Colorado leg, part B

Meanwhile back at Estes Park...... really a great place to explore and some beautiful hikes. There does remain the traffic and people issue, no wheres as bad as a Yosemite but miles away from "isolated". We are off to hike to three Lakes, Nymph,Dream, and Emerald. The trail head parking is so full you have to drive to a bus shuttle area and shuttle to the trail head, not really a bad deal but not what we expected, especially first thing in the morning.

We got off at the wrong stop which added a 1/2 mile to our trip, sounds like no big deal but the 1/2 mile was all up and starting at over 9000 feet (pant/puff/puff). We were to gain over 900 feet in elevation in about 2 miles. Several were the times we begged for oxygen! But the effort was more than well rewarded. Awesome scenery, beautiful panoramas, plentiful wild flowers, mountain streams, and the awesome lakes.






Hiking along the well maintained trails. Roxy had to stay home, no pets are allowed on any of the trails (which is probably good for the Rox, she is a long way from being a pup).

Not sure why, but I'm a sucker for Indian Paint brush, we were able to see lots of it on the hike.

Here is the first lake in the series, Nymph Lake. It kind of pops/jumps out at you, almost a surprise, and what a pleasant surprise. Now it is time to talk about the pine beetle. Colorado is suffering strong and wide spread damage from the pine beetle. The rangers say they run in cycles, every so many years. They are natural but the destruction they cause is a terrible eye sore, not to mention a very dangerous fire hazard. To stop them will require either a forest fire or a very hard, cold winter. Seems a shame, but literally, that is life. Here is the same picture, undoctored up (admittedly not a very good job of doctoring, but you get the point).

So this is Nymph Lake, still a gorgeous lake, pristine and pure.

And just a few huffs and big puffs up the trail we found Dream Lake.

Upper end of Dream Lake, which certainly did have some nice trout in its water, probably good eating but they are all catch-and-release.

All three lakes were, as you might guess, connected by streams. For the majority of our hike we could see or hear running water and a couple of time had to ford a stream.

The top lake, at 10,000 feet, was Emerald Lake. No question on how this fellow got its name.The trail ends at Emerald Lake, as it would not be possible for most folks to continue. The lake is surrounded by steep mountains making a natural bowl to form this snow fed lake.

The opening shot of this post is also a shot of Emerald lake. Once you get there you don't want to leave. I guess one gets a feel of what Thoreau and Emerson used to talk about and experience.

These magnificent boulders/mountain peaks surrounding the lake once again give understanding to the name Rockies.

Our round trip, which ended back at Bear lake, actually our 4th lake for the day, turned out to be 4.5 miles. Not such a strenuous hike as it might sound (although time washes away any pains - Shelle's description might differ some). Plenty of opportunities for rest and reflection - in fact this was one time I think Shelle was glad I stopped for pictures! Back at camp a well earned ice cold beer was quaffed graciously and appreciatively.

The next day found us back in the same area off to discover Alberta Falls, a simpler, shorter hike but still very rewarding. The hike started off in this almost cathedral like stand of aspen.

Lots of pretty to see along the way, reasonably short hike, so a leisurely pace was called for. The falls are magnificent, but like many falls difficult to get a good picture of. Here are the falls and some of the surrounding flora and fauna.

My fearless, wonderful hiking partner and water carrier.



The stream coming from the waterfall offered many eye pleasing views also.

Sooner or later someone had to shoot me! Time for a break.

Our next day was another etc day, including a pleasant highlight of eating lunch at "Smoking Dave's", well worth the stop.

Next post, Lake Granby (we have to drive back up Trail Ridge Road and cross over 12,000 feet, this time with the trailer) - stay tuned!

Colorado leg, part A

Well, if you recall the last leg was our "corny" leg, we cruised through Minneapolis, Idaho, and Nebraska on a sea of corn. The minute we hit the Colorado border the corn stopped, just like that, so we beached our corn boat and got into our prairie schooner and headed for the Rockies, following the venerable Platte River. Next stop is just outside Loveland. Loveland is just north of Denver and in my mind was a small town - wrong. Loveland is surprisingly big with plenty of traffic and lots of stop lights, most of them red! Our camp was on Highway 34 just past town and on the way to Estes Park. We stayed at the Riverside Resort on the big Thompson River. Why they call most of these campgrounds "resorts", I have no idea, the term is very loosely applied. Our spot backed right up to the river, very pretty and you could hear the river babbling from the site (how come when rivers babble it is a good thing, but when my wife accuses me of babbling it is not a good thing?). We spent a couple of days here, did laundry, shopping and that etc. stuff.

We had neighbors with an Air Stream trailer, you know those rounded silver jobbies, and this one looked brand new but turned out to be a meticulously refurbished 1978. The owners were from the San Diego area and on their way to an Air Stream rendezvous.
Next we started the short, albeit very slow, trek to Estes Park. The trip was only 31 miles but took 2 hours! Then a 10 minute wait to get into the park. All the National Parks are crowded in the summer, one just has to get used to that. We stayed at Moraine Park where the camping is dry (no hook ups) and only paid $10 per day (with our "old fart" pass). We had site # C227, by far the best spot in the park. We overlooked a vast meadow, were surrounded by Ponderosa Pines, had plenty of space and privacy, and were a stones throw from the amphitheater to hear nightly ranger talks. Pretty neat set up.

Camp site overlooking the meadow and mountain range.
Part of our view from camp.

Another part of our view, this is Longs Peak in the afternoon. We had some sort of dramatic cloud formation every day, very little actual rain.
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More dramatic clouds, almost look like a fire, very spectacular. Usually these clouds would be on their way by evening and then we would get the wonderful, brilliant star show.

We did not see a great deal of wildlife, probably because over all it was on the warmish side. We did get to see some critters though such as:
I see you! This guy was right in camp, bet if I wait he will come out further.

Lots of chipmunks, drove Roxy crazy.

Several magpies amused us also.

Our next adventure took us further up the mountain, taking the "Old Fall River road" which would take us up to over 12,000 feet elevation. This road is the original road, built in the '30s, to go up to the Alpine center. It is a narrow, twisty, switch-back, dirt road, fortunately one-way. On several of the turns we had to back up and jog to get our long truck around the corners but well worth it and not as bad as it sounds. In fact the down side is that it was pretty crowded making stopping for pics difficult. Hard to imagine those old cars struggling up this road at this high altitude.

Country side along the way.

Looking up at the Alpine Center (that little bitty bump is the center building). I think there is snow there year round. Clearly we are above timberline. Right near this spot we espied a herd of elk of in the distance.

Here are some Alpine flowers, what stout hardy fellows to survive in this harsh climate and very short growth season.

We came back via "Trail Ridge Road", somewhat more modern but still somewhat spooky in spots. Shelle kept pleading for guard rails! Here is a panorama near the top.
And before the next adventure, while I fix the hole in the passenger side of the truck that Shelle wore through trying to use the passenger side brake, some miscellaneous wild flowers, of which there were plenty everywhere, a significant part of the beauty to me.

I'm not very good at naming them, that's up to the experts, but I always feel good when I get one, this beauty is a nice wild rose specimen.

And don't forget the magnificent trees. I am especially fond of the Aspens.

Mister Ponderosa.

And some more afternoon cloud shows, what great picture shows we had.

Finally one of our pleasant camp fires.

The adventure and more of Estes Park will continue in the next post.