It has been great to take some time off from moving down the road and enjoy an area.  Colorado was just what we needed.  We have taken in a couple of great hikes right close to where we are staying in Loveland.

Yesterday we drove just 2 miles from the campground for a hike up to The Devil’s Backbone.  It was a short 3 mile hike but very scenic.  Looking at the jagged rocks along the ridge line you can see how it got it’s name.  Once we got Gizmo tired with a morning hike we took off to explore Fort Collins for a few hours.  We started off with a stop at New Belgium Brewing.  We were not able to get in for a tour since they book up to 2-months out.  We did get to sample quite a few of their brews and made the decision to buy one of their really cool growlers.  We wished we had brought our growler from Atlantic Brewing because they do refill others growlers.  We had decided not to bring it at the last minute.  The price for refills at New Belgium Brewing is just $6.49.  We had the nicest bartender, but no tips necessary since New Belgium is a completely employee owned brewery.  They said to tip them, buy more of their beer.  This is a really cool brewery with great beer and we will definitely sign up for a tour the next time we are in the area.  We went from microbrewery to major brewery with a quick stop at the Anheuser Busch Brewery.  We wanted to pick up some coozies for those skinny cans of michelob ultra.  We walked around the grounds and spent some time checking out the clydesdales.  We wrapped up the day with a quick stop at Trader Joes.  Love this place and it was so good to finally stock up on some of my favorite things, like pumpkin cream cheese.

Today was a bigger hike at Horse Tooth Reservoir. This was a really nice 5 mile round trip hike up to a rock that resembles a horse’s tooth.  The trail is great, switchbacks almost the whole way.  The lower portion of the trail is pretty much out in the open, so we were thankful for a cooler (70’s) day.  The upper portion there are more trees but still tons of views.  The very final push to the summit of the rocks is a scramble and then it’s pretty much a knifes edge walk out to the end.

Picasa Web Album for Devil’s Backbone

Hiking route Horse Tooth Mountain

Hiking route to The Devil’s Backbone

The Key Hole at The Devil’s Backbone

Final edgy stretch across Horse Tooth Mountain

Devil’s Backbone

Horse Tooth Mountain

Park takes a credit card to pay for daily use fee- really cool

Looking back to John and Gizmo from top of Horse Tooth Mountain

Mountain goats at campground entrance