Sky Pond with extra credit

Big black clouds greeted me this morning before our hike. What happened to that 0% chance of rain that I had seen in the forecast? I wasn't sure how far we'd get, but we set out in hopes of reaching Sky Pond. The wind continued to blow, but the clouds held on to their moisture except for the occasional drop of sleet. First stop was Alberta Falls, and we found the low vantage point for a new view. Second stop was Rebecca Falls - named by Tim Blessie and remembered by Phil and now to be added on my Glacier Gorge hikes.

After a windy break at the Loch, we headed up to Timberline Falls. Not only is the waterfall spectacular, you get up close and personal as you climb up the right side to the higher lakes.

Sky Pond was as beautiful as ever as the wind whipped up the water, turning it aquamarine. Getting to Sky Pond proved to be a bit more of an adventure than we bargained for. I remembered the high trail - well, maybe it wasn't exactly a trail. But we certainly had fun bushwhacking and following cairns to nowhere, until we safely came back to the new super highway trail.

Upper Willow Park

Tom led us on a ramble in Upper Willow Park today. No fixed trail, no fixed destination... just a chance to explore an area rarely visited.

We started at the gated hairpin turn on Fall River, and first stop was the Willow Creek Ranger Station, which is still in use. It was originally built as a one room cabin, but was later expanded. Old growth forest surrounds the cabin and most of lower Willow Creek.

Although late in the season, there are still flowers blooming up high. Gentians were expected and we found star, fragrant, and arctic. Surprise finds were this Monkey Flower, Grass of Parnassus and Sibaldia. See the link for the hike to see the rest of the flower photos.

Circle of Lakes

Perfect day for a family hike and a celebration of another birthday. Birthday girl Becky joined us for the Circle of Lakes (in reverse). We started up past Alberta Falls and on to Mills Lake. We had a lazy lunch and spent lots of time watching the stick bugs in the water. Kelly even had a little stick bug farm going.

As we were leaving Mills, a kayaker appeared out of nowhere, begging the question "How did he actually get that kayak up here?"

Back down to the junction and over to Lake Haiyaha, where someone had been very creative with a sawn off tree trunk.

I haven't been to Lake Haiyaha for years, and had forgotten the wonderful view of Hallet and the color of the water. From Haiyaha we descended past Dream and Nymph Lakes and back to the trailhead at Bear Lake.

Uncle Brent

Today we celebrated Uncle Brent's 85th birthday by climbing Mt Washburne behind his house. Don't let the short distance fool you - that 1/2 mile goes straight up to a fabulous view of the Continental Divide on one side, the Mummy Range on the other, and down into Estes Park.

The three Williams grads had to pose for a shot - Ted ('50), Maggie ('78) and Brent ('46)

Elk Ridge

Hiking out of Rocky Mountain National Park and in the National Forest in the foothills instead. We ventured up an old trail, probably used by the families that lived at Homestead Ranch. The trail takes off from the other side of Lion Gulch and winds up to the top of Elk Ridge, where an old road used to run. The views back to Longs and the backside of Twin Sisters were beautiful.

Our group at the top: Brynn, Sue, Tom, Sarah, Carl, Ken, Maggie, and Dot (and muneca)

Pleated gentians were blooming in the open meadows

Foggy St Vrain

What a day to try to find a mountain top! The higher we climbed from the trailhead, the denser the clouds became. Once we reached the saddle between Meadow Mountain and St Vrain, there was no way to tell where St Vrain might be hiding. Thank goodness for map and compass, a GPS, and a good sense of direction. The trail guide says to find the most clear way through the krummholz, but we couldn't even see where the krummholz started! And thank goodness the summit was marked or we might never have known when we actually reached it. Here is the gorgeous view of all of wildbasin from the summit when covered in clouds.

While we had lunch at the top, we had tiny patches of blue sky open up around us. I knew what the view was like, but the others gasped as Longs and Meeker suddenly came into view. They were so close! We thought that the clouds would dissipate before we finished our lunch, but it was not to be, so we headed down in more clouds.

