Overlooking the city of Fort Collins is the distinct Horsetooth Rock atop Horsetooth Mountain in the foothills of the Colorado Front Range. As you see the rock formation from below, the appropriateness of the name is clear. It’s even more impressive from up close.
This week, on a gorgeous and hot autumn day, I hiked around Horsetooth Open Space and up Horsetooth Mountain, along lovely trails . Our dog Whiskey was a real trooper on this 6-hour hike. She seemed to love clambering up and down the boulders, sniffing around to her heart’s content and didn’t seem scared at all as we looked down from the top of the mountain to the valley and Horsetooth Reservoir* below and the peaks of the Rocky Mountains out west. Of course, her favorite part must have been the pool below Horsetooth Falls, which she jumped into immediately.
My favorite part besides the astonishing nature was meeting all the hikers enjoying this lovely Sunday. Locals, tourists, other hikers with dogs and especially this one woman, who makes vaccines for dogs, taught me a few more things about interactions with dogs and who let me film her climb up the actual “teeth” (something I couldn’t do with the dog, the camera, the tripod and my big bag). Next time!
The song is yet again the instrumental version of “Somebody New” by Four Dollar Wine. (Dear people, I really need to find some new music: preferably instrumental and a beat about every 2 seconds…)
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* Check-out the 1-minute video “Boat Ride on Horsetooth Reservoir – In A Colorado Minute (Week 179)”
