Mt Audubon

I cannot think of a better way to spend a birthday than hiking in the high country on a perfect Indian Summer day. How often can you be above 13,000 feet in late September in shorts and a t-shirt? Mt Audubon was a perfect destination. The views from Brainard Lake are always incredible, but when I got above treeline, rounded that first corner, and caught that glimpse of Chiefshead, Pagoda, Longs and Meeker, I feltl like they were reaching out to me.

At the summit, you have 360 degrees of views. To the south, all of Indian Peaks, with Navajo and Apache in the foreground.

Birthday girl on the summit with Arapahoes, Navajo, Apache.

There is a last gasp of fall color on the tundra. Bright red rosettes of big rooted spring beauty are hiding in every rock crevice near the summit. Monument plant (green gentian) glows golden. The willows have turned a burnished gold on the mountainside, providing texture to the otherwise stark landscape.

Emerald Lake

What a way to finish the official hiking season. I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day or more wonderful company. On the way to Estes, I caught the first rays of the sun hitting Long's Peak. I remember taking a similar photo at the beginning of the season. It would be hard to beat this commute! A little further up the road, right before Fish Creek, I saw a large animal on my right. Another bull elk running around madly because of the rut, I thought to myself. But then I realized it was a bull moose! Brown, ungainly, huge antlers, and a hump on his back, he was trotting through the meadow. Second moose I have seen this summer!

Bear Lake was calm today and reflected the stands of aspen like a mirror.

Dream Lake provided another opportunity to admire how beautiful this part of the park is. There is a reason that these lakes are the most popular destinations for short hikes.

My company on today's hike was a women's hiking group from Glenview, Il. I think I have found some soul mates. All were wonderful, but Liz provided a special highlight when she agreed to sing an aria from an opera at Emerald Lake. Surrounded by brilliant blue sky, towering rock walls and glistening water, her voice echoed off the walls and took my breath away. She received a standing ovation from the other hikers at the lake. This will truly remain the highest point of my season.

Black Pool

Time to find something out of the way that we had never been to before. I had heard that Black Pool is best to do late in the season because you have to cross Spruce Creek. Seemed like a good destination. Surprisingly, there is a trail down to Spruce Creek from the first switchback above the Pool, a relatively easy way to cross the creek, and a faint path up to Black Pool on the other side.

Pockets of aspen dot the mountainsides. You never know when you are going to turn the corner on another glowing stand.

We saw and heard lots of elk as we were heading back down to the Fern Lake trailhead. But back at the Y, at the puddle across from Dorsey Lake, two young bull elk were sparring, trying to perfect their moves for another year.

Ptarmigan Tarns and Glacier

Another day where every vista was more beautiful than the last. We started out from Bear Lake heading for Ptarmigan Tarns. I have more than enough photos of Bear Lake, but the fall colors were glowing around the lake.

A little further up the trail, aspens were framing Long's Peak with its new dusting of snow.

Up the trail to Lake Helene, and then further up Odessa Gorge to two tarns buried in the loose rocks left behind by Ptarmigan Glacier

After arriving at the tarns, we looked further up the gorge to yet another cirque. It didn't look too far, so we decided to keep on climbing and see if another lake was hidden from view. I think that all the rocks in this section are just sitting on top of an active glacier. With every footstep, rocks were moving underneath. Nothing was stable. Even the parts that looked like bare earth turned to mush if you stepped on them. Views of Notchtop were amazing as you got higher up the gorge.

We made it to the base of the Ptarmigan glacier - no hidden lakes. Just tons and tons of rock with water rushing somewhere down underneath. All the rocks that have fallen from the right side were black. From the left side, all were brown. They met in the center of the gorge, right near the bottom of the glacier.

The views as we descended back down to the tarns were beautiful - worth the effort to get further up the gorge.

 Arriving back at Bear Lake, we found more aspens framing the view

Calypso Cascades

The first full day of fall. Was it just on Sunday that it was almost 90 degrees and I drank all 3 liters of water I was carrying? A dusting of snow appeared on the high mountains yesterday afternoon, ushering in the new season. It also brought two great horned owls outside the cabin last evening. One was right above the cabin, silhouetted against the alpen glow, as he answered his cohort in a tree on the other side of the river.

Today we took the back way up to Calypso Cascades. The wind would keep the cold front at bay for a while, and then the clouds would descend and start pelting us with tiny hail. Every time the clouds would lift, we were treated to a rainbow and beautiful views of Meeker, Longs, and Pagoda.

