9-5-16 - Heat Escape - Day 25

                                                 Panorama of the campground/cabins
                                     
Happy Labor Day!

It was a beautiful, nippy, 37 degrees with a few patches of light frost this morning.  What a way to start the day.

We washed clothes today, had our picnic lunch at the camper, and took a ride toward Gunnison.  We explored several roads that we have never been on. Most of which we don't want to ride again. but, it was a gorgeous day for a ride. It was in the mid 70's with blue bird skies and it is an absolutely gorgeous lake

We came back grilled corn on the cob (that our camper neighbors gave us), they freshly picked this corn fresh off the stalk yesterday,

We  had hot potato salad, and ribs to go with the corn. Delish!

Today was the most beautiful day at the Blue Mesa that we have seen this trip.

We have the Harley loaded up.  Time to travel tomorrow.

                                                                    Moon usie!!!!!

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/bXkGK2CrGm2egHo68

9-4-16 - Heat Escape - Day 24

                                                                   Good Morning

We woke up to beautiful colorful clouds this morning.  We went out and took some pictures, right before it turned cloudy and started raining.

We did chores today, filled up the propane, cleaned up the Harley, and cleaned up the camper.  The chores were much more relaxing than  our hike yesterday.

                                                                Couple of hawks

We sat outside this afternoon watching the boats on the gorgeous lake, while taking in the beautiful mountain scenery surrounding us,

Boats

Great view

Critter

It was the perfect place to unwind, relax, and recoup.



Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/DJe5wfe6ADxkyFGL8

9-3-16 - Heat Escape - Day 23

                                                       
                                                                    Looks like rain

The weather forecast called for a 0% chance of rain today, they were wrong.  We woke up to a thunderstorm this morning.
                                             
After the rain stopped, we decided to hike Hermit's Rest trail.  We had rode the Harley last week on this same road, it was amazing how much the foliage had changed in a weeks time.  The higher up in elevation we traveled, the more beautiful the foliage became.

                                                           Kim on the trail

Hermit's Rest is a six mile round trip hike with an 1800 foot elevation change. The trail started right in the middle of the colorful fall foliage and ended at the beautiful Gunnison River. The path wasn't too bad except for the steep inclines. It rained on us a couple of times, but it was just a light shower.  It took us 4 hours round trip to make this hike.

As we were walking down the trail, we saw a big, black, fast, critter running up behind us.  Luckily it was a black lab.  He kept coming down the path to check on us, (probably because of the huffing and puffing we were doing.) and then going back up the trail.  Then all the sudden it was the black lab, and 2 yellow labs.  The three young women with the dogs caught up with us and passed us by.  Dang, Youth!  When we arrived at the end of the trail, the young women were throwing sticks in the water for the dogs to retrieve.  We wish we had as much energy as one of those dogs.

Yesterday when we were at the Pine Creek Trail, we talked to a guy who was going kayaking for the labor day weekend.  He had carried his kayak and gear down the 232 steps to the river.  He was at Hermit's Rest today when we got there.  He had, taken shelter in his tent while it was raining.  He recognized our voices, imagine that.  He showed us the rainbow trout he caught earlier today that he is eating for dinner tonight.  He said he caught a nice lake trout for dinner last night, he is living off the land.

I had one of the best bologna sandwiches I have ever ate at the picnic area.  Lauren had his boring ham sandwich.

We made it back to camp about the time we got a good, soaking, thunderstorm.  We sure are glad this didn't happen on the hiking trail. The rain cooled us off so we turned on the heater. We can't remember ever running a heater before labor day.

We grilled chicken, while sitting by the campfire tonight.  Fernykat found a water puddle, she drank water, then started slinging the water off her paws.  Some things never change.

We will rest up tonight and tomorrow so we can recover these tired achy, old,  muscles!

                                                                       Rainbow

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/ymrU6EXHa88NDsMD9

9-2-16 - Heat Escape - Day 22

                                       Beginning of Pine Creek Trail (going down 232 steps)

Lauren and I were sleeping real good this morning.  Then, Fernykat thought we needed to wake up.  She stood on me and woke me up as I heard  Lauren snoring.  Then she decided to stand on Lauren and wake him up.  About an hour later, she was deep asleep in our bed.

We went to town to stock up before the weekend rush.  We should have done this yesterday.  It was shoulder to buggy in the City Market.

We came back, ate some left overs, and went for a hike at Pine Creek Trail at the Morrow Point Boat Tour departure area.  It was a beautiful afternoon,  even though the forecast was 60 percent chance of rain today,  We walked the 232 steps down to the launch, then on past without a cloud in the sky.

                                                            peaceful hike

The trail kept getting smaller, as the water kept getting closer.  It was a nice relaxing stroll down the river, until, we got close to the end of the trail and Lauren wanted an USIE on a rock in the river.

                                                           
                                                                  the rock


I don't know when Lauren became so adventurous.  After I was sliding, climbing, and crawling on rocks, I finally got to the end of the path.  Now it's time to take the shoes and socks off and walk through the algae covered slippery rocks, freezing water, to the big old rock in the river.

I almost made it, then I had started shaking all over, it might been the cold water, about 55 degrees, or it might have been a panic attack.  Needless to say, I didn't make the usie.  Lauren had his selfie, (but I almost made it.)

