Colorado
Colorado is known for its natural beauty, be it its many tall mountain peaks or giant rocks of different colors tilted into the earth at strange angles or beautiful red rocks sculpted by forces of erosion. It is also a place of human history, having many cliff dwellings and cliff villages sculpted into alcoves high in the canyon walls and almost 1000-year old ruins of buildings used for dwelling and religious purposes. Our first jaunt into Colorado occured in the spring of 2018. We had hoped to do some cross-country skiing but were advised against it since most of the remaining snow is no longer "skiable" due to ice. Instead we purchased some ice cleats to help keep upright on our hikes to frozen lakes and waterfalls. High elevation hikes in winter conditions proved more difficult than we had hoped. Visible bear and mountain lion tracks made me a more nervous mom than usual. I'm happy to report we did not encounter either. Here are our travels in Colorado:
