The Pool - Cub Lake Hike

The top picture is of the Pool in the Big Thompson River. It is a pretty spot - looks inviting except the water is a bit cool! The next picture is of Cub Lake with aspens and mountains in the background - though the sun wasn't quite right for the picture. The last is of aspens on the way down the trail. It was a good hike - almost 7 miles and 1000 ft in elevation gain!

The Pool - Cub Lake Hike 1

The aspens are in full color. The first 3 pictures of of the beautiful aspens on the way up to Cub Lake via the Fern Lake Trail. The last picture is looking down on Cub Lake - a view I hadn't had before yesterday. You can see the water lilies in an almost perfect circle in the lake. Don't know why they are like that. When I have been there when the lilies are in bloom they really cover the lake. It was a great hike!

Having all kinds of trouble getting pictures on the blog so I may be done with it.

Glacier Gorge Hike

The Loch Hike

Today Scherry was off so we planned to go on our first hike. We chose The Loch. Scherry had been there earlier in the summer but I had not ever made this hike. I picked Schers up about 8:30 and we headed up to Bear Lake to start the hike. We took off about 9:15. This hike goes by Alberta Falls (my favorite place) and then really heads uphill. The weather was not being very cooperative - once we made it to the Loch it started to really rain and hail and graupel! We went past the lake thinking that you could walk all the way around it but discovered that we were on the way to Sky Pond - another lake much higher up. So with the rain and the hail we decided to turn around and head back down. The Loch is a beautiful spot - looking up at Andrews Glacier. And we were able to get some good pictures in spite - or in some cases- because of the weather. As we headed down the rain let up for a few minutes and when we got to the turn for Mills Lake we started up to it. But the rain and hail and thunder and lightening started up again so we turned around and headed down. We really made good time coming down and got to the shuttle at Glacier Gorge about 3:15. So we had made our 7 and a half mile hike in about 6 hours. Not bad for a flatlander! Of course, I may not be able to get out of bed tomorrow and we have another hike scheduled! Here are some pictures of today's hike. Couldn't get one to load. Will try again later. Time to go to dinner.

Aspens along the trail looking out toward Estes Park.

The Loch, but not the best picture.

Alberta Falls and Bear Lake

Today started out a little chilly - my thermometer said 36! But there were beautiful blue skies and bright sunshine. Very welcome after yesterday's gray drippy skies all day.

I decided to hike to Alberta Falls. It is only a mile and a well used trail so I didn't mind hiking it by myself. Set off from the Bear lake parking lot about 5 til 10 and was at the falls by 10:30 - not even huffing and puffing like I did in May! It was beautiful as usual. The aspen are turning but they still have a long way to go. When I got back to Bear Lake it was still a while until Scherry got there so I took the walk around the lake which is always nice. When i finished there was Schers. Talked to her for a few minutes and then headed back to the motorhome for lunch. Hoped to watch some football - would have liked the Cowboys but ended up with the Broncos. Then Breck and I took a walk and headed into town to the grocery store. When I came out of the store the day had surely changed - by the time we got back to the motorhome we were in the midst of a big storm - rain, wind, lightening and thunder. Glad I did my hike this morning.

All for now. Here are some pictures from today. The first is of Alberta Falls and the second is of Bear Lake. Was going to do a couple more but it was SLOW and I was nervous that it would all disappear! Maybe more tomorrow.

Beautiful day in RMNP

I did this last night but the wifi connection kept messing up and I lost what I had written so ... I'll try again. Yesterday was a beautiful day - sunny and cool. Absolutely perfect. It was pretty nippy when Breck and I took our morning walk - in the low 40s! Then we headed to the dog park - he needed some exercise after being in the motorhome for 2 days. Imagine my horror - and Breck's - when we got there and it was CLOSED! There is a festival in town this weekend and the event has bled over from the fairgrounds into the dog park! We went up to Mary's Lake and Breck got to get his swim in! He was a happy dog. Then we drove around in the national park just checking things out. Came back to the motorhome and ate some lunch and then as happens a lot when we are camping Breck got to stay at the motorhome while I went up to Bear Lake to see Schers. She and I took a short mile hike to Nymph Lake. Let me tell you, lugging 25 pounds less of fat up the mountain really does make a difference. I was happy to see that! Then I let Schers get back to work, came home, sat outside for a while reading until I got cold! How great is that!! When Schers got off work we went to Smokin Dave's for dinner. Still pretty good bab-b-q! A couple of times during the night I heard rain tapping on the roof and this morning it is cold (45) and gray and drippy. Think Breck and I will spend most of the day hanging out at home. All for now.

It was 48 when I walked Breck this morning in Raton. It sure felt great. And the drive north on I-25 was uneventful until just south of Denver where I was in stop and go for about 20 minutes. I was really glad to see the wreck and get by it. This trip I went north all the way to Loveland instead of turning west at Longmont. Probably adds about 35 minutes to the trip but the drive up the Big Thompson Canyon is a much easier drive in the motor home than the drive up from Longmont.

My neighbors called today while I was on the road - my trees were planted behind my house on the golf course. Can't believe I got new trees that I won't see for weeks! They were nice enough though to send pictures so at least I have an idea of how nice they will be!

Got here about 2:30 or so and Schers was here waiting for me. She and Arietta had done some small hikes while Anndevoy did a 12 miler. So I met Arietta - she held Breck while Schers and I got the motor home all set up. Then they left to go wait for Anndevoy at Schers' house. They brought Anndevoy over when she arrived so I got to meet her too. They brought a picture of their dog that they had had to put to sleep last year - he was Breck's twin brother. It was amazing - the same black circle around the base of his tail and ther rest of his markings were very similar too - maybe a few more black spots.

Tomorrow Scherry works ao I will take Breck to the dog park - he needs to get some running and swimming in since he has been stuck in the motor home for 2 days. Then I will go up to Bear Lake to hang out with Scherry for a while. Maybe I will even get some pictures to include tomorrow.

All for now. Watching the Steelers but may have to go to bed before the game is over.

On the road again

Left Frisco about 6:30 this morning to head to Colorado for 3 weeks. Was looking forward to getting to the cool after the heat at home. Thought I would stop at my usual overnight place - Clayton, NM but it was only 2:30 Mountain Time when I got to Clayton, so I decided to head on to Raton. Got here about 4 and set up - no cable TV so I set up my satellite dish and lo and behold it worked! Of course, that just means I have to listen to Obama and hope that my camping neighbors cannot hear my obscenities!! Internet is really slow though using either the campground's connection or my aircard, so that is a touch frustrating. We had a nice thunderstorm with graupel after I got here and it is cool - in the low 60s so that is great! Supposed to be 49 here over night - how great is that. We are still having some thunder and lightening and Breck is a tad nervous! Tomorrow I only have about 5 hours to drive to get to Estes Park so it will be an easy day. Looking forward to getting there and setting up for an extended stay. All for now. Glad to be on the road again!