cause i'm a fatty

This was an excellent hike. 

Snow Peaks Winery
292 Moraine Ave.
Estes Park, CO

Estes Park is a quaint, warm, and frontiersy town located thirty something miles from Boulder. You get a view of some lakes while being surrounded by towering mountains that feel inches away from you. Our tasting seemed unreal: for $3 we got to try 5 wines, and every single one we had was exquisite. Despite our past iffy experience with reds we tried to be unprejudiced to our tastings. From the whites we had the Chardonnay, Gerwurtztraminer, a sweet Riesling and a dry, a Cinsault Rose, and the Oso Rose. From the reds we chose Snowy Peak’s Sebastian’s Red, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah (the sauvignon was a favorite for both of us). The dessert wines were out of this world with the Orange Muscat, which smelled of honeysuckle and citrus, and the Adagio, a velvety smooth Black Muscat that reminds you of roses and is excellent with dark chocolate. The one we took home? The Oso White. It has Gerwurtztraminer and Muscat, and is absolutely refreshing during good weather like this. 

Ciatano Winery
16858 N. Saint Vrain Drive
Lyons, CO

This vineyard also functions as an inn and spa! For $5 we got to try 5 Italian inspired wines of our choosing, all made by Colorado grown grapes. They had some cheese, salmon, and crackers to munch on and a patio that was lovely to sit on and catch the view of the pond below. We tried the Cabernet Franc and some other reds but they weren’t as smooth as I’d hope, and they smelled overwhelmingly of olives. But the whites, ooooooh the whites are excellent in Colorado. My favorite was a White Merlot, called a Rosato. This wine had the sweetest hints of strawberry, and was perfectly crisp on a hot day.  

The Brainard Lake recreation area is not too far away from Boulder, and full of snowshoeing and cross country skiing trails during this time of year. Luckily this hike wasn’t too exhausting for our class, although the snowshoes had a tendency of slipping off.  We were really fortunate to have a bright sunny day, as there is nothing that accompanies snow better than warm weather. I love Colorado.

Above, a view from the back of the trail. Below, another picture of Brainard Lake covered with snow.

The kids had a great time learning how to snowshoe uphill and slide down.

Some beard moss:

The View from Brainard Lake

It was so sunny the snow was blindingly white, as you can see.

The drive home from Westcliff, Colorado.

The snow is really a spectacle out here.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the weekend. I love the way it evokes the West.