Mt Falcon - Trip 2

It was a gorgeous spring weekend this weekend! Especially Sunday. It rained a little Saturday but we went to see Iron Man 3 and did errands so it wasn't awful. By the way, Iron Man was good. I couldn't tell you which I liked best since I can't quite remember the first two movies well. But the third was definitely good.

We decided to go hiking Sunday since I haven't been hiking in ages and our friend Joe was hanging out for the day. After some thought, we decided to go to Mount Falcon since Joe had not been there and to try a new trail.

We went on the Castle Trail

I felt like it was a little harder than the Turkey Trot trail, but I really can't compare anything correctly since I wasn't as pregnant when we went the first time. I was only 9 weeks pregnant. Sure I had the fatigue but I did not have the weight.

As always, the view was beautiful.

Hello Denver!

Had some awesome cloud cover for shade

The sun was shining and we all forgot to sunblock up. Luckily, no one got seriously burned just red. There was a light cool breeze and clouds to help cool us off.

Discussion about the ability to kill bears

This trip was kind of spur of the moment so we weren't really prepared to hike all of Castle Trail which takes you up close to the summit. We just planned on doing a circle where Castle Trail meets the Turkey Trot Trail and takes you back down. A gentleman we ran into at the fork said it was another 3 hours of hiking if we wanted to do all of Castle Trail. Well, that was a no go because we did not have enough water or food. Especially food. I knew I would get hungry in about an hour or so. So we decided to go back down.

Before heading down

Next time we know what to expect so I think we will pack a picnic and hike up the whole trail.

There were so many people hiking and biking on the trails, it was pretty cool. Especially when you could see higher parts of the trail and see specs moving along it.

Hiking wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought, too. I kept walking at a comfortable pace and took water breaks often. I was probably slowing the guys down a little (although they were ahead of me most of the time), but I didn't care. I definitely did not want to end up spent halfway through the hike and suffer the rest of the way.

I think hiking is a great way to stay active while pregnant because you get more out of it than a walk but you aren't straining your body too much as if you would riding a bike or running. There are various difficulties of trails, so just find one that is not too strenuous. At the moment a trail that has me focus on my footing and a gradual incline is a good trail to be on because I know I won't be doing just walking and I'm working different leg muscles. I would not choose something that forces me to climb or jump or has a steep incline. And if you are unsure of your balance, get hiking pole to help you along. The guys were really great at keeping an eye on me just in case I would need help so I felt pretty safe.

Oh my God! It's spring!!

And to end this post:

Some photos of us at David's favorite spot on the trail. There were mild complaints, *cough*mysister*cough*, that there weren't any pictures of me on these trips. So here are a few to make her happy (because I love her).