Keystone CO Hiking Weekend - Aug 2017

Continental Divide

We had tentatively planned a 10 day hiking trip (Tour du Mont Blanc) with John and JoAnna for next summer.  However, they were not quite sure if they would enjoy that much hiking.  So, we decided to do a practice trip to Keystone, CO for a few days to see if they would enjoy it.

Accommodation:
River Run Village Condos - We got a two bedroom condo in River Run which was nice and very convenient.  The only downside is that one of the bedrooms had two twin beds so John and JoAnna took one for the team and took that room.

Activities:
We all flew into Denver within an hour of each other with Keith and Shawna arriving first, allowing time to pick up the rental car and be ready to go once John and JoAnna landed.  On our drive out to Keystone, we stopped along the way for a quick dinner.  Once we arrived and checked in, which was after 10pm, we went out for a couple of beers to kick off the weekend.

On Saturday, Chris and Athena met us at Keystone and then we carpooled over to our hike - Lenawee Trail (we had completed this hike once before and really enjoyed it).  The last 1.5 miles of the drive to get to the start of the hike was a bit rough so at one point, Chris had to park his Porche and they crammed in with us.  The hike itself was beautiful but also strenuous with a fairly steep incline for the first hour.  The main part that is challenging is the altitude which gets over 13K feet.  There are great views of the valley once you get past the tree line and of A-Basin once you get to the top.  It took us about 4.5 hours in total, including a few stops for snacks and lunch at the top.  John and JoAnna turned around about 30 minutes from the top - John was getting bored and said he had seen what he needed and didn't see the need to continue.  So they waited for us at the bottom while the rest of us finished the last bit.  Based on this, we assumed that John was no longer interested in the Mont Blanc trip next summer which we verified when we joined them at the bottom of the hike.

Lenawee Trail Hike with Chris, Athena, John and JoAnna

After the hike, we went back to Keystone and went to the mountain music festival that was held in River Run.  There were bands playing and they had beer, food and craft stalls.  We were not as excited about the food so we sat down at one of the restaurants and got some snacks instead.  Chris and Athena had to drive back to Denver to get back to the boys so after they left, we went to the hot tub, enjoyed more beer and chatted with some of the other guests who were staying in our lodge.  We then went to dinner and got to bed pretty early as we were all quite tired!

Lenawee Trail Hike with Chris and Athena

On Sunday, Elizabeth and Joe met us for a hike but since we were still quite sore and tired from Saturday's hike, we decided to change the hike to a more moderate one - Mesa Cortina Trail to Willow Falls.  This hike is 9 miles round trip with a gradual incline, mostly through a forest.  It ends at a nice waterfall where we relaxed and had some lunch - Elizabeth and Joe brought us all sandwiches and snacks which were way better than the measly granola bars that we had packed!  At the falls, we saw two mountain goats who were very cute and who kept their eye on us the entire time.  John enjoyed this hike much more so at least we didn't turn him off to hikes in general!!

Mesa Cortina Hike with Elizabeth, Joe, John and JoAnna

After the hike, we celebrated with a few beers in town.  Elizabeth and Joe then drove back to Denver while we went back to the condo and relaxed our sore muscles in the hot tub once again.  That evening, we had another early dinner and then went to bed.

On Monday, we decided to take it easy.  We walked over to Lake Village and back to River Run and then took the gondola up to the top of Keystone mountain where several people were sitting to watch the eclipse.  It was a bit chilly so we decided to head back down and see the eclipse from the bottom while eating lunch.  We then showered, packed up, got a few gifts and then drove back to Denver so we could each get our flights back home.

Restaurants / Bars:
Mod Market - We stopped here on our way out to Keystone.  Great healthy, fast food.

Starbucks - We had breakfast here a few mornings in Keystone.

9280 Tap House - We had a couple of beers here one evening.  Nice bar.

Spoon Cafe - We had some snacks (nachos and hummus) here along with beer.

Luigi's Pasta House - We had dinner here.  We shared a few appetizers and pasta dishes.  The food was pretty good.

Zuma Roadhouse - We had dinner here.  Food was good.  We shared a few appetizers (brussel sprouts and roasted peppers were the best) and a salad.

Inxpot - Had breakfast here.  Better food options than Starbucks.

Kickapoo Tavern - We had drinks here one night and had lunch.  For lunch, we shared the fish tacos which were tasty and a salad.  They have a nice deck to sit outside.