What is an Estes Park Snow Day?  Here it means that we have a foot of snow on the ground,  it’s still snowing and quite possibly the weatherman is going to be wrong, but we aren’t sure which way.  Last Wednesday was our first day of canceled school for the year.  You can check your calendars again, yes it was October.  I can never get my kids up in the morning, but at 7:30 am they were outside with me shoveling snow and for the rest of the day sledding and building forts.  Fortunately it stopped snowing that evening so we missed the 3 feet that was forecast.  Across the rest of the state it continued to snow that night and the next day with up to 2.5+ feet in some areas.

In Estes, we have our own little micro-climate.  We are completely surrounded by mountains and usually that works in our favor.  When big storms come through we almost always get less snow than the Front Range.  It was a regular work day for me so I headed to the office, later at the grocery store it was a social occasion I saw so many people I knew.  The snow didn’t keep most folks home.  There was school on Thursday, all the roads and paths were cleared.  The park department is so great usually the walking paths are cleared before the roads are.

walking path

I could have gone snowshoeing or hiking, but decided since it was so pleasant on Thursday I was going to take Haley for a run and we ended up at the dog park.  She loves the dog park and pulled me the last quarter mile.  When we got there she was so sad, there were no other dogs there. She really didn’t know what to do with no dogs to chase.

She loves the snow and dove into a snowbank on our way back.

snowbank

Mt. Olympus

Elk on 18 hole golf course

Well now as I write this almost a week later it was 60 degrees and breezy with beautiful blue skies. Other than the January winds there is not much that keeps us inside. Please visit us in the winter, you will be not be disappointed!

Are you planning a visit to Estes Park this summer? And you are bringing Fido with you. Check out some of the areas websites before you get here to plan some fun activities with your dog. Dogs are not allowed on the trails in RMNP. You may take your dog along for a ride into the park and keep them on a leash in designated parking areas, but no hiking in RMNP. For those of you wanting to hike with your canine friends consider the National Forests. I wanted to post some pics from a recent hike with Haley, my Golden Retriever, on Crosier Mountain starting in Glen Haven where the Trail head is located. She kept us running most of the way up the steep trail.

There are some incredible views of Longs Peak . . .

All the trails on HWY 36 as you head towards Lyons are dog friendly too. Lily Mountain trail is a popular hike under 2 miles that is close to HWY 7 and minutes from EP. If you dog isn’t up for a hike, stop by the Dog Park right by Lake Estes and Stanley Park. If you want a complete list of dog-friendly trails stop by the Estes Park Visitor Center for a list.

Have fun, be respectful of others on the trail and lookout for wildlife!