A birthday hike

You may remember back in March, I wrote about hiking to the top of Mount Garfield to celebrate our dear friend, Scott's birthday. That was a tough hike: long, steep, sketchy, long, steep and long. But it was so worth it. The views were amazing and getting to the top was quite an accomplishment for me. I liked that feeling, so I decided that I wanted to do a hike for my birthday. I picked a hike I had done before. I knew it was challenging, but doable, plus there is hot springs nearby. I chose to hike to Hanging Lake near Glenwood Springs. Last time I hiked this one-mile, straight-up-the-side-of-the-mountain hike, it was two years ago when my brother and his family were visiting. We made it and were stunned by the beauty of this hidden mountain lake. Saturday we got up early, packed up our camping gear, gathered up the Davis clan and headed to Glenwood Springs. We drove right to the hike, planning to set up camp after the hike (all of which was followed by a long soak in the springs). And we were off: The trail, while rocky and steep, is mostly in the shade and almost tropical: I had to stop several times to catch my breath and drink water, but I was chugging right along and only complained about the trail being too steep a couple of times. It wasn't easy, but I guess all the other hiking, skiing and bike riding really does make a difference: The Davises had no problem with the trail, but they're all fit 'n' junk like that: But Mar never complained, instead she just had to stop to pee every 100 paces: Next thing I knew, we were at the bottom of the sketchy stairs carved into the stone that lead up to Hanging Lake. We were almost there and I hadn't even gotten angry at picking to hike to celebrate my birthday instead of going to the bar. Up the stairs and we were there: Man, that lake is gorgeous. The water is crystal clear and blue and green and wonderful. And the waterfalls are picturesque: Here's me behind the falls. It was cool and seemed more like Hawaii than Colorado: All in all, I was really happy to have gotten the chance to take this beautiful hike for my birthday. The only tinge of disappointment came with the fact that the hike, while challenging, was a bit short (I know that seems stupid and the me who hiked this trail two years ago would have punched me now in the face for saying such a thing), but I was ready for more. And that's the best present I could have ever gotten myself.