Mount Sanitas, Colorado

Our first day in Colorado was spectacular, even if it didn’t go as originally planned. Alec’s cousin, who lives right outside of Denver, told us to check out Red Rocks amphitheater. We got in the car and typed into the GPS ‘Red Rocks’ and started to follow the directions. Turns out the GPS took us to Red Rock Park which is a hiking place about 45 minutes away from the amphitheater. So when we got to the Park we were a little confused.  Instead of going to the amphitheater, the hiking trails caught our attention and brought out our adventurous side. We talked to a local person and they said that right next to Red Rocks park is a trail head called Mount Sanitas. We were told that it was a beautiful hike, so we decided to go check it out.

Right away we could tell it was a popular hike because there were a lot of other people hiking and some people even running up the trails, however it wasn’t crowded, which was nice. As we were hiking up we kept climbing on the rocks and venturing off path to find beautiful outlooks that had a great view of Boulder on one side and the Rockie Mountains on the other side.

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As we were about an hour into the hike we were both starting to get thirsty and we realized it was not the best idea to go on a hike without water…oops. The hike to the top was pretty long. Alec and I kept thinking we saw the top and then we’d make it up and realized we still had more to go. Eventually, we made it to the very top of the mountain and the views were worth the effort! Alec and I took a nice long break enjoying the scenery.

When we were ready to head down we realized that there was another path to get down the mountain that was shorter, just a little steeper.  So we decided to take it. Half way down we took a wrong turn and ended walking down an old eroded path. We had to really focus on not slipping on the rocks and it was definitely a challenge.

Finally we made it down to the bottom relieved and ready to get some water. As we were walking back to the car we walked and talked with a few local people who told us about a lot of other great things to do while we were in Colorado.

After we got some water in our system, we agreed that our first hike in Colorado was perfect. We had so much fun and lots of beautiful views the whole hike. We were pretty pleased even though we ended up doing something that wasn’t even planned. If you’re ever near Boulder, checking out Mount Sanitas is a great idea!