JC's Birthday on Horseback!

Hey, Everyone! JC's birthday was on the 26th and he chose to go horseback riding! Central City is about an hour from where we live and is an old mining town with a few casinos and hotels. We drove out there to go horseback riding and then spent a little bit of time in the town. Here are some of the pictures: 

JC looking like he knows what he's doing ;) I'm impressed with his riding skills, even though he's only been a few times. 

This is Mt. Evans. We camped there last summer...

This is an old mine that we walked through on the horses...

JC rode Tonka and I rode Gary...

One of the best parts of this riding trip was when we were able to ride ahead of the guide and the other couple we were with. We got about 15 minutes where it was just us and our horses =) 

We rode past another old mine and through an evergreen forest...

And then through an aspen grove.... 

Was able to get a decent selfie while on the horse =) 

The whole month of October was Halloween themed for us. We had 13 Nights of Horror where we watched a different horror movie every night, went to a haunted corn maze, haunted house, and shot zombies with paintball guns! So for JC's birthday I chose a graveyard ride. This cemetery is from the 1800s and we went through the gate on the horses and rode all through it. 

 

Right before we got back to the barn we saw this Red Tailed Hawk...

This is an abandoned school house on the side of the road that took us to the barn...

And these are pictures of an abandoned mine...

And this is downtown Central City...

As I am writing this, it is snowing. It's only been a couple weeks since these pictures were taken, but winter has arrived and fall is gone. I am looking at the trees in the picture below on the left and they are bare now. I am glad to see the snow fall, but sad to see autumn leave. Til next year!

Fall Hiking on Cub Lake Trail - Rocky Mountain National Park

Hey Guys! I can't even believe that it's already October! Summer flew by with nothing much to post about...we moved again last month, so we now reside in Lakewood, Colorado. Lakewood is in the southwestern corner of Denver. We have a nice view of the foothills from our new apartment and are way closer to the places that we like to go to for hiking and camping. Now that the weather is cooler, we have decided to hike at least once a week. Last week we went to Green Mountain. I posted a couple pictures on Facebook, but I didn't take very many because I forgot to bring the camera. 

On Monday, JC and I drove up to Estes Park and went hiking on Cub Lake Trail in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). It is one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever been on. We started by driving through Moraine Park (which is inside of RMNP) where we spotted two herds of elk. Elk breed in the fall, so one thing that everyone in Denver has to do is go see the elk during "The Rut." Bulls gather cows and calves into groups called harems. The bulls will sometimes fight each other for a harem; we witnessed one on Monday. 

Here is one harem...

...and here is the other one.

And here are the two bulls fighting it out...

The bull from the first picture lost, but they just moved on. Although they left some of their harem behind...

Bull elk bugle to attract cows and intimidate other bulls. Its a bellow that ends with a rather high pitched scream.

This is the closest we have ever been to a herd of elk!!

Another reason to go to RMNP are the fall colors =) 

They are just magnificent!

Aspens are my favorite =) 

 And we got to hike through a whole grove of them =) 

 A lot of the hike was through burned areas of the park. Fern Lake Fire burned 3500 acres of RMNP in the fall of 2012. It was the worst wildfire in RMNP history.

One of the reasons I love fall is all of the colors. Reds, oranges, browns, and golds.... Such a beautiful field =) 

So blessed to live in such a beautiful state =) 

So JC easily makes friends with animals...

And this is what awaited us at the top of a 2.3 mile hike...

Next Monday we are going to Conifer to spend a day in their rec area with the dogs. Should be some good hiking there, so be ready for another post soon!