Good afternoon from the Fitness & Health Bloggers Conference in Boulder. I won a ticket a few weeks ago, and I was thrilled to come out to Boulder for a few days to spend time with like-minded bloggers in a new place. It’s also a much more active conference than others, which is one of the reasons I was so excited to come.

One of the things that really attracted me was the hike this morning. The last time I hiked was in Hawaii, and I really enjoyed it. The closest I get to hiking in NYC is climbing the subway stairs, so I jump at any chance I can to hike.

Devon from Fit Health Into Life set up the hike at Chautauqua Park. But first, we were provided breakfast outside the hotel.

I went with a slice of Udi’s gluten-free bread and a slice of whole-grain bread with almond butter…and a banana. I also had some strawberries and Bear Naked almond granola.

We hopped into minivans and headed out to the trailhead. (<—new word for this city girl)

So pretty, right?

We started off hiking up a gravel path. After a few drinks yesterday and the intense altitude here, my heart rate was definitely up and breathing was difficult just hiking this little path. (But not so difficult I had to reach for my inhaler. Whew.)

We started at 8am, and hiked for about 2.5 hours. Going up was a really hard climb–it was really difficult cardiovascularly going up, but mentally it was hard to go down so we didn’t fall!

I’m a wee bit afraid of heights, but it was totally worth it to see these kinds of views.

We hiked up to the Mesa Arch before turning around.

Oh hey. Just chilling at the top.

Roomie love. (Love to Tina, too, who couldn’t make it 🙁 )

For lunch, we went to Garbanzo, a Mediterranean counter-service restaurant near our hotel. We thought it was called Chickpea, but I guess Garbanzo is the same thing, right? 😉

Anne and I both went for plates. Mine was delicious, but for some reason made me sick to my stomach. Maybe because I’m dehydrated from the hike? I’m trying to chug some water now while sitting in the conference sessions.

I sat through an awesome session about the government’s health initiatives, which I’ll be back to talk about later.