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Bryan Young

High school history teacher and swim coach. Volunteer leader with The Woods Project. Always up for an adventure, run, camping trip, bike, or swim.

The views from this summit are incredible, and the scramble/climb to the top makes it one of the more memorable summits! Also, and if you crave a solid meal after a summit hike like I do, then I highly recommend hitting up Big Bend Pizza in Marathon, TX on your way out of the park. It was a great surprise to find such a great pizza place to celebrate a great trip in the park!

Speaking of the B-Cycle, people can also try and complete the B-Cycle challenge and rent a bike and check it into every one of the city's B-Cycle stations within a 24 hour period! It gives a great tour of the city, plenty of options for beer and taco stops and a reason to explore Houston!

This is an amazing adventure and a must, as it will give you an incredibly unique experience on Lion's Head. As for directions, we took a slightly different path and headed up the standard route that takes hikers spiraling around the mountain as they make your way to the summit of Lion's Head. When you reach the first ladder - do not climb it! Take the small trail to the left, that crosses the barbed wire. From here, the path forks at old remnants of a bench. At the fork go left as it quickly descends before continuing to spiral around the mountain. It is a quick descent and the cave is just a minute or two away as your make your way around the bend. (If you happen to miss the fork like we did, you'll end up atop the cliff with spectacular views, but no way to continue. Then just backtrack and at the bench descend.) After the cave we took the more direct path down to the car park, and enjoyed the loop version of the trail, as the main trail is a bit less steep and extremely scenic!

This is one of my top climbing spots in Colorado. Love climbing on the limestone and there are just so many perfect sport climbing routes to choose from! I recommend bringing a guide book to help navigate which routes you want to climb. Also, bring a jacket, since the sun leaves some spots in the shade and it can be quite chilly if you're not climbing! Happy climbing!

Mount Sherman is a great hike and an "easy" 14er to tackle as your first. Like Austin said in his review, pack layers as the weather can fluctuate. Even in summer there can be snow on the summit! I hiked Sherman in August and there was a fresh 4-6 inches of snow! Overall, a great hike! The old mining buildings among the barren mountainside also make for some great pictures!

This park is also great for trail running! Lot's of ways to get in long runs. And nothing gets your heart beating and your legs pumping faster than a gator right on your tail!

This is a great trek! Really loved hiking past the massive Salkantay, seeing and hearing the distant ice falling! Be sure to take the side trails to check out the glacial lake up on the pass!

The Memorial Park trails are a great way to add some flavor to your running! Also during the hot months the trails offer some great shade to avoid the baking Houston sun. Another great post-run/bike place to check out for some food and drink is Canyon Creek, just out of the exit for Memorial Park on Westcott Street