Rabbit Mountain - Where Eagles soar, and snakes are rattled

Rabbit Mountain is 1 of 27 trails/open space park areas managed by Boulder County, Colorado, and the closest to the city of Longmont. Rabbit Mountain was created when the earth began uplifting to create the Rocky Mountains, and a fault line shifted this ridge slightly east of the foothills.

The Arapaho Indians once called the area home, the mountain created shelter from the westerly winds, and was abundant with edible plants and game to hunt. Prospectors came along in the middle of the 19th Century hoping to strike it rich from Gold, but the wealth was in short supply and many turned to farming. Boulder County acquired the Open Space area in 1984 for all to enjoy, and help protect its natural state.

Rabbit Mountain trailhead

California Zephyr - rails to snowy trails

Our "almost annual" pilgrimage to Glenwood Springs from Denver on Amtrak #5 started with some unexpected excitement (or inconvenience depending on how you look at it). On the eve of our outbound journey, the snow gods decided to blanket Colorado with a dose of the white stuff and drop the thermometer into the single digits. This fresh snow made navigating the roads at 5.30am on a Saturday morning interesting, and finding the parking garage entrance to the NEW Denver commuter train Westminster station an additional challenge in the dark.
We had to race for the train with luggage laden arms, frozen fingers, and along icy paths, with seconds to spare; most of the drama here was trying to actually figure out how to get from aforesaid parking garage to the platform (not very obvious in the dark).

Snowy Downtown Denver