January 1st, 2024- Taylor Park- Bull Point

Greeted by the same shaggy dog as a few weeks before, Charlie, Bella and I set out on a short walk, finally mustering the energy to leave the house. The New Year brought parties, friends and a slight hangover. The morning was spent staring out of the front window, sipping coffee and enjoying an exquisite silence. After hours of alternating between naps, reading and puttering about the house, we finally set out.

In the winter, Taylor Park road is plowed to the Outpost. Beyond this, snowmobiles and the occasional cross country skier lay uneven tracks. Unlike the pandemonium of summer, Taylor Park in the winter is a largely empty canvas-- given the altitude, the lake ice is predictably frozen and the dirt bike tracks that, in July, are typically an apocalyptic cacophony of whining engines and swirling dirt make for pleasantly undulating, if a little steep, cross country ski tracks in the winter. Sticking to Taylor Park Road is the easier and probably a little more efficient route, but if you're not afraid to point your skinny skis and hope for the best, the single tracks on the side are certainly a kick.

About a mile and half up the road, Bull Point is a bulge into the lake and a simple two track road circumnavigates it. Climbing along the side provides outstanding views of both the shimmering ice and the Collegiate Peaks. An easy hike if it is a dry year and an even easier ski, you should be back to your car within a couple of hours.

If you plan for the late afternoon, the sun will set behind Taylor Peak, the light of the waning day funneling up Taylor Canyon and onto the wall of mountains to the North, setting the entire park in a halo of an ethereal, comforting light.

If you decide to go, say hi to the friendly, shaggy white dog. We don't know his name, but we sure enjoyed his company.