Colorado Rockies

As we were headed back to Alaska we decided it was a good idea to stop in Colorado for about 40 hours and spend some time at elevation.  It will help jumpstart our acclimatization process for the Denali trip next week.  We did two hikes around 8,500 feet with Boss, hiked above 12,000 feet twice by ourselves, slept one night at 8,500 feet and then slept the next night at just under 12,000 feet.

The air is shockingly thin at this altitude when you come from elevation less than 2,000 feet.

Chilly too, but Andrew is just made for these temps.

Boss as well, he loves the snow!

En route to a 13,000 ft. peak.

Walking the ridgeline to another 13,000+ ft. peak.

What a view!  So worth the effort!

Crossing a snow patch while hiking to another peak.

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This was one of the lower hikes we did with Boss.  He was really breathing hard at 12,000 feet but did very well at lower elevations.  He has gotten to the point where we can only do fairly flat hikes with him.  Actually he can still go up all day long, but the down hill is what hurts him.  He has arthritis in his front shoulders.

Beautiful hike around a small lake.

At the halfway point the bridge across the creek had broke down so we had to seek an alternative crossing point.

Cascading falls a little ways up the creek.

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The other hike we did followed a jeep trail up through a fragrant sage brush area overlooking a local reservoir and the snowy mountains.

Pasque flowers in bloom already.

Such a great stop, wish we had more time to spend.