I carefully made it back to the bank. as Lauren is taking his selfie.  I got my microfiber towel out of my backpack, dried my freezing cold, no color feet off.  Drank water out of my lifestraw, (Thank goodness, for my gifts from my St Dom family). and ate my banana.  In the meantime, I am praying Lauren makes it back without falling in.  And he did.

We had a nice leisurely stroll back up the river bank, until the 232 steps back up the hill.  One thing is for sure, we are both in better shape than 5 years ago when we did the boat tour.  Although,  I was a lot slower than Lauren.                    

                            

We watched a marmot at the laundry room.  He wasn't very scared of people.  He sat on the porch of the laundry room watching us.  I hope I don't find him in the laundry room next time I wash clothes.

It was warm enough today that we waded in cold water and cool enough tonight to enjoy the campfire.   Another awesome heat escape day!

                           Oh and by the way, Fernykat slept until after 5 pm today.  Dang cat!

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/eQ38mgipoMsMo9o49

9-1-16 - Heat Escape - Day 21

                                                 Neighbor at CG is building this cabin

It was cloudy when we woke up this morning.  After the last few days of being cold when riding in the cloudy weather, I decided to put my cuddle dudds under my clothes to keep me warm.  Boy, was that a mistake.

                                                           Morrow Point Dam
                                                           
The temperature got as high as 78 degrees today.  I thought I would melt in all those clothes when we hiked the Mesa Creek Trail at Morrow Point Dam.  It was a moderate trail, 1.5 miles round trip.  I figured out why it was moderate at the end of the trail when I had to walk a path that mountain goats must have paved.  I was very careful, hoping I wouldn't fall down the bluff.

Luckily the path had widened on the way back when a snake was lying in the path between Lauren and I.  I am pretty sure, I scared  away any chance of us seeing any wildlife with my blood curdling scream.  Lauren took a picture, then scared the snake away. I am pretty sure I would have hurt myself if I had seen the snake on the narrow mountain goat path.  My fear of snakes is greater than my fear of heights.

                                                                        The snake

We stopped and looked at the narrow gauge train display. Way back when, the trains were used to move cattle and sheep across the mountains.  This place must have come a long way since then, I haven't seen any trains since we have been in this area.

We stopped at the East Cimarron picnic area.  It was very relaxing, watching and listening to the creek rustling by as we ate our lunch.

We continued our ride back toward Gunnison and hiked the Neversink Trail.  A nice stroll through the woods following the Gunnison River.

We came back and cooked burgers on the Hollywood Stainless Steel Charcoal Grill, (actually is not stainless steel),   We managed to get our cooking down right before the rain started.

We won't have a camp fire tonight.  We are inside, happy that Mother Nature was kind to us today, and allowed us a nice warm day.  Even though, we finally complained about the heat.

And then when we least expected, Mother Nature gave us another beautiful double rainbow.  What a way to end the day.


Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/Ru4QEL4tKLBYASzk7

8-31-16 - Heat Escape - Day 20

                                                           Pano of sun rising

This is the first morning since we have been in this area that the sun wasn't covered in clouds.  We finally got a pretty picture of the sunrise.  Or, I should say Lauren did, I looked out the window and went back to sleep.

George and Lisa pulled out around 6:30 am heading home.  We really enjoyed our time with them.

We waited for it to warm up this morning before leaving on the Harley.  It was 63 degrees and sunny when we left at 11 am.  The ride to Lake City was beautiful, then we started up to Spring Creek Pass. We went up in elevation 2,859 feet to Slumgullion Summit.  It was 55 degrees, cloudy and cold

We had a nice picnic lunch at the North Clear Creek Falls, even though it was still cloudy and cold.

We heard there were moose sightings at the Lake San Cristobal Overlook.  We stopped, we looked, no moose sighting for us today.  But it is a pretty view.

                                We saw prairie dogs, a deer, a marmot, and 2 young coyotes.

It was a lot more enjoyable ride coming back across the summit when the sun came out.  It was 77 degrees when we returned to camp. We got back, did a few chores, then sat around watching for wildlife.  All we saw were birds.

                     Tonight we grilled pork chops while enjoying the warmth of our camp fire.



We have been on the road for 20 wonderful days.  Our Heat Escape has been successful!



Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/abUhuFT3HH2WjiE87

8-30-16 - Heat Escape - Day 19

                                                         
                                                                  Good Morning

 We started the day off with a great breakfast on this beautiful morning. Now it's time for a ride. We left around 11 am, it was sunny and 57 degrees.  It was a great day for a ride.

We got in a light rain when we were on Monarch Pass. We stopped and shopped at the summit, then continued on to Poncho Springs (Crossroads of the Rockies) and had a picnic lunch.

                                                                       funny sign

The ride back was along Hwy 285 to Saquach then Hwy 114 over the  North Cochetopa Pass and then back to camp.  We had the rain gear on and off most of the ride but luckily never got much rain.

                     We saw several deer, a young coyote, and a herd of big horn sheep today.

It was 73 degrees when we returned to camp.  We sat in the shade for a little while, then the temperatures started dropping.  We built a nice campfire, and cooked bream that Clyde, Sherry, Lauren, and I had caught a few months ago.  Man, those fish were good.

                                                                  It's what's for supper

                                                                   Goodnight
                 

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/SX5o19a1TsqjgNke6