The aspen are still beautiful - don't know what type of final color we will get after the wind in the last 24 hours. Pockets are already finished, while other stands still have further to go. Each day is a new vision of color, yet I know it will all be gone within 10 more days.

Copeland Falls was our last stop of the day. I think it is more beautiful in the fall when there is not as much water rushing over the rocks and the sun reflects at a lower angle to make it sparkle. The clarity of the water brings out the details of every rock in the pool.

The Gemstones

Another day of beautiful aspen color, accompanied by record high temperatures. Most people avoid the Gem Lake trail in the summer because the trail winds through mounds of lumpy rock which traps the heat. Who would have expected a day in the high 80's in mid September? 3 liters of water barely lasted the 4.5 miles (although we were scrambling on the rocks for 6 hours).

Tom led us on a tour of the Gemstones - the lumpy towers that surround Gem Lake. A day to feel like a kid - climbing up and around all these amazing granite outcroppings with incredibly good traction. There are huecos (little pots) hollowed out all over the stones. When the girls were little, we used to hike up to Rabbit Ears, on the back side of Lumpy Ridge. We would scramble around the ears, and place the girls in the "pots" where they were safe. Muneca also had a safe "pot" so she wouldn't blow off the top of the first gemstone.

Tom never ceases to amaze me with his knowledge of every inch of the park. He led us through a maze of rock outcroppings to find each summit. He also demonstrated some interesting climbing moves. None of us were able to replicate this one.

The granite domes of Lumpy Ridge stretched out to our west. I was struck by the similarities to Matopas Park in Zimbabwe. There are more balancing rocks down there, but the exposed and exfoliating granite is the same.

Bighorn Mountain

While most of the aspen trees are still green, some stands are beginning to burst with color. Following the Roaring River up the Lawn Lake trail, older aspen were standing tall, while the new trees, growing since the flood in 1982, provided brilliant color lower down.

Halfway towards Lawn Lake, we made a right turn and started climbing. In 3/4 of a mile and 2000 feet higher, we arrived at Bighorn Mountain. The view across to the Mummy Range - Chapin, Chiquita, Ypsilon, Fairchild, Mummy and Hagues was incredible - I felt like I could reach out and touch them.

Our group on the summit - Gordie, Clyde, Carl and Ken.

Maggie and Muneca on Bighorn - I've heard it is always windy up there, and today was no exception. Muneca could not pose for a photo op on her own.

Lyric Falls

Up the Sandbeach Lake trail on a search for the elusive Lyric Falls. Every day brings new spots of color along the trails. It's funny how things change so quickly in the spring and the fall - just as hours of daylight are changing dramatically, so, too, is the scenery. Putting on that last blast of glory.

Having heard that there isn't one defined "falls" on Hunter's Creek, we admired every little cascade along the way, and voted on the one we thought was the best. They were all beautiful (and lyrical) even in the fall with less water flowing. Found a few swimming holes that I might just save for a sweltering July day.

Horsetooth

I've been wanting to hike to Horsetooth all season. It's one of the closest high spots to the cabin, but we've never been up there. made sure that my day was free when Tom put it on the schedule one last time for the year. After the hike through the forest up to the saddle between Horsetooth and Lookout, there was some fun scrambling on the big boulders along the north side of Horsetooth to get over to the summit. Once you hit the top of the teeth - what a view!

That patch of aspen that I always love was just below us - already beginning to turn, but it should be brilliant in another week.

And the view to the north wasn't bad either - Tahosa Valley, sloping down from Meeker and back up to Twin Sisters, with Estes Cone in the background.

Calypso bushwhack

One of my favorite hikes of the year - hike up to Calypso Cascades and then go straight up and follow the stream up to Finch Lake. It's a mile of one beautiful bubbling cascade after another.

Finch Lake lunch spot with St Vrain mountain in the background. Sunny, peaceful.

I never noticed that you could look back from just above Calypso Cascades and catch a view of Mt Alice.

Berries and colors

Oh - it's going to be a beautiful September. I'm amazed at the color that you can already see in the high country. Even without the eye-popping color of the aspens, the landscape is turning into a patchwork of textures.

Up to Odessa Gorge area for another trip this year. It just does not get old. The blue sky, clouds, angle of the sun - it is always changing. Notchtop was standing guard at the upper reaches of the gorge.

As we were leaving Odessa Lake, this little ouzel gave us quite a show, perching along Fern Creek and doing his dipper thing. Those big feet allow him to walk on the bottom of the stream, even in the spring runoff!

Spring might have had the beautiful blossoms, summer had the acres of wildflowers, but fall has the berries. Twisted Stalk hangs over every stream, with a tiny little ornament hanging from each leaf junction.