Needles and a Pen » Knitting, Sewing, and Nursing School

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  • Welcome to my blog!

    Hi! I'm Traci. I'm a Registered Nurse who loves quilting, knitting, cross stitch, and the great outdoors. In my pre-scrubs life, I owned Real Photography, and you can still see my old wedding and portrait photography site here .

    I've created a map that shows links to our camping/hiking/general family fun review posts that you can find here. It's pretty much the coolest thing on this site. Thanks, Google!

    I great big puffy heart *love* comments, so please let me know you visited! I try to always reply!

Category Archives: camping & hiking

Horsethief Falls Trail Review

For our family this hike was part of our first backpacking excursion.  It is well known as being a side excursion to the longer and harder Pancake Rocks hike, but for a young family it’s a great hike on its own.  While there are some nice steady grades for little legs, there is also a […]

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Pancake Rocks Trail – Hiking Review

The hike begins after a nice climb up from the parking lot on an old wagon road through relatively flat Horsethief Park.  Unfortunately you are on the less attractive side of the park (although the shade from the trees is nice)–the creek and beaver dens are all on the left.  The Ring the Peak Trail […]

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Backpacking with Kids – Our Rookie Trip

Hey!  Look what I found in my drafts folder!  A post almost all ready to go about our first backpacking trip–I finished it up and here it is! Last month we backpacked for the first time as a family.  I am so excited for the flexibility this offers in terms of planning.  Great campsites need […]

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Red Rocks Canyon Open Space

When I first started posting trail reviews I was really excited to write about Red Rocks Canyon Open Space…but then it was closed for an unannounced period due to flooding damage.  I was worried it would turn into a Williams Canyon closed-for-years situation, but then it reopened on the 4th of July weekend!  Thrilled, we […]

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Mt Herman Trail 716 Hike Review

Mt Herman is a great ‘cheat’ of a hike, since you get to drive most of the way to the summit before finishing off the final mile yourself.  We went last year before the shooting in the area was closed, and I am excited to go back now that it isn’t accompanied by the sound […]

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Zapata Falls Hike Review

Zapata Falls is a great adventure on your way to or from Great Sand Dunes National Park.  It is a tiny hike, at just 0.5 miles to the falls or 1 mile roundtrip with minimal elevation gain.  What makes it notable is the adventure you will have getting to the falls.  While in late summer […]

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