Table Talk
Picnic on Mt. Herman
Labor Day. A day off from laboring. The unofficial end of summer. And our unofficial start of hiking season. As a fair-weather hiker, during July and August, I stay inside mid-day, not to avoid ugly weather, but to avoid the heat. But, come September, the mornings and evenings are cool and all those 90 degree days are pretty much behind us. There is promise of fall. And my heart turns to the mountains. So on this Labor Day, we climbed in the SUV with Mike and Lynn and headed to Mt. Herman, which is just southwest of Denver, outside of Monument. We had to head up a steep, rocky road to get to the trail head, a beautiful climb up the edge of the mountain. The hike itself wasn't long, but fairly steep and rocky. It brought us up to Mt. Herman, where we could see across the valley below to the communities of Monument, up to Castle Rock, and beyond. We found a flat rock, where we pulled out our picnic: cloth, wine glasses, silverware and lunch:
Arugula Salad with Pear, Pancetta & Ricotta Salada
Goat, Fontina, Gruyere, & Smoked Gouda cheeses
Ciabatta Bread
Herb-Marinated Olives
Home Smoked Salmon with Chipotle Glaze
Fresh Figs & Raspberries
White Chocolate Butter Cake
Townshend T3 Red Wine
Great view. Great food. Great friends. The Colorado mountains. It doesn't get much better than that.
