Rocky Mountains
(19.7. - 21.7. 2002)

This year it was again a business trip that gave me a chance to visit the Rocky Mountains. I went to Houston, but flying back to Minneapolis or flying to Denver first (through Minneapolis) cost the same, so I did not have hard time to decide. I had three days. I camped in the Aspen Glen campground of the National Park (since I arrived early morning on Friday, the campground still had reasonable availability).

On Friday, I went for a hike in the Bear lake area. I intended not to stretch myself and do only easy hikes. I went to the Andrews Glacier. However, the glacier was not steep and led to a pass - where I went as well. Being in the pass, on the continental divide, I could not resist hiking up the nearest peak as well. It was a beautiful day and on the way back I took a dip in the Loch lake. It was close to sunset, very quiet and charming.

On Saturday I followed an advice of a ranger in the campground and went for the "CCY" hike (Chapin, Chiquita and Ypsilon Mountains). Coming thunderstorms turned me back right after reaching Chiquita Mountain. But I took my time and enjoyed staying on the mountain slopes observing the thunderstorm clouds around me, once I was below the tree line. It took me 1.5h to get up and 3 hours to go down. Then, since it was still early enough, I picked Sundance mountain. I made this short (4km roundtrip) hike, but the rain caught me anyway.

For my last day I saved hike outside of the park, which was recommended to me by my friend Marguerite. It started from Brainard lake area (close to a town Ward) and went up Mount Audubon. It was a great hike with amazing views. One of the best I ever did in Colorado.

This time, I made it safely back to the airport and to Minneapolis.