This hike would prove to be just as taxing. We walked to the view area for the lower Fish Creek Falls, and then set off on a 4.5 mile round trip hike to the upper Fish Creek Falls.
I remember that we did this hike with our girls when they were much younger. In fact, Chris carried Kristen in a kid backpack while I helped Misha and Amy along. The older two did not enjoy that hike at all. Kristen, however, says she remembers it fondly (I think she slept most of the way!) back when she first started out as a passenger princess!
The weather was lovely when we started out. In fact, Chris and I had both been wearing pants and opted to change into shorts.
The hike, as most mountain hikes do, started with a brisk uphill climb that never really leveled out much. Those are the moments when I wonder why I like hiking so much!
We first made it to the bridge where we must have stopped and turned around when we were with the girls. From there, the trail continued up, even to some precarious granite ledges along the edge of the mountain.
The weather turned cold, such that I could see my breath, and Chris and I were both wishing we were still wearing our pants. We made it to the second falls, stopped for a bite to eat, took some pictures and started back down.
The weather was colder, but the rain didn’t actually start until we had settled into the car. Good timing.
We drove back down to Steamboat and stopped for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. It was yummy but not as quick as we thought it might be.
Thinking that the route that would take us on I-70 might be packed with weekend travelers on their way home, we opted to drive back through Poudre Canyon. Proved to be a wise choice as an accident closed the I-70 freeway and we encountered very little traffic.
We even stopped to try and find some moose that were supposed to be frequent visitors in the area. No luck except for this large metal specimen.
We made it home just after 7 pm.