Between marathon training, work & this year’s extreme run schedule, I sometimes find myself overextended/time crunched.  If only a few more hours in the day…right?

Luckily last week I synced the calendar in my head with the one on my wall & found an extra weekend – SWEET surprise!

Laundry, groceries, sleep?  Nope.  Mountain time – much needed time in the mountains.

Despite the weather forecast, woke Saturday a.m. with ‘hike’ on the brain & no snow on the ground.  Grabbed water & light snacks, sat my backpack on the kitchen floor.  Begging, almost crazed…Ro knew we were going somewhere.  Road trip!

Decided on Horsetooth Rock in Fort Collins.  Altitude, check.  Only an hour half drive north, still on the Front Range…but just east of our snow pounded Rockies.  Didn’t disappoint.

With the exception of a few icy patches & an intermittent burst of flurries, very little precip.  Nearing the rock scramble finish, I unleashed Ro (for both our safety) & led the boulder climb UP.

Few feet more to summit, Ro found his way & bounded to the top.  Stopped for a half hour & soaked up the immensity of our surroundings, the peaks, thin air, quiet – almost complete stillness.

During our hike return, my hiking partner Cliff suggested we drive to Severance & try Bruce’s world famous Rocky Mountain Oysters – a.k.a. bull testicles.   25 minutes to the east, Severance is a small blink of a town near Greeley on the Plains.

Bruce’s menu is anything but ordinary.  What I call: “cowboy exotica” 🙂   Bison, elk & yak burgers (yeah I said yak); both Rocky Mountain & Black Hills oysters.  Settled on elk & yak (each of us took a half) and a combo plate of oysters.

We were split on game burgers – I prefer elk.  However, hands down Black Hills over Rocky Mountain.  MyCOLORADOLife foodie review: Rocky Mountain oysters are more sinewy, a bit chewy.  That said, tastes good going down.  YUM!