Anyway, the drive out was, you know, more beauty. This was to be the most strenuous of our hikes, and we stopped by the visitors center to get a book of hiking maps and make sure about our route. The mountain in the photo below is what we were about to climb.
I got my new boots laced up and off we went. (Did I mention I had to get new hiking boots this summer, after my soles literally fell off of my old ones a few years ago? Read about it here.)
At Deer Mountain, there was a warning sign about what to do if we encountered a bear. Not to immediately give away the build up, but we saw no bears.
However, right away, we had some visitors to greet us. See the deer?! On Deer Mountain?! How appropriate!
They were RIGHT in front of us. I thought they'd run by quickly or I would have even swapped camera lenses, but we really didn't phase them a bit. One seemed to even stop and pose for us.
We stopped a few times on the trail for photos. And I promise, the ones I'm posting here are VERY MUCH narrowed down from the number we actually took.
We had several folks we passed along the way up who were on their way down, smiling and happy, while we were panting our way up with the altitude. BUT, we didn't have any real trouble at all. There were some loud bugs we joked were planning their attack on us, but they never did. Again, we had the bug spray, but never had to use it. Sweet!
Most of the trees in the area were still green, but there were a few, like those above that were pure gold. And the leaves were small and round like coins. I could only think of the miners who came out West in search of the precious metal. In some views, you could see narrow swaths of these trees like a stream. Just beautiful. And the mountains truly looked purple in their majesty.
The summit was well worth it. 360-degree views, and just incredible. Another nearly cloudless day.
We met some other nice folks at the top, including a couple from Indiana sporting their Notre Dame gear, and a pair of buddies probably in their mid- to late 60s? who meet up to hike parts of RMNP every year for the last 40 years! One seemed particularly knowledgeable about the park, and he had been to this section with his wife earlier in the year.
The official marker. Though it didn't actually give the height! But you can read more about the trail here. It was a great hike and featured views of the Continental Divide. Pretty cool.
We did not continue along the Estes Park trail, but instead felt it would be wiser to head back down the way we came. We goofed off some, too. Michael added his ball cap for a photo on these stacked stones.
It was about 6 miles round-trip. We took a drive around the area for about an hour - and forced ourselves to come a little too close to missing our brewery tour time!!! Fortunately, we made it.
But our drive was great, too. We drove low, down along a canyon for much of the way, with a river/stream that cut through it. The rocks on the sides were SO HIGH and many included the fencing or netting against them to prevent (or at least slow down?) falling or sliding rocks. Some of the little areas there and in the day before reminded me of Northeast Georgia along the river areas, but you know, on a much larger scale. Some tourist traps for sure. But the natural beauty overwhelmed the rest.
As I mentioned, we made it to New Belgium just in the nick of time. And the tour was so fun! Hal Doss was unfortunately for us, in New Orleans for work, instead of at his post at New Belgium, while we were in town. But Sarah was a great tour guide and our group was fun. There were maybe 16-20 people total with our tour, so it was very manageable. Interestingly enough, the whole group loosened up more throughout the tour as we tasted more brews... wonder why that would be?!
Not only did we learn about the brewery, and a bit about the art and science of beer, but also the history of the founder and fun facts about the employee-owned company.
It was minimally decorated, but the decor was all unique! This loveseat, as you can see, is made of, and inspired by bicycle tires, an homage to their first, and most famous brew, Fat Tire, named for the founder's bike on his trip to Belgium, where he sent his fat-tired mountain bike from Denver ahead of him to ride around the city during his visit.
My favorite brew was Pumpkick - special for the season. And Michael got me a six-pack as a surprise at the store upon our return home.
Beer can chandelier! How did I not have this in Athens?!
After our tour, which ended with the fastest metal spiral slide in history, we stopped by the tasting room to check out some brews we didn't get to try on our tour (we tried Fat Tire, Pumpkick, Eric's Ale and Snapshot on the tour.)
