On our last full day in Boulder, we did the Royal Arch hike at Chautauqua. A few of our friends recommended it and said that the views were gorgeous up there, so we were excited to try it.
Again, we had another gorgeous, perfect weather, picturesque day. The sky is bluer in Boulder, no?
To be honest, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I’m not sure what I expected, but hiking straight up was hard work. Everything was fine and dandy until we saw this sign. Naturally, I freaked.
But, we forged ahead and didn’t let the fact that Yogi and BooBoo were somewhere hanging out on the mountain with us. We actually turned on my iPod for a little noise and entertainment and headed UP once again.
Turns out, we took the long way to the Royal Arch. Instead of hitting the right trail the first time, we did a little roundabout [while still going straight up] to a few flatirons first. We ran into someone who knew where to go and she pointed us in the right direction. It was gorgeous, but we were exhausted. Thank goodness for water!
We finally made it up to the Royal Arch and the views were breathtaking. You can’t miss this arch, thankfully. A few times before we reached the top I kept thinking to myself, maybe we’ve passed it? Of course we didn’t, that was just the lazy girl inside of me coming out.
We made it!
It took us a little over three hours from start to finish, but we hiked 1,000 feet up and it felt great. I couldn’t believe that we actually went all the way to the top of the mountain. The city kept getting smaller and smaller the further up we went and the views were worth the sweat and short breaths. And, I only fell one time to the delight of an old man behind me. Other than that, the hike was pretty seamless and we didn’t see a single bear. Success!
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Fast forward to the next morning – we accidentally came upon Boulder Falls on our drive to Ned.
The Falls were so pretty – I’m glad we got to see them, even if it wasn’t on purpose.
If it’s not obvious, we just couldn’t get enough of Colorado. My heart hurts a little bit now that we are home because we had a great time and I didn’t want to leave. This definitely tops my list as one of best vacations that Ryan and I have been on together.
You should add Boulder as one of your must-see destinations in the US. The weather is perfect, the people are nice, the food is amazing, it’s not too expensive and the views speak for themselves.
Looks like you two had an amazing trip! Out West is so beautiful and I’d love to go to Boulder! I have a friend in Utah too and his pics are always breathtaking as well. You two should check out Yosemite some time! If you liked all that hiking, you’d love it too!
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