Colorado!

This past spring break, four friends and I drove down to Colorado to enjoy the mountains, my first love. We spent two nights in Rocky Mountain National Park at the Moraine Park campgrounds and hiked some amazing trails during the day. While there was some snow, the trails were fairly packed and I was able to hike in just long johns. We then made our way to Boulder for a night, did the obligatory Pearl Street stroll, and then hiked the Flatirons at Chautauqua park the next day. We rented a cheap cabin near Cripple Creek for the next three nights. The guest book at the cabin tipped us off to a pretty cool hike at a spot known as Pancake Rock, after which we ambled about at Mueller State Park, and then grabbed a drink at the local watering hole. The bartender was super friendly and gave us some insight into the local fishing, advising that we head to Eleven Mile Canyon. The cabin was stocked with fishing poles, so our final day in Colorado was spent hiking up this amazing creek and fishing for trout. While my friend Adam was able to snag a beautiful rainbow trout, I just narrowly missed a catch. We got out hiking every single day and ate great food; the perfect adventure! I didn't take any pictures of my food creations this round, as most dishes are repeats of previous posts. However, I've been developing a pretty tasty black bean burrito experiment that I'll have to post here soon. This was my first time experiencing Colorado and man... what an amazing place. I'm definitely making some moves on applying to Boulder's Hydrology graduate program! Here are the best of the photos: