Hiking in Denver

The day started really early with both Derrick and I getting ready by 6.30am. For some reason, it was much easier to wake up early in Denver as compared to other places i had travelled to in this trip. We were headed to do the Mount Royal trail that was about an hour drive away. The drive was pretty darn scenic with the beauty of Denver on full display. A funny thing happened during this drive. During the previous evening, i had felt that my time in Denver was not sufficient and i felt like extending my stay. During the drive, i decided to check Southwest flights that left the day after i was scheduled to leave and amazingly enough, there was a flight exactly 24 hours later than the flight i was supposed to be on. Within 20 minutes i had changed my flight (bless you Southwest Airlines) and my hostel bookings!

After a really beautiful drive and some navigation, we had found the trail we were supposed to be on. The trail was crazy steep and it was pretty challenging. In addition to the steep incline, the elevation was making the hike more difficult for me. Derrick was a real pro at the hike and i struggled to keep up with him at some parts (disappointing state of fitness!). The view from the top was pretty spectacular. We were quite high up and we could see the numerous snow-capped peaks that were hidden when we were at ground level. After burning that view into my memory, we headed back down through the rest of the trail. After the hike, we headed over to a local breweries to try some local IPAs (which was awesome) and after which we drove back to the house. I absolutely love how excited Sophie gets when people come home!

The rest of the day was mostly just hanging out in the house and playing with Sophie. Derrick made this huge rack of lamb for dinner which was probably the best i’ve ever had (only one that may be better was at Salt Lick in Austin)