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.

What a pumpkin

This post isn't going to be much but some adorable pictures.  Last month our adorable Gordon Setter Koal passed.  He was 14 so it was hard on all of us.  But I am comforted by the fact that he was 14 and had once hell of a life.  He traveled a lot.  He used to go camping with us when we were children, and then later with my parents in the RV.  He was the guardian of the feather comforter.  An outside dog for 12 years that adapted really quickly to being an inside dog.  Hoarder of toys, who loved to pull pop bottles of the table.  Unpacker of suitcases.  Wearer of silly shirts.  He was a pumpkin.  He was pretty loved.

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.

Petals: Estes Park

So I just had to bring back the petals series for a post on Estes Park Colorado.  As I mentioned I am spending the summer here, and it is just glorious!  And there has been great weather and lots of fun days.  There will probably be a part two of this when I get some more Rocky Mountain flowers.  But I've spend some time in Estes and there were flowers galore.  And a garden of wild flowers,

Wild Thing: Moose Part 2

So, I've totally blogged about moose before.  But it was kinda a boring post, cause I've seen so few moose in my days.  You can read it here...  But seriously it would be so much better after my weekend a few weeks ago.  Me and some friends drove over Trail Ridge Road to Grand Lake Colorado.  An adorable little town!  (My car nearly died, but that is a story for another time.  The west side of Rocky Mountain is where one finds the moose!

View from My Door: Evening Clouds

I love clouds, and at this elevation, they are quick little buggers.  Tonight it was gorgeous out.  The weather was wonderful, there were clouds, and as the sun went down it just lit them up.  I grabbed a hard cider and my camera and just went out to the porch to hang out for a few.  I took a bunch of pictures.  It was just too pretty not to!  Just spectacular was the view from my door.

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: Afternoon Storms

I love the smell of rain.  I like to dance in it, and jump in puddles.  Sometimes I think I am still a kid in that regards.  I love thunderstorms, unless there is a tornado or I am trying to sleep, then they can go away.  But I love afternoon rainstorms.  Today is my day off, and I went for a walk this morning, (will get to that later) and then spent some time downtown.  Headed back to my room and noticed the clouds were rolling in.

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: Elk Edition

Elk, I've seen a lot of elk in my day.  Not as many as I have bison.  But that's a different post.  I've been pretty close to some elk, by accident usually.  Not a fan of things with antlers and the occasional desire to gore you.  But went out of my room today and there by the other building was a big 8-point bull elk.  There were 4 actually, 2 across the street in the neighbor's yard, and one near the EDR and of course the big bull across the way.  It is great, I have a balcony to watch from, that way I don't have to worry about getting to close to the old guy.  But needless to say it was a great view from my front door.

Alberta Falls... Alberta Falls...

That Thursday, the other hike I did was to Alberta Falls.  I left from the Glacier Gorge trailhead; not far from Bear Lake.  I was warned by the park service (volunteer??) that the whole trail was still covered in snow.  I wasn't too concerned as it a short hike only .6 miles in and .6 miles out... actually I think it was closer to .9 in and out.  Their signs were sending me mixed messages.  The first .3 miles was pretty dry, and as I came to a bridge over a raging stream I noticed it was snow covered.

Bear Lake

I had Thursday off and I got up early and did some easy hiking.  I first went to Bear Lake, and then to Alberta Falls.  So June in Rocky Mountain is still pretty snowy.  And in some places it hasn't melted yet, and both of my destinations were such places.  Bear Lake was mostly frozen still and the path still covered in snow.  It made for some unique hiking.

Bear Lake is an incredibly short nature walk, though due to the snow, I only walked around half of the lake and went back the way I had come.  I just wasn't feeling to secure in snow.  I am not always the graceful sort and the last thing I wanted on my day off was to tumble into freezing cold waters.  But it was such a pretty day that it was totally worth it.  I love the drive to the lake and the walk was so much fun, and it was gorgeous anyways.  Win-Win!

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 :(

Coulson Gulch: First Hike of the Summer

I went hiking today, since I am here writing this it means I survived it.  It nearly killed me though, I am not as the greatest of shape, not completely used to this altitude.  That is what killed me the most, the altitude, I can suffer though normally, but there were times I was almost sick.  Not fun, but the destination was well worth the journey!