In the tasting room, I double-fisted it with Long Table and Blue Paddle. I liked them both! Michael asked a great question that got an interesting answer about their 1554 brew on the tour and in the tasting room/Beer Garden, tried Shift. Also good!
The great news is that New Belgium is opening a brewery early next year in our favorite get-away spot: Asheville! We can't wait to visit on our next trip.
By the time we were done though, we were ready for DINNER in Fort Collins. It has a cute Athens-y downtown (not quite as cute as Athens though) but has a college town feel. So we wanted to eat like that. Michael did his research before we went and found Stuft Burger Bar. After just having a nut bar on our hike for lunch, we were ready for the real deal. Michael built his own burger, while I chose from the menu. Both our burgers were mouth-watering and really hit the spot! As did the fries and sauce. Holy yummy, Batman. Also, we enjoyed more beer!
I wish I could tell you that we went clubbing or something afterward, but we just headed back to our B&B in Denver, happy to grab a cookie and soak in the hot tub.
Saturday morning, we opted for the 8 a.m. breakfast, and it was another hit. The couple across from us were from Florida and incredibly nice. They were in town for the wedding of a friend's daughter. Next to us was a couple from Munich, Germany, who had gotten out of town to escape Oktoberfest back home. They had been journeying throughout the Southwest for two weeks, and extremely nice. Just great to talk with.
That morning, we searched high and low for Michael's ball cap in our room and could not find it. We assumed it must have been left in the car, but when we walked up, we found it had not been left IN the car, but ON it. And it was still there, on a public city street, just waiting for us! Since it was dry Denver, it was hardly even damp.
Our hotel was so lovely! We didn't have central air, but our window unit, a ceiling fan, and the fresh air of Denver was absolutely perfect. There was the beautiful side garden where the nasturtium grow and there were some lovely areas to relax. Of course the interior was quite beautiful too, and it featured plenty of fleur-de-lis- just for me! We were on the third floor, so I can't comment on any footsteps above, but our stay was lovely.
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| Taking tea in the garden. |
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| More of the side garden. |
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| The lovely nasturtium. |
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| Fleur-de-lis all over the walls! |
So we visited some MORE beautiful views, and Buffalo Bill's Wild West Museum. It was really pretty good. There was a nice video as an introduction, and some real artifacts from the man, the myth, the legend, and his many shows.
We even came upon someone's loved ones scattering their ashes on Lookout Mountain. We gave them their space.
We took a drive through another canyon through the area (seen below.) As we drove down the mountain, we saw some crazy people. They were doing some sort of unharnessed paragliding off the mountains there, as the currents in the area help them with their flight.
Lots of cyclists were also heading up and down the mountain. I think both kinds were a little touched in the head, too. But the paragliders?! Mega-yikes. We drove through the canyon, too. There was a lot of beauty, a lot of nothing, but in one notch in the mountains there was a crazy big, and busy casino area that popped up out of nowhere! Complete with Starbucks.
We also saw tons of cars parked on the sides of the roads, and a few fly-fishing, but not a lot of hikers. So our eyes were peeled for hikers and climbers. Where were they?!
Then we spotted some! Can you see them, just tiny on the ledge?
We also visited the Denver Art Museum. We loved seeing the Western and Native American art and artifacts, and the extensive South American and East Asian artifacts. There was really too much to take in in one visit. We kind of zipped through the modern art areas since we aren't so into that, and it was late in the day.
Michael did a special search before we came too, to find me a piano bar! He didn't find quite that, but he did find the Crown Social. An antique store/bar/restaurant, featuring nightly jazz.
We caught our last beautiful sunset on the way.
Our night at The Crown Social featured a pianist. And he played some of my favorite standards, as well as medleys from "My Fair Lady" and "West Side Story."
I could have stayed all night!
Especially with my delicious gimlet. They had some featured cocktails, but the best sounding option that particular night was my own standard.
We had a simply wonderful visit. Someday it would be great to take the kids! And of course, that were the best part of all: getting home to them!
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