Fungi and Moose

We backpacked the Rawah Lakes Loop this past weekend. We walked with the pack for 21 miles in three days and two nights. It was gorgeous! But rainy for a small part of the time. I always prepare for rain but have hardly ever needed to use the rain gear here in Colorado. This was an exception. The lushness of the forest was worth it though. The woods were so green and moist and accented by the bits of rain on them. Another bonus, the riparian nature of this area is great for moose! We saw three moose – two at Twin Crater lakes and one near the West Branch trail head. Of course, there were many fungi. Love it.

Day 1: West Branch Trail Head to Twin Crater Lakes (7.3 miles)

It was slightly overcast when we started around 12:30pm at the West Branch Trail Head. About 90 minutes later it started drizzling, which felt pretty nice. About an hour after that it started raining. It stopped when we got to a campsite next to a meadow below Twin Crater Lakes. The rain ceased for the remainder of the evening and we hiked up to the lakes. These were the most beautiful lakes of all the lakes we saw on this trip. The alpine landscape was dotted with large- and medium-sized rocks and we saw our first moose (two actually)!

As you can see from the photo, one of the moose arose and stared at us. We didn’t stick around that long.

The next morning we woke up to the pitter-patter of rain on the tent. It rained for the next hour and a half. Reluctantly, we exited the tent to have coffee and breakfast. It continued to rain. We were not pleased.

Around 9:30 am the sun slowly came out and we noticed all the flowers in the meadow. Seth enjoyed the sun and I got a few flower shots.

Mostly with the encouragement of Seth, we continued on and risked more rain but hoped for little. We hiked a very gentle path to Grassy Pass where we could see Rawah Lake No. 3.

Grassy Pass had lovely views not only of the lake but also of the surrounding hills.

After a few stream crossings, which Dempsey tackled very well, we made it to Camp Lake. We set up camp and then retired to the lakeside to watch the somewhat menacing clouds. I also took more flower photos.

Mac n Cheese (deluxe) with a poblano and sliced garlic brought us back to camp. While we prepped dinner Dempsey gave in to his tiredness.

The next day we packed out and only saw a little rain in the morning. The fungus was quite good on the hike out.

Yes, this is all fungus (perhaps a slime mold or two?).

Below is a close up of the tree fungus above.

Just about the last thing we saw was a large bull moose almost on the trail.  Seth scared it away and we made it back to the car.

Mt. Harvard

There it is, in the far right top corner of the photo above: Mt. Harvard 14,420’ tall. That is Seth and Dempsey preparing for the strenuous hike to the top. Strenuous for me anyway. I mean it is a 14 mile round trip hike if you start from the trailhead. We started hiking around 6:00 am and summited at about 10:15 am.

The forest through which we hiked between the trailhead and tree line was lovely.  We saw some fungus but not as much as I expected.

The weather was perfect. Lots of blue sky with harmless puffy white clouds. This is Seth just before the top.

The hike back gave us views of the valley and the surrounding mountains, and Bear Lake for a while.

After the long hike we went straight to Salida for Amica’s pizza and beer.  My love affair with this state gets better with each year.

August in the blah life

I already had a post about the most fun thing I did in August (the 4 Pass Loop). So, what else did I do?

We made the pasta – well, mostly Seth made the pasta. He crafted a seriously beautiful Italian parsley-filled hand-cut pasta:

I ran the zombie run 5k with Lacy. This is an event where volunteers dress up like zombies (their makeup is professionally done) and they try to grab the three balloons you have secured to a belt around your waist. If the zombies successfully get all three of your balloons then you have not survived the zombie apocalypse.  We did not survive…

The zombie run was actually pretty fun and I did run faster than usual as some of the zombies gave good chase. Some were very aggressive and others were just run-of-the-mill zombies. If you run it in the future, don’t be afraid to bat away their hands.

We saw Rodrigo y Gabriela at Red Rocks Amphitheater. They played part of the show with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. It was a lovely and surprisingly energetic show. Here is Seth doing the parking lot thing prior to the show:

Of course, we had many a garden harvest in August, which was actually pretty fun. Every time we went out to the garden there seemed to be more and more vegetable and fruit bounty. Here are shots of two such evening garden runs:

We made the good foods with some of the garden products too! One evening we had grilled scallops and nectarines with corn and tomato salad. Grilled nectarines are surprisingly tasty, especially on a fork with a bit of scallop drizzled with basil sauce and fresh garden tomato.

There was also hiking! The night before hiking Mt. Princeton (14,197’), we camped at ~12,000 feet. It was pretty chilly but dry and clear and we were surrounded by mountains.

We rose to a rosy sunset and those mountains lit up amazingly:

The hike to Mt. Princeton wasn’t 100% dog-friendly with all the boulders and some scree, but Dempsey powered through and eventually was more nimble than we were.

We also got some hiking in at Vail when we were there for a wedding. We hiked Notch Mountain, which has a wonderful view of Mount of the Holy Cross.

So, August was actually pretty full of activity and ripe fruits and vegetables and wonderful dinners and maybe not as blah as I at first thought…

2013 July Outdoors summary

My blogging has taken a back seat to other summer activities – tending the garden, making yummy foods, getting together with friends, and, of course, hiking! I haven’t gotten out quite as much as I had hoped but I’m generally satisfied with what I’ve been able to do – as far as hiking goes. Here are a few photos from some hiking trips.

Mt. Audubon

Jess and I hiked Mt. Audubon (13,223’) mid-July and had perfect weather and a great time. Even though the hike starts from the Brainard Lake recreation area, we were able to get a parking spot near the trailhead. Also, for a 13er, the hike is of reasonable length (about 8 miles) and isn’t super steep.

The hike up was stunning as the “diamond” on Longs Peak became more and more visible the higher up you got:

These are some shots from the top:

It was pretty windy at the top, so we got a few shots and headed back down.

Telluride

We spent a 3-day weekend in Telluride, CO and were able to do two hikes!

First was the relatively short (4.5 miles) Eider Creek Trail Loop, which didn’t take us above tree line but did take us through some fairly mature Aspen forests.

It was nice and short for a late afternoon hiking effort, and it did open up to give views of the surrounding mountains.

The second hike was to Navajo Lake. This one was a bit longer (about 10 miles) and did take us above tree line for some stunning alpine meadow hiking. It was one of those perfect hikes where you get a good amount of forest hiking as well as wide open sky alpine hiking.

The destination, Navajo Lake, sits at the foot of three 14ers, Wilson Peak, Mt. Wilson, and El Diente. It was humbling to sit by the lake and take it in. Unfortunately the clouds didn’t lend to great pictures while we were there, but here is one shot from the lake:

Our post-hike meal was tasty pasta and a bottle of red wine at the Telluride Bistro. Food seems to always taste better after a good outdoor effort and this was no exception. We sat outside and listened to the hummingbirds and watched a dog who peeked out of a window over the restaurant and generally enjoyed ourselves.

Next up – August hiking – stay tuned!