Yesterday, Diane and I hiked to the top of the hill at Meyer Ranch Park Open Space in Aspen Park.  There are about four miles of trails to the top.  We went late in the afternoon after the rainstorm.  It was beautiful – and quiet.  We didn’t meet a single soul on the trail.  I think we may start hiking more in the late afternoons after a heavy rain.

Near the top there is an overlook with a bench that looks out over Aspen Park.  We both noted how much Aspen Park has grown since we first moved to the foothills over fifteen years ago.  In addition to Conifer High School, we saw the huge King Soopers complex, the rebuilt complex that used to house the drug store and City Market.  There are many other new buildings along the frontage road as well.  Not in view, but also there, is the new Conifer Safeway shopping center.

It is still beautiful though with great views of rock outcroppings and mountains easily visible from almost every vantage point.

We just went for a hike in Reynolds Park.  It is Jefferson County Open Space in Conifer off of Foxton Road.

It is a beautiful day for a hike.  We were planning to do the loop at the very top of the trail.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get very far.  We made it about a mile up the trail before we were stopped by a 30 foot long ice dam.  If the dam had been flat, we could have made it across, but it was sloped down hill.  We did make it around the dam only to find more ice up ahead.  Eventually, we found a nice sunny rock and hung out for a while before coming back down the trail.

Anyway, Reynolds Park is a great place to hike.  Very little traffic and lots of nature.  Just make sure you have crampons or YackTrax if you want to do it this time of year.