Denver, CO
On our first day in Denver we hit the ground running walking with a hike on the Mt. Galbraith Loop Trail. After driving about fifteen miles to Golden, we met up with friends Hans and Lisa (Metamorphosis Road) and Steve and MonaLiza (Lowe’s RV Adventures) at the Cedar Gulch Trailhead. We spent time with Hans and Lisa this past January in San Diego but haven’t seen Steve and MonaLiza since February of 2014 in Florida .

Setting smart phone apps at the trailhead
The Cedar Gulch Trail winds up the side of Mt. Galbraith and meets the Mt. Galbraith Loop Trail. We did the loop in a clockwise direction, enjoying a view of Golden to the east, then the mountains to the west.

The Coors Brewery in downtown Golden

Lisa, Mona Liza, Hans, Steve, and John on the loop trail

Snow-capped mountains to the west

Heading back down on the loop trail
After our four mile hike the group had developed quite an appetite. Lisa had done some research and had three choices for us. The group settled on Mexican food, so we drove to La Casa Alba in nearby Golden.

Clockwise from the left: Mona Liza, Steve, John, Hans, Lisa, and Pam
Everyone really enjoyed our meal at La Casa Alba. The food was delicious, the portions were huge, the service was good, and the prices were more than reasonable! We plan to return here in the near future to sample some of the other offerings on their menu.
What a great day with good friends!
You guys always hit the ground running! And I’m glad you did some of that *walking, anyhow) with us! Such a great group of people!
So glad that you set up this get together. It was nice to have two days to hike with you and Hans. It will be awhile before we meet up again. It was a perfect hiking group:)
I’m ready for some good Mexican food so I think we’ll need to give that one a try. Heading down the mountain soon 🙂
This was a very small family run restaurant with a limited menu but just the right selections. We’ve been there twice now. See you soon:)
Nice day with friends…love the big smiles!
Thanks, Gay! It was a fun day catching up after so long doing what we all enjoy…hitting the trail!
That sure is a lot of snow on those mountains, Pam! That food looks yummy!
Jim
The mountains are very white and make for beautiful scenery, that is when the clouds aren’t hanging so low:) The food was excellent and fed us all for two meals.
Hiking and eating, what a great way to spend time with friends.!
Doesn’t get much, MonaLiza:) It was a wonderful day catching up!
You know you’ve been following people a while when you recognize them from the back :-))) Looks like a beautiful hike with great folks – love those blue skies.
Isn’t it funny how well you know people from blogging and you haven’t even met them yet! When you do finally meet in person, it is like getting together with an old friend. We had a great two days of hiking and managed to get morning blue skies before the grey returned.
How fun — what a perfect group of hiking buddies! Glad you got some decent weather for hiking.
We’ve had some great mornings and early afternoons to get in some hiking. It was fun to hike with friends. Wish you and Eric were along:)
I wish we had been, too!! We’ll have to arrange that somewhere down the road.
I can’t even express how absolutely jealous we are of y’all. Good friends, fabulous hike and gorgeous weather. Keep enjoying the wonderful friendship and adventures. Miss you.
Marsha, you and Paul would have enjoyed this hike and the company. Miss you two, also:)
Me too, jealous that is. A hike with three pairs of my favorite bloggers. Looks like a wonderful day. We only missed you by a year. We were in Denver last summer. We stayed in a private park because the state parks were so expensive. Your header picture sure looks inviting though. May have to go for it next time we are on our way to Rocky Mountain NP.
It was great fun to still have red rocks around, Sherry. I was still feeling Utah:) You and David would have enjoyed this hike.
Glad you were able to get together with friends and enjoy a day of hiking. Wish we could have tagged along. 🙂
Yes, LuAnn, you and Terry would have enjoyed all of our hikes and our terrific hiking group. Wish you were in the area:)
Someday we will all hike together.
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