Tetons and Flowers

Black Lake Panorama (RMNP)

Panorama from the Ute Trail (11,000+ feet)

In the Rockies Pre/Post Sara

For the past 4 days... or is it 5 days...   well, 4 nights anyway I’ve been in the tent alone at night.  Sara has been at a conference in Denver (the National Association of Student Councils) and I have been in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP).  I’ve hiked quite a bit:

 

Day 1 (Saturday):  I hiked to Cub Lake where there were lots of lily pads and lots of people.  I continued over a ridge (much fewer people) to Bierstadt Lake only to find more people but the scenery was nice.  I spent the night in Glacier Basin campground.

Day 2 (Sunday):  I awoke at 5:30 and headed to Sprague Lake for some sunrise photos (See images).  I later went to altitude (12,000 + ft) and did some hiking along the Ute Trail.  Afterwards I ventured to the western portion of the park to camp at Timber Creek campground and much to my dismay found the grounds had to be clear-cut due to the infestation of pine beetles.  It was a sad sight but I knew at that point in the day it was too late to head back to the eastern quarters of the park.  So I set up camp and drove back up the road a piece to walk along the headwaters of the mighty Colorado River (knee deep at best).  Later that night I heard a ranger talk about moose in the park.

Day 3 (Monday):  Back up to altitude and I did a little walking and photography of the Lilliputian world of the tundra (mostly flowers).  I then made my way back down to Glacier Basin to ensure I got a campsite before heading out for the day.  After camp was set and lunch was had I made my way to the shuttle, to the Mill’s Lake trail head and began my day of hiking.   I hiked to a series of falls and then on to Mill’s Lake.  Once again there were LOTS of people, so I continued to Jewel Lake.  Jewel Lake is only about ½ mile further but it’s amazing how few people actually make the extra effort.  Perhaps it’s called Jewel Lake because it’s so underappreciated and often the Jewel’s in our lives seem as such.  But I wasn’t satisfied with my day and headed on up to Black Lake.  WOW!  It is certainly one of the more spectacular individual places I’ve had the pleasure to visit.

 

Day 4 (Tuesday):  I again awoke for some sunrise photos over Sprague Lake (at 5 am this time) before heading to pickup Sara at the hotel on the south side of Denver.  I showered, we loaded the car and headed back to RMNP.  Sara’s first trip to the Park and she was impressed.  We did a short hike at altitude because I really wanted Sara to see the tundra.  We then headed back down the mountains over to Loveland, up to Fort Collins, and up to Cheyenne, only to be attacked by as many mosquitoes at our hoped for campsite as I have ever in my life seen.  So... we stayed the night in a KOA KABIN!  Sad but true.  Our first night out together after seeing such beauty and we spent the night here but... It is what it is.

Our Bountifully Harvested Crops

This is our bumper crop from our garden planter boxes (We've got one quarter cup black beans, one carrot of any size, and a handful of green beans).  We're hoping for more (much more) in the future.

The Answer to J's Question

The little girl (aka the flying squirrel) is now in the study... until I build her a new home that can go in the sun room.

The Sunroom... Finished

Spring approaches and dang the sorry weather

Well it looks like spring is approaching.  Hopefully that'll mean some upcoming posts.  I've been both busy and in need of some inspiration for blogging for quite some time.  I'm not as busy now but I'm still in the need of some inspiration.  Soon.  Hopefully.  Soon.

Here's a quick update on a recent triathlon I took part in.

I've been pretty busy training over the past few months to try to be at least somewhat competitive in the SC triathlon series this upcoming year.  I participated in the Parris Island Tri and faired pretty well.  I finished 49th out of about 660 individuals (male and female) and 5th in my age group out of 17.  If my transitions were more reasonable I could have finished 2 in my age group.  The weather was a bit cold, even in Beafort, SC, and I decided to try to stay at least a little warm.  This at first thought might seem like a reasonable thing but in the world of sprint triathlons the name of the game is misery and I should have sucked it up and been a little chilled.  It would have all been over with in about an hour and I was not in any state to think about how cold I was and I should have worn my arm warmers on the bike.  You push hard in sprints and the things you think about are:  my legs and lungs hurt and I've got to catch that guy in front of me.  He might just be in my age group.

You can see pictures of me in the event here.  Notice the pain!

More soon.  Hopefully.

A "Pia"houtte