We decided that it was time to drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park for our first hike of the season in the real mountains. I picked out a relatively easy, 3.4 mile round trip out-and-back hike to Gem Lake with the intent that we would go all the way to balance rock if we were up to the challenge. Balance rock is 2 miles from Gem Lake once you're there. We woke up a little late thinking that we needed to wait until late morning so it would be a little warmer, but by the time we got there (9:30), it was already in the mid 60's and we were thinking we were in for a hot hike. The temperature never got past about 70 degrees though, and there was always a constant breeze, so it was really nice!

We got to Gem lake 50 minutes into the hike. It was only 956 feet of elevation gain and 1.7 miles to get there, so we ate a quick snack, took some photos, and headed on to Balance Rock. We got to Balance rock an hour later with a total distance of 3.94 miles since the start of our hike. Balance rock is almost at the same elevation as Gem lake, but the trail dipped down some 400 feet in elevation and then back up another 400 feet. That part of the hike really wasn't that difficult. When we got to Balance Rock, we had ascended a total of 1390 feet.

The hike took us a total of 3 hours, 35 minutes. It was 7.91 miles total with 1992 feet of elevation gain.

Yesterday while coming down from our mountain hike, we saw a bunch of cars in a field that is normally empty. I looked it up and found out there was a medieval festival going on this weekend. Overall, we were unimpressed with it. I was tried to find a schedule online but never really found one. We got there right after the jousting had finished for several hours, so that was a little bit of a disappointment. We did get to see some metal combat, which was pretty interesting because they were using real swords. All in all, I think we will skip it next year.

Today we hiked up Chasm Falls via Old Fall River Road. We started at the Alluvial Fan Trailhead, walked along the paved road to get to the start of Old Fall River Road, and then walked on the dirt road up to Chasm Falls.

Katie didn't enjoy the first part of the hike, where we walked along the paved road, but as soon as we got onto the vehicle prohibited dirt road, it started to feel a little more like a hike. The views of the falls were spectacular, and we were the only ones up there when we arrived, so that was great! It's a very touristy location, so I'm glad we got to go before the road was open to traffic for the tourist that want to park right next to the falls.

The hike took a little over 2 hours and was 4.8miles road trip with 515 feet of elevation gain. All of that is approximated because I forgot my GPS on this hike, but that's close enough to being accurate for me.

A few days ago, a Caterpillar Backhoe showed up on some public land near the turn in for our neighborhood. It was on a slanted hill and looked pretty cool every time I drove out. So today with it being overcast and good lighting, I went for a short walk. Katherine went with me and we took some photos of the equipment.

Katherine and I were on our way home in the evening when we saw a stunning sunset. When we got home, I ran inside to grab my camera and we headed back out a few blocks away over by where the Big Thompson River crosses over Wilson Avenue. We got there a touch too late, but I still got some incredible shots.