Dunton Hot Springs (Part 1)

Well you guys, I can honestly say that Dunton Hot Springs, Colorado is what dreams are made of. It's one of those magical places that I was lucky enough to spend 4 days at with my love, but chances are high that I will most likely never get the chance to go back. I wish that photos would do it justice, but they won't, but i'll try anyway because this place was too amazing to not show you guys.

Gareth and I were 2 of 40 people invited to a very intimate 4 day wedding in Dunton. Gareth had been friends with the bride Christeleny when he lived and worked in New York for a year, a few years back. I had the chance to meet Christeleny this Winter in New York, and I somehow made the cut to be invited to this extravagant event.

We arrived at this fairy tale camp site on Thursday afternoon and spent a few hours settling in and meeting the other guests. Of course there were cocktails too.

This bar in the saloon (yes there was even a saloon) had Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid's names engraved in it. Apparently they hid out here drinking whiskey after a heist in nearby Telluride, Colorado.

Exploring the beautiful venue.

And this, my friends, was the mind-blowing hot springs. They built this incredible building around one of the hot springs and it's connected to a second hot spring just behind where I stood taking this photo. 

As if this place is real. I sat in the hammock a fair amount, in between dips in the 105 degree pool of course.

I still can't believe this place was my temporary home for a few nights.

This was our cabin for the time we were there. It was pretty incredible. As was this view. 

It was hard to get a good shot of the inside, but Gareth snagged this panoramic shot.

The second day we started off with a good ol' fashioned horseback ride! All suited up and ready to ride! I hadn't ridden a horse in over 20 years and was a little nervous, but my horse "mama" was super chill and did all the work while I sat there and took in the breathtaking beauty surrounding me.

Look at this cowboy!

It's no surprise, but the food during the entire weekend was out of this world. This was from a lunch before we went for a hike. Fish and pork tacos - so incredibly delicious.

And then we hiked! First we checked out the waterfall that was a 5 minute walk away from our cabin.

Then we hiked (with our new friend Ana Maria) until we hit the end of Geiser Trail. I guess I figured it would be a little more "Old Faithful" and less of a murky pool, but the hike did not disappoint. It started pouring rain and then it hailed, but we had a wonderful time and made it out alive. 

He's a pretty great hiking partner, and just partner in general.

Ok you guys, I would apologize for the photo overload, but in this case, there's no way i'm going to do that. Stay tuned for even more photos from the actual weekend coming up soon!

XO, Erin