Autumn in Colorado

A few weeks ago I took a trip West to Durango, CO to spend some time with my friend Lynnie and to get a much-needed dose of fall.

It was somewhat fortuitous timing because she was on furlough due to the shutdown, so she didn’t have to work while I was there (and she spent a lot of time making delicious muffins and other baked goods instead). YAY! I arrived the afternoon of October 2. We started things off right with a late lunch at Steamworks Brewing Co. We spent some time chilling out, and then that evening we met up with several of her friends for a lovely run/hike at Falls Creek, which is just outside of town. Spoiler alert: we went hiking every day! Durango people are cool like that!

On Thursday we hiked up the Animas Mountain trail starting from, get this, Lynn’s front door! That’s right. We walked out of her front door and up a mountain. Too cool. It was about three miles out and back, and there were lovely panoramic views of the town.

Friday we took a drive out to La Plata Canyon to see some pretty leaves. We hiked around a bit and took some photos, and then we headed back to town in time to meet up with a bunch of friends for dinner at Norton’s and some delicious mac-n-cheese!

Spell-check can’t help everyone

The future Clapp homestead

Saturday morning we met up with Tonya and Clayton, with whom we hiked the Grand Canyon back in March, for a day in the desert. We had lunch at the Farm Bistro in Cortez, which is a wonderful “farm to table” restaurant. Then we hiked up to see Pueblo ruins in the side of the mountains in Sand Canyon and later topped the day off with a wine tasting at nearby Sutcliffe Vineyard.

Sunday I hiked with Lynnie and Tonya to Spud Lake. The hike was absolutely gorgeous. There were tons of beautiful autumn colors in the Aspens, green Spruces, and a mountain lake! After working up an appetite there we went to Ouray, where we had a late lunch at Maggie’s Kitchen and then stopped in at the Weisbaden Hotel for a soak in the hot springs.

On Monday Lynn and I went big and drove to Silverton for a hike up to Ice Lake. This one was the most intense, and I even had to battle some elevation sickness to make it up (we gained 2,430 ft to reach 12,270 ft by the end), but it was a great 7 mile hike to see these beautiful, deep-blue colors.

Tuesday, due to some slightly poor planning, Lynn caught a flight to the East coast. I dropped her at the airport and then spent some time at the Durango library. They had a great outdoor patio overlooking the river that runs through town, and after hanging out there for a bit I found the river trail and took a nice walk along the water to check out the train.

There you have it! On Wednesday I caught my flight and headed home to see my boys!