A couple of weeks ago we took off for a tour of the southern part of the state and to visit the National Parks there. On the way because it was a 5+ hour car trip, we found a hike just outside of Carbondale that was perfect. We had left the house all loaded up early that morning so got to the trailhead before lunch. The trail was fairly steep, especially at the beginning but luckily we had been stuck in the car for quite awhile beforehand so everyone was ready to explore and stretch our legs. We stopped on the trail part way to have out lunch and cool off from the hot sun. Then we continued on and the trail ended in a beautiful meadow full of various wild flowers. We had fun just enjoying the scenery before heading back down to the car. After loading up and driving to our AirBNB in Hotchkiss, Colorado we unloaded and even though it was still very hot outside it was still a couple hours before dinner so we headed about 20 minutes over to Needle Rock. Needle Rock was formed when years ago there was volcanic activity in the area and a plum of lava rose up but didn’t have the pressure and depth behind it to go all the way to the surface but instead became a volcanic plug and turned solid. Then time and weather wore the rock/mountain down around it resulting in the volcanic plug left standing. It too was a steep climb but the views from the climb and as high as we could go were just breath taking. It was a fun day and in the end we put in over 5.5 miles and the kids did great. they are really good hikers and so much fun to hike with
Hiking Mommy 