The rest of the stay in Ft. Collins turned out great. I ended up staying with Felix for a total of 4 nights. We did another bicycle ride, a 3-mile run, and one afternoon I did a hike at Grey Rock. Overall the first couchsurfing experience was very positive. I also visited a friend of a friend, Ian Cohen, and his family just outside of Ft. Collins. Ian's an experienced camping enthusiast who gave me an hour's worth of insight over the phone on all things camping about 3 months ago. On thursday afternoon I headed to Rocky Mountain National Park. I was lucky to find a spot to camp at Long's Peak Campground, elevation 9405 ft. I survived the night without any storms or bear attacks. After daytime temperatures in the mid 80's the overnight temperature got down to about 45 degrees. I did about 4 hours of hiking in an around Bear Lake pictured above. This section of the park had several lakes, a rushing river, and several small waterfalls.
On friday I headed to nearby Boulder to visit some old Glenview friends Aaron & Eric Schacht. I had a great time staying with Aaron, his wife Laurie, and their son Ethan. On friday and saturday Aaron and I biked all over Boulder using the extensive bike trail system. The best trail runs alongside Boulder Creek as well as several parks, the University of Colorado, and the popular downtown Pearl St. area. On saturday we hiked up the Flatirons at Chautauqua Park in Boulder. On sunday, Aaron and I went up to Walker's Ranch for a challenging mountain bike ride. The already difficult ride was made even more grueling by the 7,500 ft. altitude. Good Fun!
Inbetween all the biking and hiking we played several games of H-O-R-S-E, shot pool, and visited the Boulder Farmer's Market. Eric & Aaron's mom Judith joined us for a couple dinners including a perfect summer night picnic at Chautauqua Park. Pictured below are Aaron, myself, Eric, and Aaron's son, Ethan. It was great to reconnect with two friends I hadn't seen in more than 12 years. Next stop Wyoming.
