Just Twelve Feet

Today we had this weird idea to leave the bikes at home and go for a walk in the foothills near Denver. We felt badly about leaving Amos home alone again, and some of us had tired legs from the ride the previous day, so we decided that walking would be a nice alternative. We chose the Dakota Ridge/Red Rocks/Matthews Winters loop, which I had ridden a few months ago (here's a link to that one).

It was a 6 1/2 mile loop, which was longer than any we've done before as four humans and one dog, all walking independently. This was certainly the furthest Quinn had ever walked, and was possibly a record for Abbey, as well. Both of them did very well, and seemed to have a great time. Amos liked it, too. Click here to see a map of our route.

The Dakota Ridge Trail is on top of Dinosaur Ridge, one of the hogback ridges that runs north-south just west of Denver. It's a rugged trail with nice scenery, but just little more exposure than I like in a few sections, especially with the kids along. The exposure, scenery, and rugged terrain made it fun by adding an element of adventure.

It was hot in the sun on the ridge and as we approached the southern end of the ridge trail, I was getting concerned that Amos might get too hot. He was panting hard, and plopping down on the rocks whenever we stopped near a patch of shade. We kept him well hydrated by letting him drink from our CamelBaks, a trick he learned quickly when we were in Crested Butte a few years ago. He can lap up a falling stream of water without losing a drop. Sometimes, anyway. After a stop in the shade for about 15 minutes, he seemed to be doing fine, so we finished the Dakota Ridge trail and started back on the Red Rocks Trail.

Just as we started up the Red Rocks trail, a nice reprieve from the heat drifted across us from the mountains to the west. It came in the form of big puffy clouds, with gray smears of rain hanging below like curtains. The rain that fell on us stayed light, so it kept us cool. It was quite pleasant, and seemed to cool Amos, too.

There's one great slab of sandstone beside the trail that appeared to be open to a little exploration, so the kids and Amos went up for sit. After that it was back to the car and back home for lunch.

Sitting here at the little table in our kitchen (the only seats in the house, since our furniture is still in Michigan), I'm feeling really good about our weekend adventures. We all had fun, got a little tired and sore, and we are all ready to get to bed early.