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Two weeks ago, I went on a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park that was abundant in wildflowers. Most of the day was overcast, but the sun did come out in the early afternoon, when we were up high, and gave us some dramatic views of peaks, clouds, trees, and rocks.
The hilltop disappearing into the cloud gives you an idea of how moody the hike was early on.
One of the larger patches of Indian Paintbrush we saw
There were masses of green mertensia along a stream we crossed.
I love the lines (and asymmetry) of this dead tree.
Grace Falls in the mist
One of many clusters of columbine
This little guy got very close to us; he clearly expected a treat. So we took his picture.
I assume the red on these leaves is something nasty but the red on green was stunning in person.
For more pictures from this hike, see my Hiking in RMNP photo album on Facebook.
A negative space heart in the clouds, seen while hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park, and caught on film by Dana Geary:
The peak in the picture is the Little Matterhorn.
Photo by Kit Dunsmore
Last weekend, we intended to spend four nights camping in the Snowy Mountains near Medicine Bow Peak with friends. We picked an easy loop hike that would allow us to backpack in, camp for a few nights in one spot, and do interesting day hikes on side trails. One of the advantages of our choice was being able to start at high altitude, so that the hiking itself wasn’t all that strenuous. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned.
The hiking itself was as intended – exercise, but not the backbreaking slogging that can go with climbing endless trails with a pack when you’re not really in shape to begin with. However, the area we picked for our first camp spot turned out much wetter than we realized. (There was a little “marshland” symbol on the map, but none of us noticed that…!). We were attacked by swarms of mosquitoes that made cooking and eating dinner so unpleasant that the teenagers with us were happy to forgo dessert in order to retreat into their tent.
Molly and Sarah before the Bugs. (Photo by Dana Geary)
Photo by Dana Geary
We did have a net tent that we set up and used as a place to get a break from the mosquitoes. Even the dog learned the joy of being able to go into this shelter and get away from them.
The next morning wasn’t as bad, though it was still buggy. The girls did not want to stay out another night, so we packed up and hiked the rest of the loop to get back to the car. The day started well but it rained heavily all afternoon, making the last few hours of the hike cold and wet.
This picture of me only hints at how wet I was. I'm not wearing my hat because it was soaked through. (Photo by Dana Geary)
It's still raining, and one of the signs they are sitting by gave us the cheery news that we had almost 4 more miles to go. (Photo by Dana Geary)
Remarkably, the scenery was still gorgeous. If it hadn’t been raining so hard, I’d have taken endless pictures. There were some things (like flowers) that I just couldn’t resist.
Photo by Dana Geary
It was hard to get good pictures at all with the low light, but Dana got a couple that really captured the beauty of the place. I imagine the rainy part of our hike might be easily replicated in parts of Scotland (although I’m not so sure you would see snow…)
Photo by Dana Geary
We saw a little wildlife and lots of wildflowers.
A pine grosbeak that hung out with us in the parking lot. (Photo by Dana Geary)
Columbines (Photo by Kit Dunsmore)
Photo by Kit Dunsmore
I am dying to go back and stay longer, and I think we now have a better idea of which sections of the trail are likely to provide better camp sites. Maybe Kurt and I will head back up there before the year is out. He bought a Wyoming fishing license but didn’t get to use it.
More of my photos from this trip can be found on my Facebook page.
Another found heart, this one on a trail in Wyoming.
According to the rock expert with me at the time, the striations are glacial in origin.
Day 3 of our Utah trip was spent exploring Goblin Valley. Best known as the alien planet in Galaxy Quest, Goblin Valley is full of unusual looking hoodoos. As we walked through the place, it was easy to imagine we were on another planet. I could also see in the shapes around me 1) why it is called Goblin Valley and 2) where the inspiration for the rock monster in Galaxy Quest came from. I got the feeling that the rocks around us really were oddly shaped creatures frozen in time. We saw lots of hoodoos during our Utah trip, but only in Goblin Valley did we see hoodoos that looked alive.
Kelleen in Goblin Valley
The valley is actually several connected valleys and the whole thing was much larger than any of us had anticipated. We spent most of our day wandering and noticing the wide variety of formations, as well as the “faces” and “figures” made by the rocks.
One of many faces we saw in the rocks
We took lots of pictures while hiking. At times, Kurt borrowed Kelleen’s digital SLR camera to get close-ups of things far away.
Kurt and Kelleen taking pictures
For those keeping track, this was the same day the windstorm blew our tent over.
