Perfect weather for kicking off my Colorado Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge. I was joined by Bryan Martin, Executive Director of Big City Mountaineers — an awesome non-profit organization that we help support through the Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge.

We met at the Elk Meadow Trailhead off Stagecoach Blvd. Denver was having a bit of a heatwave, but our 8am start beat most of it. The trail has a decent amount of shade coverage, which helped. We followed the trail up the ridge — the most direct route to the summit.

The views of the Rocky Mountains were pretty spectacular.

We saw a handful of other hikers, a couple of trail runners (great trail for running) and two mountain bikers.

After the hike? We headed to the Little Bear in Evergreen for burgers. This old saloon has hosted John Denver, Willie Nelson and many more through the years. It was a cool bit of history, and well worth the stop.