Our adventurous friends, Jonathan and Loren, are going to be in Colorado for the summer! They left all familiarity behind them in Florida, bought an RV and hit the road with their adorable chocolate lab. They will be living in Gunnison, but they spent all last week with us!

We went on a Sunday afternoon, after church, and drove up to Idaho Springs in pursuit of recording an epic song in an epic place. We made the boys carry all the gear (:p)
The drive is beautiful and the trail head is easy to find. There are several gravel parking lots in the area, all requiring a $5 pay, very close to the trail.

The trail is 1.5 miles round trip and a steady incline the whole way up. I haven’t hiked this trail in spring before, but it was just as gorgeous as the summer time. There was a lot of snow on the trail, but because of the popularity of St. Mary’s Glacier, it was all packed down. Snow shoes were not necessary, but if you’re a little wary (like I am) about going downhill on a bunch of slippery ice and snow then I would recommend micro spikes. Most hikers just had normal hiking shoes on. There were quite a few people out and lots of happy dogs running around. Some people had been skiing and sledding on the mountain

Once you get up to the frozen lake you are greeted by a towering glacier and some interesting trees that look like they belong in a Dr. Seuss book. There were large gusts of wind every few minutes, but with the sun shining it wasn’t too cold. (Hats and gloves would be appropriate)

There are many neat places to explore in this area, the higher you go, the better the views get!