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| Wearing LuLu's Greek Goddess Maxi // Goorin Brother's Portrait Hat // Timberland Boots **Photos by Paul Joyner Photography |
If you are looking for a unique adventure, St Mary's Glacier is my latest recommendation. Located in Idaho Springs, Colorado, after a scenic drive that climbs in
altitude with each curve in the road, you will find the snow covered
mile and a half trail to begin your hike up to 10,400 ft. (which is higher than Base Camp at Mt Everest)
The slipping and sliding aspect of the hike actually made it more fun (and of course
challenging) due to the fact that my motorcycle boots may not have
been the best to hike in snow uphill.
As your brain is struggling to
adjust to the altitude (not to mention the lack of oxygen from the
exercise) you'll snap back to life when you finally come to a flat stretch that looks like a post
apocalyptic canyon that empties you into the basin of the glacier. It
was unreal and eerily quiet and calming. I must say I felt as though I
had ingested a mind altering pharmaceutical (which is 100% legal in
Colorado, fun fact). It is the kind of place that you feel you could
genuinely stay there forever as you are entirely engulfed in the snow
covered mountains, blue skies above and silence for miles.
Alas, I eventually had to make my way back and return to adulthood and
reality, and good thing I decided to come down the mountain when I
did! As we were approaching the final descent, we were greeted with
thunder that roared throughout the mountains and lighting that lit up
the canyon. This was abruptly followed by a flash hail storm, at which
point we enjoyed from the comfort of the car.
Idaho Springs is known for being a mining town. So I decided to check
out their sprawling Main Street (about 10 blocks in total) which I was
desperately hoping embodied the 'old mining town' aesthetic and I was
not disappointed.
In between the haunted and historic brothel and the clearly misplaced
abandoned stone castle, we found one of America's top ten brewers at
Westbound & Down. A true Rocky Mountain gem & definitely worth a stop after a hike up to the glacier.
*Special thanks to my dear friend, Paul Joyner, for making me get to the top and not leaving me, forcing me to having to call the medevac to come rescue me.
*Special thanks to my dear friend, Paul Joyner, for making me get to the top and not leaving me, forcing me to having to call the medevac to come rescue me.
