My friend J is an avid hiker and is introducing me to local hikes in our area. Recently we went on a hike at Barr Lake State Park a wildlife conservation area, a bird sanctuary; and a premiere bird watching location in the Denver Metropolitan area.
J is training with her granddaughter to do a “14er/Fourteener” which in Colorado is known as climbing/hiking to the top of one of the 14,000 feet above Sea Level (4267.2 meters) mountains in Colorado. (Colorado is famous having the most in the US – 53 mountain peaks 14,000 ft or higher, Alaska comes in second with 29 peaks, California with 12, and Washington State with 2).
So hiking the 9 miles around Barr Lake State Park is a good start to prepare for a 14er.
The highest I’ve been in Colorado (or anywhere else) is 12,000 feet above Sea Level when we visited Rocky Mountain National Park. I can tell you at 12,000 ft I was really feeling the altitude! Luckily I use to live at around 6000 ft above Sea Level and now I live at around 5300 feet so my body has a little bit of altitude acclimation. I think it would take me a while to train for a 14er…
Some photos from our hike:
In the photo above you will see an example of the numerous elevated wooden bridges they have around the park so that you do not disturb the wildlife.
The park also had a bird watching area near the water (many varieties of water fowl visit the lake) with a built in set of binoculars if you did not bring your own!
It was so beautiful and peaceful on our hike with many bird sounds/songs in the background. I want to return there is John and bring a picnic and take him on a hike there!
A couple of videos if you would like to see more about what it is to hike at Barr Lake State Park.
tierneycreates 