On Saturday we headed over to the Pike National Forest to hike the Devils Head fire lookout Trail. It was a shorter hike, around 3 miles round trip and fairly easy.
Entering the trail we were greeted by a family of aspen trees. Johanna enjoyed looking up high to see their yellow tops.
We gained a little under 1,000 feet in elevation in under a mile and a half. Since baby bean was coming along for the ride we took it easy on the incline taking breaks often to keep my heart rate below the recommended max range (140bpm.)
Past the aspen grove we entered the boulder range. Some of the rocks looked as if they could be tipped over from the wind!
Look a family photo! A friendly couple offered to take our picture.
Here we are at the base of the fire lookout station. See it on top of the rocks?
To get to the top you had to ascend 142 steps built into the granite.
This ranger lookout is open throughout the Spring and Summer months and had closed October 1st for the season. Typically there would be 1-2 rangers working at a time.
The views were gorgeous from the tower!
As someone pointed out along our way, Johanna is getting a taste for these views at an early age and will probably be climbing Mt. Everest at the age of 18.
Straight ahead is Mt. Elbert the 14er Jeff and I hiked a few Summers ago.
Pikes Peak in the distance.
A view of the trail climbed to get to the fire station.
I was a nervous Mom to say the least!
What a gorgeous hike on a beautiful day! Not too hard with beautiful views. A must for our out of town family next time you are here :)
Gorgeous!! I'm so glad the weather held out for you to get up and see some of the aspen leaves changing. We really need to invest in one of those backpacks so we can join you guys!
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful!!! I am jealous :) You guys have gotten some perfect family photos lately. Def would be neat to do next time we visit.
ReplyDeleteWow what beautiful pictures!
ReplyDeleteColorado is amazing, so glad you were able to enjoy such a gorgeous day.
love to all