We were looking for a short hike to ease us into the high altitude, so my husband picked up a guide to the nearby Badlands Interpretive Trail, right outside of town. It was a bit of a challenge to find the beginning - definitely use your odometer to gauge the recommended distance, and look really hard for the hidden cattle guard. Eventually we figured it out, but it didn’t get any easier from there. Luckily, my husband is a wiz at geography, so he led us from marker to marker with intuition, but left by myself, I would never have figured it out. We collected some massive ticks in the high brush we walked through, so apply bug spray liberally!

My husband also spotted this horned toad in the brush - the first we’d ever seen in the wild. His camoflage was amazing.

I also love how we find bones pretty much wherever we go around here.