Around Estes - Part 2

Told ya this would be a two parter.  This time, we have a bit of the, promenade might be the word, near downtown Estes Park and a trip a to Lily Lake.  Lily lake was my go to spot in Estes.  I spent many an hour there, reading, walking, smelling trees.  It was grand.  You had to be there.

Petals: Mt. Evans- Goliath Nature Area

 The wild flowers were in full bloom while at Mt. Evans.  This was amazing.  It made the drive absolutely gorgeous.  Part way up the mountain is a little stop called the Mount Goliath Nature Area.  It is just fabulous stop!  It is a whole bunch of wildflower gardens.  And a bristlecone forest.  To the best of my knowledge I'd never been in one before.  They are awesome, they are like the oldest living trees or something strange like that... expect a post.

Wild Thing: Mountain Goats

So you might have noticed that I saw mountain goats when I was at Mt. Evans...  And you probably figured that I took more than enough pictures of them.  I did.  And you are lucky enough that you get to see them.  I don't know a lot about mountain goats, except that I think they are awesome little buggars and they blend into the mountain pretty darn well.  Oh and they don't like dogs.  A forest ranger told us that.  We had the dog with us and totally didn't see the goat, but he told that they don't like each other much and who knows what would happen if they got too close.

Mt. Evans

My parents came to visit me in Estes and like anyone who works in the tourist buisness, I just wanted to get away for my weekend.  We did.  We traveled about an hour and a half south to one of Colorado's many 14ers.  Mount Evans, which is just out side of the town of Idaho Springs (which is about 10 minutes from Blackhawk, a place with many casinos that I lost money in.)  We left Estes early on Thursday and we had hoped to see Mount Evans that day.  But it was later in the afternoon when we got there and since it is the monsoon season here, it was raining.  And there is no point of being above treeline if you can't see very far.

Lily Lake

I had such a hard time getting motivated for my day off.  I woke up early as always, but went back to sleep for at least another hour.  I had no idea what I wanted to do.  A part of me just wanted to be lazy and not leave the room, but I had to do something.  I went to breakfast and decided to go to lily lake.  It is about 7 miles south of Estes.  It is a short trail around the lake.  I took a book, my journal and the camera and that is how I spent my morning.

View from My Door: Crazy Weather

 So I am sure I've mentioned a time or two, that Estes Park in the Rocky Mountains has some hellishly weird weather...  Thought so.  Well, today was not my first experience with it, it was quite off yesterday, but today was strange none the less.  I wish I'd been thinking and had taken a picture earlier.  I was supposed to work at 7:30 (at least that is when the vans were supposed to leave).  This didn't happen.  It was very windy and snowy and cold last night up on the mountain.  Thus the roads were unopened and needed some plowing.  Now 6ish hours later, still not open, so work has been officially called off.

View from My Door: Hanging Clouds

We had a storm the other night.  It was awesome, I love the rain, but the clouds do some silly things in the mountains.  The next morning, I had the day off, and I had planned on doing a spot of hiking.  (I did).  But since I couldn't sleep much, I got up for breakfast.  Was OK with this once I saw the clouds.  They were just hangiug there, like cotton candy around the mountains as I went to breakfast.  So naturally I snapped this pictures from my door when I got back.

View from My Door: Sunset Edition

Well, yeah, here is another of the lazy photograph posts.  But hey I'm tired, I just dug in then snow for something like 4.5-5 hours.  The view from my door is amazing, almost all the time, so long as you can actually see out of it.  But I was watching some lame TV show the other night and luckily I looked out my window at the very right moment.  It was an incredibly vivid sunset.

Digout: Days 1&2

As I am sure I’ve mentioned, I am spending the summer working in a gift shop in Rocky Mountain National Park.  Well, it’s a pretty tall mountain, somewhere around 12 thousand feet.  And you’d better believe that there is a bunch of snow up there.  It like many places in the mountains is a seasonal spot, and in the winter, they just let it snow.  The road is closed for several months and they plow it out each spring.  And this year was no different.  And while the road is being plowed out we dig out the gift shop.

View from My Door

So I could go and find great places to take pictures or I could be lazy and look out the window, and then when the moment is right I could just snap a picture from my door.  Don't get me wrong I plan on doing more of the former, but hell, the view I have is pretty awesome.  I have some cell phone pics, but I just can't seem to get enough service to get them on my computer, and I forgot the little SD card adapter :(

Powder River Pass

Well as long as I am doing my favorite places (which is just about everywhere I've ever been) I figure this has to be on that list.  The first time I drove to Yellowstone alone, was in 2007, and I was heading out a few days early.  I went cross South Dakota, stopped at Lee's Motor Inn in Chamberlain--- totes awesome hotel!  Then I made it Cody Wyoming the next day, and that drive was something fantastic!

On Top Mt. Hood

So I was going through some of my posts and I realized I haven't given Mount Hood much love.  Granted I haven't spent a lot of time there, but I did spend one lovely afternoon in search of it.  I say it that way because it was a bit of an adventure, my travels usually are.  We left Portland probably around 11 and at times it was clear and sunshiny, but other times it was raining and foggy.  While you could see it at times; the mountain was hidden.

  

Once we got to the top, there it was the peak of Mt. Hood!  The fog had cleared and we could enjoy a gorgeous view!  Timberline Lodge is atop Mt. Hood.  As well as a ski area.  Were were there in October, and there was quite a bit of snow up there, but the hill was not open.  We walked through the guest areas for the ski hill.  There were some great pictures and drawings of the skiing process (about the only way I can describe them) and a great statue of Smokey the Bear with skis!

