoyed showing Cecy the little ducks on the lake and the pretty wild flowers that surround it. This is a spot I expect to return to again and again, especially when Cecy starts walking. She took a few cautious steps on her own yesterday – so that might be soon!
A couple of months after our wedding my husband brought me to Estes Park, CO. The first hike we went on was Twin Sisters Peaks. When we made it to the top, I looked over at the surrounding mountains in awe and instantly fell in love with the area.
Newlyweds – Mountain Love
Fast forward three years and we hiked the same mountain plus a baby and a sister-in-law! We began at the Twin Sisters trail head which is located six miles south of Estes Park on Highway 7.
Me and my mountain munchkin
I was excited to share this summit hike with my little one, but next time we will probably leave her home with a babysitter. My husband carried her, but that meant I also carried a lot of weight in my pack so the three of us would have enough water, snacks and gear. Baby gear = diapers, wipes, sunscreen, hat, change of clothes … we could have over-packed!?
We were slowly chugging up the mountain with extra weight on our backs when we ran into the landslide area about 1.5 miles in. We navigated over loose rocks and a steeper slope.
Landslide Damage
Once we crossed, we found that the landslide wiped out several switch backs so we had to make it up three steep vertical climbs that were approximately 20-25 yards each. This was the part that I was most concerned about with our baby, even though my husband was very careful.
*2020 Update: This section remains steep, but has been improved.
Despite the new challenges, this is such a fun hike and the views of Longs Peak from the top are truly amazing. This was my sister-in-law’s first summit hike which was very cool to share with her too.
Round trip is about 7 miles reaching 11,413 ft of elevation on the West Summit, a gain of 2,253 ft. The East Summit is slightly higher, but we decided to shorten the trip this time by going up just one side. The final approach to the East Summit is a fun class 2 scramble.
View from the top
2020 Update on Twin Sisters hike:
My husband recently hiked Twin Sisters (late May 2020). He took this video from the top of the East Summit on an early morning. Twin Sisters melts out sooner than some of the other summit hikes in the area, so it’s a great early season trail. It’s always good to check trail reports/conditions to make sure you have the right gear, especially during the spring when weather conditions are always changing. For the most part, the trail is similar to the conditions we wrote about nearly 5 years ago. We include Twin Sisters on our list of 9 hikes with amazing views.
View from East Summit of Twin Sisters – Spring 2020
rocky mountain tot 