8-23-19 - (Day 30 - Another Day at Rocky Mountain National Park)

Amber was ready to roll today.  We went to the Colorado River Trailhead in RMNP and hiked to Lulu City.

When we rode through the entrance of the park, and showed our volunteer pass.  The attendant gave us a Whoo Hoo and a high five for being volunteers!  The first ranger to acknowledge us as volunteers.

On our drive to the Trailhead, I spotted a bull moose in the same area that we have seen several other moose.  He was a big moose, feeding in the meadow.

It was a beautiful 3.7 mile hike, one way, with a 350 foot elevation climb, along the Colorado River and the numerous creeks and brooks.  We hiked along the aspens and the rocky cliffs.

We had a bottle of water in my back pack, binoculars, and 2 power bars.  We are kinda green at this hiking stuff.  Bringing things like extra water, bug spray, and bear spray never crossed our minds, until we, (or me), got out on the trail.

The hike was tough but doable.  It took us 4 hours to make the trip.  The hike in took about an hour longer than the hike out.  One reason the hike in took longer is because we are nature chasers, always stopping to take pictures, and the other reason that it took longer, is the distance and elevation.  Everything was pretty much up hill on the way in.

On our hike in, we saw chipmunks, marmots, squirrels, birds, and deer along the trail, and a moose way out in the meadow.

We made it to Lulu City, (which was just a sign), walked to the river, then started back.  Going back, we were like the mule headed to the barn,  (as Lauren always says).  It sure was a lot easier to walk the 350 foot decline back to the Trailhead.

About half way down the trail, we came upon a big bull moose grazing about 25 yards off of the trail.  A guy ahead of us, had walked upon him on the trail.  The moose finally meandered off in the woods grazing as he went.  Thankfully, he had didn't mind us being so close.

According to Fitbit stats, we hiked 8.96 miles and had  93 flights of stairs in 4 hours.  Whew!

As we were leaving the Trailhead, we saw a buck laying in the edge of the woods.  We saw a momma and baby moose and another cow moose as we were traveling out of the park.  Then, we saw a Bear.  We stopped to take a picture, but he ran across the road before we could get the pictures.

It was a great day of sightings, 6 Moose, a couple of Deer, Birds, Squirrels, Marmots, Chipmunks, and a Bear!

We went out to eat with Pam and Chuck at Mavericks for dinner tonight.  When we got home, there were ferocious looking rain clouds and a beautiful rainbow above the mountains.  Just absolutely gorgeous.

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8-22-19 - (Day 29 - Hanging Around Granby)

We saw our first Golden Eagle this morning.  We were out in the front yard talking with Chuck and saw what we thought was a buzzard circling over the mountain.  A closer look, revealed it was a Golden Eagle.  There was also a Red-tailed Hawk.  It took Lauren's long lens to get a picture of them, they were a long way away.

We packed a picnic lunch and went to Lake Granby for a pontoon boat ride.  We had a great time puttering around on the lake looking for critters.  The smooth lake got a little choppy when we got a few sprinkles of rain.

When we left the lake, Chuck drove us around to the other lakes.  He told us all about the water rights of the lakes and rivers in this area.  Water rights are a big deal in this part of the world.  These lakes supply water to Denver and to the Great Thompson River.  A total contrast to the water in our part of the world.

We saw a couple of nice bucks around the lakes and a black bear upon a hillside.  The black bear was a few miles from the entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park.  He was a big one!  He had a red-tailed hawk diving him as he walked around the hillside.

We came back, ate, and crashed.  We had another fun filled day.

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8-21-19 - (Day 28 - Friend Docking)

Ferny Kat enjoyed her last morning exploring at Williams Fork Reservoir.  We cooked breakfast outside on the Coleman stove, got a good hot shower, and packed up.

We relocated about 15 miles to Pam and Chuck's yard in Granby, Co.  They have a nice cabin on the hill with good views of the mountains.  Our first order of business was to wash clothes and Amber.  It was way past time to do both of these chores.

We enjoyed the afternoon sitting outside talking with Pam and Chuck.  Pam cooked really good green chili burritos, peach crisp, and fixed some great margaritas.  We pulled out the propane fire pit and sat around until time for bed.

We have our first souvenir of the trip.  A ding on the truck that happened when we were leaving Williams Fork Campground.  Rap dipped one way, the truck another.  Oh well, stuff happens.

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8-20-19 - (Day 27 - Rabbit Ears Ride)

We were going to have a short day of riding today, but that didn't happen.  We took a ride across Rabbit Ears Pass.  It was a pretty ride up and a long descent down of 7% grade.  We stopped a time or 2 to take pictures of critters.

We stopped at the Steamboat Springs Visitor Center.  The lady working there was very knowledgeable of  the area.  She told us about Fish Creek Falls which was just a few miles out of town.  We love water falls, so away we went.

Downtown Steamboat Springs has a lot of traffic, red lights, and was hot.  We headed out of town to country roads through Gore Pass.  We stopped at the side of the road under an aspen shade tree for lunch.

We got back, went to town to stock up on groceries, built a fire, and cooked burgers over it.  We had another pretty sunset over the lake.

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8-19-19 - (Day 26 - Another Day at Rocky Mountain National Park)

We took another ride into Rocky Mountain National Park.  We saw a moose laying down in the woods right after we entered the park.  It was another beautiful day with beautiful scenery.

We stopped at the Medicine Bow pullout and saw 3 more moose near the creek.

We thought on a Monday there would not be as many people in the park, we thought wrong.  But, we were able to get into the parking area at The Alpine Visitor Center and had our on special parking for Amber.  We saw elk resting on the mountain side.

We hiked up the 209 foot elevation gain on the Alpine Ridge Trail.  We took our time, taking lots of pictures, and catching our breath.

We made a few more stops, then had lunch in a picnic area that only had 2 tables above the creek.  It was a very quiet area away from the crowds.  We had a couple of Canada Jays come visit wanting a handout.

We hiked the 1 mile round trip to the Holzwarth Historic Site.  We didn't realize that we would actually be touring cabins, shops, etc.

We had a couple more hikes planned, but it was late afternoon and time to head back to camp.

We sat around and relaxed by the lake until time for bed.

                           

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