Then we had to enter the Timberline Lodge.  You might recognize it from the Shinning, they used it as the outside of the hotel.  It was an amazing building inside too.  Very classy, but rustic and very fun inside.  It kinda reminded me of much large much fancier Snow White and the 7 Dwarf house!  Odd I know, but it worked! 

On the way back down we stopped at several little streams and tiny cascading waterfalls.  I am sure they get much larger during the spring snow melt.  They were adorable!!!!

Twisty Turns: Me and the Beartooth

The Beartooth!

In an effort to blog a bit.  I am gonna try to write a touch on some of the places I've been.  So as I might have mentioned ad nauseum I lived for 5ish years in Yellowstone National Park.  While in the park I had the privileged of visiting many of the country's gorgeous places.  Once of which is not that far from the Northeast entrance of Yellowstone.  The Beartooth Pass.

The beartooth pass links Yellowstone (Via Cooke City MT) to Red Lodge/Billings area MT.  It is only open from late May to ate October and is often called "the most beautiful drive in America".  It winds through Montana and Wyoming at an elevation of 10,947 ft.  (Really, really, really freakin high)

 

I've been on it several times over the course of my life, but have only driven it twice.  I must have been around age 10 when we first crossed it.  We camped a lot and my dad loves to drive through the mountains.  I am a little bit afraid of heights (and by a little bit I mean a lot).  I can't say I enjoyed the ride.  My siblings tried to scare the tar out of me.  My dad didn't help cause he kinda liked to freak us all out driving with out his hands on the wheel and whatnot.
 

   

But it was beautiful and there is almost always snow.  So even though it scares me silly, I love it.  Once you are up then it is the best place in the world, it's getting there that is the challenge.  The Red Lodge side is the scary side in my opinion.  Switchbacks galore.  Pretty much the entire way down.  The Yellowstone side is a little more sloped- less up and down..  It might be just my perception, but it works for me.  There is a little gas station and gift shop on the top, closer to the Yellowstone side called the Top of the World. It is pretty true, there are places on the top of the range that you feel like you are higher than anything else.

 

I drove it the first time in 2007 with my brother Bobby.  We didn't go all the way down the Red Lodge side, just as far as the overlook, because it is a days drive from where we lived in Yellowstone.  It was nerve racking, it is a fast road, even if you are trying to stay slow.  The nature of the beast an all. I felt good afterwards, I had conquered the Beartooth.

 

Two years later my friend Silke and I drove it.  She had never been over it.  We went to the overlook and back.  I could drive anything at this point.  The Beartooth was a stepping stone.  Hell, Yellowstone was, there are tons of mountains there that I once couldn't drive.  I've driven steeper, higher, twister roads since then.  I love them, I crave them, but for the most part, only if I am driving... it is a control issue.

Ski, Little Speed Demon!

OK, so one of my favorite things in the whole entire world is downhill skiing.  Not to brag too much, but I have been doing it for 24.5 years, and my 27th birthday is later this month.  So, it is something I just know how to do.  This, coupled with the fact that I have no frame of reference of learning it, made it very hard for me to learn how to cross country ski (not that I am very good at that anyways).  I learned how to ski in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

big brother 'n me in Michigan

It was a small hill, I mean there are some good sized ones in Michigan, but compared to the west, they are small.  But it was a fun place, and when you don't know any better then it is great.  We went up to the cabin all the time.  Summer or winter, but it was always the most fun in the winter.

Montana

Especially when you know the hill backwards and forwards and there is nothing you can't ski there.  Don't get me wrong there is a hill or two I avoid now a days.  Otterslide for one because it always has the moguls and I hate moguls, at least pre-made ones, cause I haven't switched to the shorter more contoured skis yet. (I refuse to unless I have to). There are some others, for whatever reason, I just don't like skiiing on.  We were a little spoiled growing up, because our parents did have this cabin in the UP.  But we didn't go skiiing in the west until almost high school.  But like I said we didn't know any better.  But once we started going west, well it was a completely different world.  Loved it either way!

big brother 'n me in Montana

I love skiing fast, so fast my eyes water.  And I take a ridiculously large number of  short turns.  It helps, it really does.  When I was little I used to try to use my arms as propellers to get more speed.  Sometimes I like to tuck go, just long turns with my hands practically touching the snow.  A little speed demon, I was, and the boys (my brothers, friends, even my dad) always wanted to race me.  But they never told me until it was over-IF they beat me down the hill.  Silly boys, I always won then, and still do now!

My dad loved this, he claims they weren't laughing at me, but there are enough pictures for me to assume they were.  What I loved is that that I landed with my head downhill and the one ski stabbing into the snow, holding me to the mountain.

Into the Sunset

Sunrise Sunset quickly flow the days... mumble, mumble.

I love Fiddler on the Roof.  But honestly that has nothing to do with this blog post.  Beyond the fact that sunsets and are mentioned in both.  And I love Fiddler on the Roof and I love sunsets.  I've seen some spectacular ones in my travels.  Seen some amazing ones at home too, but I usually don't have access to my camera or am too lazy to go and get it instead of just enjoying the sunset.  Or I am driving, and trust me, not the time for pictures.

I think some of my favorite have been over water.  And then some have been in the mountains.  Like flowers I just can't pick a favorite. Chalk it up to my indecisive nature.  That is also the reason that up until about a month ago, my background changed almost daily, sometimes a few times a day.  But I digress, I have been very lucky to have seen so many amazing sunsets.