Hiking with eleven year old girls, who would probably rather be elsewhere, can really limit the group’s choices of hiking trails… nothing too hard, nothing too long, preferably a trail with lots of animals around, or at least lots of lovely views. Columbine Lake trail on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park seemed like a good choice. The trail is only 6 miles round trip, is rated fairly easy in the guide book, and the destination is a lake – well, that ought to be pretty!

We drove to the trail head and parked next to the ranger’s house. The trail started out wide and flat, but soon became rocky – not big boulders, but small stepping-stone sized rocks. However, the trail did start to ascend briskly, with no leveling-off spots. The girls were unhappy. One got a headache. So, they both decided to go back and wait in the car while we hiked to the lake.

Up and up we hiked. The trail found a little river and we walked beside it for awhile. Up and up we climbed, over large boulders and steep forest paths. The sky turned gray and just as we reached the top – the beautiful Columbine Lake, it started to rain. The lake was awesome, even in the rain. Good thing the girls turned back, they would have been really miserable in the cold rain.

After a good look around we headed back. The walk was all downhill, but the trail up top was hard to follow, in fact, we got a bit lost in a wet marsh. We split-up, but kept each other in sight. I found the trail and Rick had to tight-walk a fallen tree to get over the river to me and the trail. I could just imagine the headlines in the local newspaper: “Children abandoned by parents – parents lost in mountains and feared eaten by bears!”

Enjoy!