AndyChristine: Hiking in my own backyard

This past week I had the pleasure of going on two hikes within miles of our home. On Monday Andy and I drove over to a trailhead in East Vail (4 miles to the east) in order to hike the famed Booth Creek Falls trail. We didn't start as early as we would have liked to given the fact that it was raining when we woke up. A couple of hours later the clouds parted and we were treated to a really nice beautiful, sunny day. About a half hour up the trail things didn't feel quite as exciting though as I began to feel nauseous and dizzy. For some unknown reason I (the one who has been living in Vail for a year now) got altitude sickness so we decided to turn back and try it another day. Instead of heading straight home though we decided to drive up Vail Pass and have a picnic. It was really beautiful. At the top of Vail Pass is a dirt road that leads you over another mountain pass. As we were driving down that road admiring the view we found a boy and his four-wheeler flipped over in a ditch. Another couple were just getting out of their car and attempting to help the boy out of the ditch. We pulled over, helped to steady the boy, and tried to flip his four-wheeler over so it would stop leaking gas. The boy told us that his family was camping just up the road and so we helped him into the back seat and followed his directions over to the campsite. A couple of minutes later we were back on the road in search of a nice picnic spot. Although the day did not turn out as planned it was definitely a wonderful day!

The Booth Creek Falls trail and it's beautiful scenery.

Another view along the trail. It was a really beautiful day!

East Vail looking toward Vail Village and the mountain where we love to ski!!

Who knew there were a couple of lakes at the top of Vail Pass. This is Upper Black Lake looking to the West.

Upper Black Lake looking to the East.

On Saturday I once again had the pleasure of loading my Camelbak with the essentials (water, food, sunscreen, bug repellent, all purpose tool, rain jacket, camera) in anticipation of a fun morning of hiking. This time around I headed to the west a few miles to meet up with a friend from church. Together we made our way to the trailhead in Eagle Vail, slathered ourselves with sunscreen, and began our ascent. This trail was not nearly as steep as Monday's trail but it was magnificent in its own way. About halfway up the trail we started to hike along the edge of a creek. Nothing like a little bubbling brook to make you feel excited about hiking through the woods. Near the top we were greeted with another spectacular display: a meadow with really tall flowers! It felt as if we were walking through a dream world. The flowers were as tall as my friend and hiking partner, Andrea!! After taking numerous pictures and meeting a couple who apparently attends our church on a seasonal basis, we made our way out of the woods and stood in the open sunshine at the top of a Beaver Creek ski run. It's funny how everything around here is connected! I would have never guessed when we started our hike that we could have come to the same place in the winter and skied down to the village from the summit of our hike. It felt as if we had found a way to sneak into the ski resort by starting in a place ten miles from the entrance. Craziness! After taking a couple of pictures of the tiny village below we found a place to sit in the shade and had a little snack. Once in a while families would ride by on their bikes. To think they paid money to have their bikes transported by chair lift to the top of the same trail we had hiked to for free. I love free things! After a nice little break we made our way back down the trail to the car waiting at the bottom. We had a great day and can not wait to share