The Perfect Colorado Weekend

A Colorado Tough story submitted by Lee M.

Last August I had a weekend that exemplifies the reasons I live in Colorado. My wife and I live in Denver. We took off a Friday, packed the car with our bikes and gear and headed for the mountains. We drove to Glenwood Springs and parked in town. We got on our bikes and rode the 10 miles alongside the Colorado River to the base of Hanging Lake Trail. Having our bikes instead of the car was great because there was a wait to park a car but not a couple of bikes. We hiked the majestic, steep and relatively short trail to Hanging Lake. There we were mesmerized by the beauty of this hidden oasis. We hiked back down, rode the 10 miles back to the car, drove to Carbondale and checked into a hotel. Needless to say we exhausted but appreciative of such a fulfilling day. We grabbed dinner in Carbondale. To my surprise there are a bunch of great restaurants in Carbondale. Check them out!

Saturday we got up and headed to High Canyon Adventures at Bair Ranch in Glenwood Springs for a day of riding ATVs. This was awesome! The 25 miles of trails we rode were exhilarating! The terrain was ever changing and it was much more of a workout getting the ATV to do what I wanted than I expected. After cleaning up back at the hotel we headed into Aspen to walk around, do some window shopping and grab a bite to eat. Even though it was August it got quite chilly at night.

Sunday we gathered our bikes and took the public bus from Carbondale to the center of Aspen. It was about a 40 minute ride. Once in Aspen we mounted our bikes and rode the 35 miles back to Carbondale. I had always wanted to do this ride and it did not disappoint! Some of the vistas and views were amazing. I loved biking alongside the various creeks. There is something about the sound of running water that is so soothing. We stopped for a picnic lunch along the way. Once we got back to the hotel we checked out and headed back to Denver. It was a perfect, Colorado Tough weekend!

-Lee M.

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