Working Out on Vacation

By Barbara Day, M.S., R.D., C.N.

When I had the opportunity to attend the American College of Sports Medicine meeting in Denver , Colo. , the end of May, we decided to head out west early and experience the Rocky Mountains . While I love to hike, I had never been hiking in a mountainous national forest before so I set my sites on hiking in the Rocky Mountain National Forest . Because of my limited hiking experience in the mountains, I decided to get a guide to help us maneuver around the mountain area safely. I did a google search on the Internet and found a company called Rocky Mountain Day Hikes ( www.rockymountaindaytrips.com ). After looking at their Web site, I decided that I wanted to use the service. We could lug all of our hiking gear on the plane or simply rent their equipment – which is what we decided to do. It cost $20 each to rent all of our equipment which seemed like a deal to me. Of course, we used our own hiking boots and hiking clothes but we rented daypacks, trekking poles, rain gear, and gaiters from Rocky Mountain Day Trips.

Our guide was Becky White, senior guide and owner of Rocky Mountain Day Hikes. Little did we know how much fun and how many beautiful sites we were going to experience with Becky. Becky, a former CPA with a 2 1/2-year-old son, started Rocky Mountain Day Hikes last year when she decided to get out of an office atmosphere and follow her passion.

Becky wanted to know what type of terrain we wanted – high altitude, to see alpine lakes, how long we wanted to hike and many other questions to design a trip for us. Rocky Mountain Day Hikes also guides people up to any of the Fourteeners in the area which I would have been up for but our hike had to be planned to accommodate my husband's fitness level. He does not exercise as much as I do, so the trip had to be planned to accommodate his fitness level, rather than mine. Since I had never done any hiking in the area, any hiking was exciting and breathtaking for us.

Because Denver is already a mile high getting acclimated to the altitude when we first arrived was the plan. Fortunately, neither one of us had any altitude problems during our whole stay in Colorado . Altitude problems can occur when you ascend to 8500 feet above sea level — our trip took us up over 11,000 feet.

Our guide, Becky, picked us up at our hotel at 6 a.m. We wanted to get an early start, but keep in mind it was 8 a.m. in Kentucky so it was not as difficult for us getting up that early. Becky arrived with hot coffee, muffins for our trip to Rocky Mountain National Forest though the Estes Park area. Driving through the mountains was beautiful and very scenic. The sun was shining and the weather was perfect for our adventure.

We started our adventure at a trailhead which had restrooms and specific directions for taking the trails. Since we had never done any hiking in the Rocky Mountain National Forest we did not know how well the trails were actually marked. As we hiked up to the area alpine lakes where we were treated to a beautiful array of vistas, mountain streams and an assortment of animals which included longhorn sheep, elk, marmots and otters. My husband, a photography enthusiast, took many spectacular pictures. At some spots, we were knee deep in snow but the outside temperature was warm and sunny.

My husband is a train buff. One day we took a trip to see the Moffit Tunnel. This railroad tunnel runs 2 miles through the mountainside. To see the tunnel, we have to drive 15 miles back to it on a dirt road. The road winds around a creekbed and finely arrives at the base of a mountain. The mountain is located very close to the Continental Divide. When we were getting directions to the tunnel which is outside of Winter Park, we found out the there were many hiking trails in the area, so we pack the car with our hiking gear and hiked for hours around the area. We met the trailhead manager who is in charge of constructing all of the new trails in the area a mile or so into our hike. According to him, the hiking trails at this location are only three years old and many more trails are being constructed on the area. He gave us the specifics about the area and we had a great time hiking up to some alpine lakes and to the Continental Divide. Not sure what altitude we had hiked to but it was a beautiful area. Fortunately, the trails were very well marked.

At one of the park lodges, I bought a CD which contains a Complete Guide to Rocky Mountain Trails. What a treasure! It was only $19.95 which is well worth the price. Each trail can be accessed by trail area, by destination or by trailhead. The files include location, elevation, capacity at trailhead parking site, whether restrooms are available, and if horse trailers are allowed. In addition, there is a description of each trail, an altitude profile, a trail map and directions to the trailhead. All maps can be printed which is extremely helpful even though the trails we hiked were very well marked.

We had so much fun and saw so much beautiful scenery, we are already planning our next adventure in the west. Stay tuned!

Barbara Day, M.S., R.D., C.N., is a nutritionist with a masters degree in clinical nutrition who is also registered dietitian and has over 30 years of experience in promoting healthy active lifestyles to consumers. Barbara Day, M.S., R.D., C.N., is the publisher and nutrition editor of Kentuckiana HealthFitness and Kentuckiana Healthy Woman and a runner, cyclist, hiker and mother/grandmother.