5 Things I Learned From Our Colorado Trip
Recently, we came home from our trip to Colorado. This was a new experience for us as we had never taken a trip to anywhere other than Disney World.
It was definitely one for the books as we were able to experience some stunning views, fun adventures, and we truly pushed ourselves out of our comfort zones along the way.
Colorado Border Sign – You have to take a pic here!
We learned some pretty big things that we feel are important to know not only for traveling to Colorado, but also for growing as an individual.
1. Wear Sunscreen…. ALWAYS!
Our Kayak trip – Adventure Paddle Tours
I definitely learned this lesson the hard way… I did pretty well most of the time when we were outside, but on our last day we did a 3 hour Kayak tour and I didn’t even think to put any on since it had been pretty chilly.
I also didn’t have a hat or headband like I had earlier in the week, so my forehead was completely ROASTED! By the time I realized I was sunburned, it was too late…. I’m definitely feeling the pain now.
We learned from our tour guide that the higher up in elevation you are, the more severe the radiation. This means it is MUCH easier to get sunburned. He said that some mountains are so high that the radiation is similar to getting an X-ray!
You can see my face is so sunburned…
The big tip here is to ALWAYS put on sunscreen, even if it isn’t super sunny mainly because that high elevation makes it easy to burn. Hats, sunglasses, and lip balm with SPF are also very helpful!
2. Go SLOW!
Timber Lake Trail – we found a neat little creek!
It’s pretty common knowledge that the air is much thinner in higher elevations. This can make it pretty hard to breathe!
We live in Kansas, so it’s pretty flat and much closer to sea level. We tried to prepare our bodies as much as we could by doing some incline training, but the oxygen levels were ROUGH!
We did a pretty long hike (about 13 miles total! More on that in another post) and although the distance was pretty challenging, it was SO HARD to breathe. We had to stop every few hundred feet to catch our breath, especially closer to the top.
Towards the end of the trail it opens up to this GORGEOUS meadow!
It’s ok to take it slow. Listen to what your body is telling you and although you may not be super speedy, you will be able to take in so much more of the views! Trust me, your body with thank you later!
3. Pack for ALL Weather Types
Yes, even if it says it will be sunny and warm for your whole trip. The mountain weather can be very unpredictable!
On our way to Colorado – Little Jerusalem State Park
We arrived on a day that was sunny and HOT! (Around 90’s) The next day, it dropped to around the 30’s in the morning (the day of our hike) and got up to the 70’s as the day progressed. Then it gets crazier! The next three days were snowy, rainy and FREEZING!
A few days later at the Hot Sulphur Springs… in the snow
Did I mention this trip was at the beginning of September?
The week ended by getting back up to the 50’s and Sunny, so we ended with absolutely gorgeous weather!
The last day of our trip was a GORGEOUS day!
We ALMOST didn’t pack winter gear since the forecast was saying it would be around the 70’s all week, but with the record breaking weather, we were SO glad that we had coats, gloves, and rain gear!
All in all, it’s good to be prepared!
Speaking of which!
4. Have a Plan B for Everything!
We made lots of newbie mistakes on this trip and one was that we didn’t think to have a plan B.
Our plan for our big hike was to stay in an AirBNB in Grand Lake and drive Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park and then hike the Glacier Gorge Trailhead to Skypond.
We were super excited for this hike! The views would be amazing and it was a long, but not undoable long hike! (Around 9 miles round trip)
The day before our hike, there had been some smoke from the wildfires causing some low visibility on the road, so Trail Ridge Road closed…. we found out about it at around 10pm that evening…..
The only other option was to drive 5 hours AROUND the park to get to our hike, and that was NOT going to happen.
We had to frantically google some trails on our side of the park because we didn’t think to have a backup plan! (Keep in mind… it was currently after 10pm and we were hiking the next morning).
Our new plan was to go to the visitor center and see if they had any suggestions. A nice Ranger told us that Timber Lake was a nice hike and similar to what original plan was! We decided, sure! Why not?
We loved this little waterfall creek!
Yeah…. we climbed over that… definitely almost died…
Long story short, that hike was WAY more difficult and much longer than we thought it would be! Not to mention there had been an avalanche at some point and there was a giant and very dangerous landslide that we had to scramble over.
Timber Lake – It was so beautiful! It’s amazing how quiet it is up there!
The views were worth it, but we wish we would have done a little more research beforehand so we would have been better prepared!
5. Hiking Shoes are Worth it!
We almost didn’t buy them and we’re going to just wear tennis shoes, but as explained in the previous point, they were SO WORTH IT!
This trail was so cool! But definitely too muddy to keep going in tennis shoes.
There were a few other times that we didn’t think to put them on. We found a great trail to hike, but since there was some snow and we were in tennis shoes, we had to turn around.
If you THINK you might be hiking, just wear them! You’ll thank me later!
Make sure they are broken in! Blisters are no joke, especially if you will be walking pretty far. It’s good to build up some calluses early and get some nice thick cushioned socks!
I LOVE my hiking boots!
Hopefully these tips were helpful for your next Colorado trip! Make sure you sign up for our email list so you don’t miss out on any more adventures!