By the time we reached the saddle, all had cleared and we were rewarded with the incredible views we had expected.

Looking back up St Vrain - now we could see what we had accomplished.

 Mountain gentians were blooming on the way down... a sure sign that the summer is almost over and the snows will soon be coming. 

Colorado Relay

I took part in my 9th Colorado Relay Friday through Saturday. 170 miles, 3 mountain passes, 10 team members, from Georgetown to Carbondale. After having 5 names in the 9 years, our team is now named "Running for Paul" after our best friend and team member who died from pancreatic cancer last year. Muneca joined Hula Girl this year as the team mascots. However, they had a little girls' spat over their new boyfriend, the gnome from team Peer Pressure.

As team captain, I was able to opt for the weeniest set of legs. I figured with all my hiking, I would be able to run uphill at 10,000 feet. Not as fast as I have crossed that beaver pond in the past, but I did it.

With our stellar new recruits this year, we set an all time record for "Running for Paul". We came 12th out of 110 teams, and Aaron, despite predictions from Les and Richard, managed to decimate the field over Georgia Pass and pass 32 runners with a time of 1:46! It was a happy finish in Carbondale, but I missed not being able to phone Paul and tell him that we were drinking an Avery for him at the finish line. Here's the team: Les, Bryan, Kelly, Aaron, Maggie, James, Aree, Tom, Melissa, and Carl.

Fairchild

Our destination today was Fairchild. We set off in the dark at 3:30 so that we would have plenty of time to reach the summit 9 miles ahead of us. After a brisk 6 miles, we had breakfast at Lawn Lake as the sun was rising. A little further up the trail, we looked across at our destination. Lots of tundra and rocks between us and the summit still to go.

The view from the summit is another beautiful one. This is looking over at Mt Ypsilon. Not sure if it's the angle or the fact that it is so late in the summer that the Y is not very visible.

We headed back down on the side overlooking Crystal Lakes and looking back toward our breakfast spot on Lawn Lake.

Crystal Lakes are more stunning from above than they are up close.

Instead of trudging out 6 miles on trail from Lawn Lake, Hikemaster Tom treated us to the most amazing bushwhack down the Roaring River. The collapse of the dam at Lawn Lake in 1982 resulted in a horrific flood which scoured out the streambed down to the bedrock. Waterfall after nameless waterfall tumble down the slabs, each one more beautiful than the last.

The Loch and Bob the Rock

Can't quite believe it is August and it's my first trip to Loch Vale. It is always a beautiful spot, but the sky was incredibly blue today, and the white clouds made the mountains all the more beautiful. And once again, we scored on the raspberries. The kids were all scattered on the hillside, trying to pluck just one more before we had to head back.

First stop along the way is Alberta Falls. Someone told me this summer that this is the waterfall on the Coors logo. I haven't compared them yet.

Muneca had plenty of friends on this trip. Annie and Lily were the first to pose. And Annie did a great job locking all the trees on the way down the firetrail so that the minions of the wicked witch could not follow us down the secret path. This is a very important job!

Olivia and David were the next. David is holding Bob the Rock - Muneca's first boyfriend of the summer! My apologies to Nicholas and Eliza - the photo was not the best.

Mt Orton

Mt Orton isn't one of the tallest mountains around, but the views of the south side of Pagoda, Longs, and Meeker are superb.

We found a little bit of shelter from the wind on this side of the summit. Every step up the rocks had us leaning into gale, trying to prevent a backwards tumble down the summit.

Hikemaster Tom looking very carefree on the summit of Mt Orton.

Lily Mountain isn't a long hike, but you get your money's worth with a little rock scramble and some of the best views in Rocky Mountain National Park. Twin Sisters was behind us here.

 

 Hikemaster Clyde enjoying a rest in one of the custom made granite seats. 

We made it back before the first rain drops started to fall, but the skies were a little more ominous over the Mummies.