Lovely hike at Deer Creek Canyon

Last Sunday we went for a nice hike just outside of town here, at Deer Creek Canyon. We had a lovely day for it, so the visibility when we got higher up was great! We could see Denver downtown off in the distance; sometimes I don't remember it is that close...

After our hike we went to get fitted for our backpacks. Who knew you had to be fitted??? Well, the people at REI, for one! lol

They have this board you strap on (like a backpack) so they can tell you what size and length you should be carrying. Then they take you to the racks, find one in your size, load 10 lbs of weight in it, and make you walk around the store with it on to see how it feels. I felt a little stupid doing it at first, but then figured since I didn't know anyone in the store except Rich, why worry? lol And it made a whole lot of sense to really be able to try it out.

So we both found one that fit pretty well and we brought them home. Rich ordered me a set of trekking poles; we have a set but discovered that in the slippery ice and mud, having two might be better. Plus we want to do some snowshoeing and they will help with that too.

Then later this week, I compiled my shopping list from the Colorado Mountain Club site to set us up; first aid supplies, fire-starting stuff, etc. It was so fun!

We wanted to be ready (or as much as possible) to go on a more challenging hike this week. Here are a few photos from the Deer Creek Canyon hike, enjoy!