On the trail: an Aspen vacation

ASPEN ” My offseason vacation took me to some great places that I don’t get to nearly enough. And, luckily for me, they were all in my backyard.

A week off in a resort that I call home ” and that people pay thousands of dollars to come visit ” was one of the best vacations I’ve had in recent years.

Day 1 took me to the Aspen Recreation Center, which, I am embarrassed to say, I had never visited before. Nursing a hangover from Halloween night, I headed to the ARC pool with my friend and her daughter. I lounged in the Lazy River and got my adrenaline pumping doing laps on the slide. It gave me enough energy to take a nice stroll through the Northstar Preserve later that day.

Day 2 took me up American Lake Trail. Unfortunately, my friend and I underestimated the temperature and conditions. I wore cropped workout pants, bootie socks and tennis shoes. My friend didn’t bring a jacket. It wasn’t too long before the trail was covered in snow, and we found ourselves breaking trail in 3-foot snow banks. But we followed through on our commitment and went to the top. The lake had 3 inches of ice on it. Note to self and other hikers: American Lake is done for the season.

Day 3 was a standard hike up Smuggler that had way too many people on it. But the next day was the highlight of the trip: Golfing at the Roaring Fork Club, which was in incredible shape for the last day of the season. The back nine in the canyon got a bit chilly, but I managed to get through it.

The last few days of the trip took me to Sunnyside Trail, which gave me a couple of bodily function issues. The first descent, two weekends ago, brought me up close and personal with an older lady who just couldn’t hold it anymore. She dropped her pants and was peeing on the trail. I guess when you have to go, you have to go. The more recent trip, this past Sunday, I fell victim to my own inability to hold it in. The damn dog decided to snack on some poo on the side of the trail left by God only knows, and I just couldn’t hold down the Clif Bar I had just consumed. I vomited ” but at least I made it to the scrub oak on the side of the trail. Hopefully another canine didn’t find that as appetizing as my dog felt about the crap.