pre-work fall hike

(Please note- if you click on the photos you see the real one in much better quality!)

This morning, a friend and I got up early and went on a dawn/sunrise hike up Buttermilk. Sure we, and our puppies, got a bit of exercise but we mainly did it to check out Fall foliage in full swing. Some of the leaves are starting to fall already so we probably only have another 5ish days of peak coloring to enjoy.

back to work

First day back at the Aspen Skiing Company offices since the end of April. I'm excited to be back!



Lucy can't contain her excitement at being back at work...

thomas lakes hike

Lucy, her furry friend Chauncey and I went part of the way up Mt. Sopris to checkout Thomas Lakes. The hike was full of beautiful Fall colors and cows... Yep, cows.

We learned that Lucy is definitely part herding-dog and Chauncey prefers to use her barking energy on people. At one point a few cattle were on the trail and Lucy made sure she sent them on their way... in the same direction. She herded them off then ran back to me with a huge smile on her face. Next step, next years cattle dog herding championships!

The lakes were beautiful (seriously, not much ugly scenery around here) and it felt great to spend a few hours in the crisp fresh air before I go back to my job at the Aspen Ski Co on Monday.




Lucy spent the entire time at the lake saving ball-sized rocks from drowning.



My finger and the top of Mt. Sopris in the background.

ruedi reservoir overlook

Today Lucy and I did a mellow but beautiful hike on the Ruedi Overlook Trail. The trailhead is about a 45min drive from Aspen and I'd never driven the 2nd half of the road. The drive was beautiful!!! On one side was the Fryingpan River with more fly fishers than I could count spread along the 15 mile river.

The hike was only a few hrs round trip and would actually make a great trail run. Lucy and I took our time and enjoyed the perfectly crisp weather, yellow leaves and beautiful views of the biggest body of water nearby.

biking to Ashcroft

Took advantage of Lucy's minor injury (bit if chaffing under her carpal pads) and went for a bike ride. I hadn't been on my bike since August (!) and had been itching for the chance to ride. Went for a 25-miler up to Ashcroft and back. While the scenery is always pretty ridiculous, today I got to enjoy the added bonus of Aspen trees starting to yellow and mountain peaks dusted with a bit of snow. Monday I'm back to work so enjoying the staycation while I can! (not that I will cease to enjoy Aspen once I'm at work, just means limited midday outside play time)

yes, another hike

It's been cloudy all week here (an oddity) but I've managed to get in touch with my Seattle roots and go for a few hikes anyway. Today little Lucy and I hiked to the top of Buttermilk (one of the Aspen Skiing Co's four mtns). While Buttermilk is generally regarded as the most tame of the mountains it arguably has the best views from it's summit.

This is the view looking towards newly snow-dusted Pyramid Peak (next to the famed Maroon Bells; they're hidden by the mtns to the right of Pyramid).




After our hike we visited some friends and chef-ed up an amazing Southeast Asian meal of Myanmar Pork Stew (seriously, now my new favorite dish), shrimp summer rolls, ginger lemongrass tofu, rice and banana spring rolls for dessert. So freaking tasty! I'd been craving Vietnamese food and this meal definitely did the trick. Another excellent day in the books thanks to good friends, good food, playing outside and, of course, little Lucy.

a little hike

Just a nice little hike in my backyard. Perfect Fall weather complete with crisp, fresh air. Lucy's loving Fall; no longer too hot for her to be in the sun.

back home

When I saw little Lucy Pants I couldn't believe how cute she was. Nothing changed, I just hadn't seen her in almost 2 weeks (longest since I got her last July). I looked at photos of her daily but her adorableness surprised me. I was so happy to take her home and reclaim my little snuggle buddy.

I was in Boston and NYC for a few weeks celebrating the marriage of a few close friends and catching up with others. It had been a few years since I saw most people but it always amazes me how time never really seems to matter.

After a few weeks of delicious meals, late nights and humid days I was pretty excited to get home.

It's definitely feeling like Fall and I can't wait to play outside and enjoy the changing temps and Aspen colors

mmm seafood

Colorado isn't exactly a seafood haven so my very good friend and I went to the Neptune Oyster House to fulfill my seafood craving. We had this uber tasty raw bar assortment plus a hot lobster roll washed down with a nice crisp glass of white wine. I dare to say we had the best lunch humanly possible today. Oh yeah, we also picked up a cannoli from Mike's Pastry...

boston

After a 3.5 hour drive to Denver, rerouted flight to Kansas City to refuel (apparently they couldn't refuel in the heat if Denver combined with the altitude) miraculously having my bag appear in Boston after being limited to a 10min layover due to aforementioned stopover I finally got to my friends place in Boston last night.

Getting ready to go for a little run through the Commons and along the Esplanade before meeting up with some good friends I haven't seen in far too long.

Gratuitous "I miss Lucy" photo of her playing in the park