A Beautiful Colorado Fall

We have enjoyed a beautiful fall here in Colorado. Those golden Aspens against the clear blue sky are simply amazing! Back in September, we attended a seminar about the best fall hikes in our area around Roosevelt National Forest (just north of Rocky Mountain National Park). Our first hike was through Hewlett Gulch, not to far from our house. The colors had just started to turn, and since there was only about a 500' of elevation gain we were able to go about 6 miles (round trip)--we're working up to bigger ones.

We also recently had a chance to try out our marksmanship, not at a formal shooting range, but out in the Pawnee Grasslands just a little ways east of Fort Collins. Carrie's brother Joe came up for a visit and we set out with our arsenal on another beautiful fall day.

We also had a great visit from Jon's parents; recently making their first trip to Colorado to see us. It was so good to see familiar faces from home and get to spend some quality time with them. Even though Jon was pretty busy with school work and classes, we managed to squeeze in a bunch of fun activities in the week they were here. We took a trip down to Colorado Springs (about 2 hours south of us) and went up the famous Pike's Peak on the cog train (because we sure weren't driving up there--14,000 feet above sea level and no guard rails), drove through Garden of the Gods, and enjoyed the beautiful mountain range scenery. We also drove up to Estes Park for "Elk Fest" (all things ELK--including bugling contests, elk sausage, and more) and then took a drive up Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park (one of the most gorgeous drives we've seen out here to date)--seeing mountain wildlife, spotting cool mountain lakes, amazing views of the peaks, and even some snow, not to mention the gorgeous views of the fall colors!

And now for a pictorial version of our fall activities: