Nederland, CO – Thank You Caribou!

What a great way to spend Thanksgiving!  We took another great hike in snow…and thanked God for offering such beauty to soothe our souls.  (I’m starting to think there are no bad hikes here in Colorado!)  But I thought that since we weren’t going to spend today surrounded by family and friends, I wanted to spend the day in “The Hills”.  We weren’t the only ones, either.  There were families and groups of friends spending their day hiking together as well.  Wonderful.

Our choice today was Caribou Ranch, just north of the small town of Nederland (about 1 hour drive).  Nederland sits on CO Hwy 72, which is also known as the “Peak to Peak Highway” connecting I-70 and Estes Park.  My only mistake in picking this park was picking it on a holiday, when all of the cute little shops in Nederland were closed.  Bummer.  We’ve been in them before and although there aren’t many, they are all great to browse.

I think Andy is getting used to seeing dirt roads on our hiking days.  But he drew the line when he saw the ice-covered hill to get to the parking lot for Mud Lake.  Good thing there was a second parking lot between Mud Lake and Caribou Ranch. 

We did the lollipop-shaped trail in Caribou first.  This is a great park for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, too.  No mountain biking allowed on these trails, though, because it is an environmentally sensitive area.

Walking through the aspen and evergreen forest, with the hush of snow and birds chirping was such an enjoyable start.

There is lots of history in this park, too.  Here Andy is standing on the old “Switzerland Trail” which was an old railroad from 1904-1919.  In the summer months they used to take tourists into the mountains on this line.  It was also used for mining and there are old building and mining equipment to see.

Andy had to test the ice on all the creeks and lakes we found.

I had hoped to see elk or moose in the large valley.  The park is closed from April 1 – June 30th every year for elk calving.

Then we crossed the street from the parking area and hiked in to Mud Lake Open Space.  We just did the Tungsten Loop that took us around Mud Lake itself.  It was frozen.  Yes, Andy tested it.

As you can see, today we took our hiking poles with us.  That makes hiking on ice and snow SOOO much easier.  Something tells me we’ll need “snow baskets” on our poles though soon enough.

Afterward we headed into Boulder.  The drive along Hwy 119 (Boulder Canyon) is one of the most stunning canyon drives we’ve seen, and we’ve seen some jaw-droppers.  We were hoping to grab a bite to eat.  Not much was open, but the Hotel Boulderado’s Corner Pub was.  What a great ending to a great day.  A warm, charming pub in a historic building.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, too!