You know, I’m not big on hiking the same trail multiple times, or climbing the same peak over and over again. I always get asked what my “go-to” hikes are and I don’t really have any. Colorado has so many options that I want to get out and explore ALL of them! Needless to say, I was hesitant to re-hike Butler Gulch this past weekend. It was almost a year to the day of the last time I hiked the trail with Cindy, Craig and Peter, and I was kind of wishing for a new route to explore.
However, Butler Gulch it was! Kristie came into town to visit me on Thursday and somehow, an #OmniTen reunion of past and present was formed. In addition to Kristie, the “tweet-up” included Aleya from this past summer’s Columbia crew, as well as Dave from the upcoming winter edition. Whitney from Outdoor Gear TV joined in, and Aleya brought both her boyfriend and sister. It was like a herd of social media mavens!
Ok, all done with the excessive links now. Promise.
Dave showed up at my house, bearing pumpkin spice lattes and bread (You bring me food? SOLD!), before we met everyone else at the Dino lots. We then piled in the cars and made the drive up to Berthoud Pass. The trailhead for Butler Gulch is on the south side of Berthoud, so the drive really isn’t that bad. Before too long, we were parking cars and making last-minute decisions on what gear to bring.
As expected, the hike was snowy! I knew that there would be a light dusting until we hit treeline, but that area had experienced a snowstorm the night before so we saw more than a dusting, straight out of the gates! A lot of the trail sits in the shade so it holds snow throughout the winter. In fact, some areas were so slippery that Tals jumped out of my Pathfinder, landed on a patch of ice, and fell splat on her face with all four paws splayed out to her sides!
The hike was beautiful, per usual, but I recapped it last year so no need to do it again. Instead, I focused more on getting to know the people in the group. Kristie and I know each other pretty well, but it was my first time meeting everyone else (except for a brief chat with Whitney a few weeks ago, but that barely counts). Apparently hiking with strangers is becoming normal for me these days?!
You know, I think this is one of my favorite things about the outdoors: it truly brings people together. None of us knew each other, but there was no awkward silences or really, any silence at all. We comfortably chatted with each other the entire time, and I think I may have found some more backcountry skiing partners for Will and me with Whitney and her husband. It was natural to be tromping through snow, above treeline, feeling the wintry breeze on our faces.
And did I mention that winter is HERE?!
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Have you ever met anyone from the internet?
What did you do this weekend?
16 Comments
I NEED TO COME VISIT YOU!!
Oh, that would be so fun!
Ha. Have I ever met anyone off the internet.
Starting with my husband (Craigslist), I apparently ditched all the “there are scary people on the internet who are going to get you” advice told to me in my teens. Along our travels, Forrest and I have met up with and stayed at the houses of people I’ve met via the blog and Twitter. I wine tastes with an internet friend in Santa Barbara; called a Twitter friend in SLC I’d never met in person when we needed a bed and a shower on the way through. I met up with a bunch of outdoor peeps at OR show. I even sort crashed Whitney’s bachelorette part last summer…
Just not you Heather, just not yet.
I know, how is this possible?! Maybe this year?
Yess! Obviously I love meeting twitter folks! 🙂
I met up with your other hiking/blogger buddy Lauren at GABF this weekend, and tons of other bloggers when I lived in LA. It’s strange how comfortable you can be with someone you’ve never really met since we read about their lives every day.
Can I just say how jealous I am? That’s exactly the group I want to go on outdoor adventures with!
As for the internet – I went on my fair share of bad dates off the internet (at least they’re stories to tell), but I’ve also met up with several people from #ClimbChat (@aframe, @cliffmama, and @laurietewksbury). Was supposed to meet up with Gina, but our phones hated the world. Someday!
This winter my husband and I are headed to Colorado for 9 days for our snowboarding honeymoon. We know we’re meeting up with Dave and Kristie, but we’d love to meet up with everyone else I know out there too. We’re also headed to SIA so I expect I’ll run into a lot of other people I know from Twitter as well!
Dave and Kristie mentioned you were coming this way– I’d love to meet up, so please keep me posted!
I will! We’ll be there from 1/26 to 2/4. I think Dave and Kristie are planning on meeting up sometime between that Friday and Monday. Not entirely sure of the details, but we’d love to meet you in person too! Plus I will totally be missing my dogs so I need some Tals time. 😉
I did NOTHING this weekend in terms of exercise. My in-laws are visiting and I didn’t get the chance. I am feeling antsy and ready to run today!
I had a stranger from the Internet stay at my house the other weekend…Bean from Just Plodding Along came to stay and run Half Moon Bay with me. It was crazy how well we got along!!! I am all in favour of Internet strangers now?!
I’m going to put this hike on my list for next year – thanks!
I’ve met a lot of people from the internet, mostly through Yelp, and have made great friends. The benefit is that you know you already have something(s) in common! 🙂
Crazy that you have that much snow up there already! I like that you try to hit so many different trails. That one looks like a good one to revisit, though. Glad you had fun.
I have met several people from blogs over the past few years and it’s always fun!
While I’m content here in PHX with no snow I am envious of your omniten meet up!
I feel ya, on hiking the same trail more than once. I worked trail crew at Rocky Mountain a couple summers ago and hiked the Haiyaha trail via Glacier Gorge all summer (July-Sept). I was more than ready to move on to new trails come the weekend!
Beautiful pictures! I was lucky enough to meet your buddies Lauren and Heidi while I was in Colorado for a bakcpacking trip this summer. It was so much fun, and I feel like I already have built in friends if and when we finally make the move to Colorado!
Sounds like a nice day! We’re still waiting for fall to get here!