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.
Whitney and Dave
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!
Not impressed
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?!
Kristie, me, Dave, Whitney, Aleya’s sister, Aleya, and Abram
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?