Denver and Boulder: Hiking and Running

Alright, so it’s been like a month, but I still want to recap the hiking in Denver and Boulder because IT. WAS. AMAZING.

I’m a beach person. I like my toes in the sand, cooling off in the water, etc., so this wasn’t my dream trip, but it ended up being so fantastic. I loved going out and running/hiking every day. I definitely didn’t feel guilty about indulging in all of the food! (You can read about that here.)

Red Rocks, Denver, CO: The Red Rocks were pretty awesome. We had hoped to do the 6-mile loop, but the guide told us that it’s pretty packed with bikers who don’t really keep an eye out for hikers. We opted to check out the amphitheater and do the shorter, flatter loop (which was smart, considering what Boulder had in store for us).

Chautauqua, Boulder, CO: Chautauqua’s trails came highly recommended from several people, including our Airbnb host. It’s STUNNING; there are little cottages where you can stay, a restaurant, and a cute ranger station. We went on the moderate trail, which was a good workout. We got SLAMMED by hail at the end; we had to sprint to the ranger station. It was totally worth it for the view of the Flatirons.

We wanted to run in Boulder, so we hit up super runners, Adam and Kara Goucher, for their recommendations. And they tweeted back! We took their recommendations and ran three miles along the Boulder Creek Path.

Mt. Sanitas, Boulder, CO: So the day we hiked Mt. Sanitas was not the best day to run 3 miles before … oops. Again, it said moderate, so we thought it would be pretty easy. Nope. Nope, nope, nope. This beauty was about 3 miles round trip but basically uphill the WHOLE WAY. We had to stop several times to drink water and catch our breath. Thankfully, we were rewarded with an amazing view of all of Boulder when we hit the summit. BRING WATER and take your time on this one.