Rocky Mountain High

I left the Driftless area for a eleven days to travel to a meet-up and hiking in the Rockies with a group of friends recently. We are all part of a hiking group called the Slickrockers who have been hiking, primarily in the southwest, for almost thirty years. These wonderful women come from around the country and are avid hikers and outdoorswomen. It's always a pleasure to gather and hear the tales of their adventures and share the trails with them on our mostly annual meet-ups.

Slickrockers 2023

The Driftless region with its 500 foot elevation gains gets my body in shape for the climbs in the Southwest but I admit in places like Colorado where our climbs start at 5000-9000+ feet, my lungs tell me I'm not quite as prepared as I can be.

This year we explored around the Denver area at state parks, natural areas and in Rocky Mountain National Park. Going in September meant cooler temps and fewer crowds than during the summer. We hiked some great trails to spectacular mountain views and vistas, alpine lakes, tundra, wildlife and mountain streams. We had some sun and rain - on the trail it didn't matter. I don't know if we could have packed in more than we did over the seven days of hiking. 

The pictures below are a tiny snippet of what I experienced on the hikes. I thought I'd share before I go back to chronicling our own wonderful hikes in the Driftless.

A parade of upthrust "fins" were a feature
 at Roxborough State Park
Image - Marge Loch-Wouters

Swift running mountain streams
were a feature along almost all our hikes.
Image Marg Loch-Wouters

Elk were out in abundance 
Image - Linda Pohle

Above the tree line, tundra flowers were blooming.
Image - Linda Pohle

At Loch Vale, an alpine lake at 9900 ft
Image - Heather DeVries

Fog and rain were just as beautiful
 in the mountains
Image - Marge Loch-Wouters