On sweets, sweat, and the definition of success

Taking a quick break today from vacation posts to share today's adventure!
On my last day of official vacation (Goodbye 6 weeks, you were very very good to me) JR and I took a day trip adventure to the tiny, tiny town of Glen Haven, CO.  It's about an hour west of Fort Collins in Roosevelt National Park and only about 8 miles away from beautiful Estes Park/Rocky Mountain National Park.
We hit the road early (after a stop for coffee, of course) and got to town about 9:15 am.  This is a view of the entire town:

We stopped at the General Store to split a cinnamon roll for breakfast.   It's also known as "the cinnamon roll place", and oh goodness was it delicious! 

 

Then we headed out to hike the Crosier Mountain Trail.  It's a 9 mile roundtrip trail that starts out at ~7000 feet and hits a peak at ~9000 feet.  The hike is beautiful!  It has an area filled with steep climbing and lots of switchbacks, followed by a wonderful meandering meadow with great views of Rocky Mountain National Park.  Then it's back to tree covered mountain climbing...uphill...and more uphill.  So we never made it to the top of Crosier Mountain, but we did see these beautiful views:

 

 

Not making it to the top was originally a dissapointment to me.  There was a clear goal when we set out (the top), which we "failed" to make.  It's so interesting to me how pervasive this thought process is within myself and our culture as a whole.  We had gone on a great hike, had practically the whole trail to ourselves, enjoyed each other, enjoyed nature, and had gotten some good exercise in as well.  What about this was a failure?  Well, nothing, I think - so I'm glad to have realized my original feelings were less than accurate!

After our hike, we headed back to town to do a bit of shopping at Leah's Artisan shop.  I bought some great antique mexican tiles for $3 a piece to use as coasters - all they need is a little felt!

Finally, we stopped at a picnic area along Big Thompson River for a truly Colorado experience.  In Colorado, we both hike and picnic with beer.  It's required.

Bye, from the happy hikers!