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We drive right by the Fossil Creek Reservoir every time we go to Denver. I had no idea what a gorgeous spot it was until I went there with my parents after dinner one night.
Fossil Creek Reservoir
The lake is down slope from a large prairie, which is full of wildlife. The bunnies were particularly bold.
Desert Cottontail
As with all of our little adventures, we took lots of pictures. Dad spent some time trying to get a good shot of the western meadowlark serenading us.
The meadowlark is the tiny dot on the pole to the right
Because of the water, the area attracts lots of birds. At the west end of the trail is a blind, where you can sit and watch the birds on the lake. Inside are tables and seats, plus lots of labeled pictures of the birds you might see.
Mom and Dad view the lake from the blind
My attempts at bird photos did not work out that night — everything was too far away. But we saw quite a few species, including a gadwall mother with her brood. The excited babies swam in circles like wind-up toys. I did manage to get some pictures of the field full of sunflowers that lies just up the slope from the lake.
Common Sunflowers
The most amazing part of our evening was the sunset, which would not quit. My picture hardly does it justice. I can’t wait to see what my father does with all the versions he took of this:
Sunset over the Rockies
Tomorrow: Another amazing sunset in Colorado
My parents’ visit to Colorado inspired us to visit some of the parks and natural areas in our own backyard. The result was that we discovered some treasures we will be visiting regularly, now that we know they are there. Only a week after our first hike up to Arthur’s Rock in Lory State Park, we were back with my parents in tow to walk along the nature trail and marvel at the wildflowers and the birds.
The trail starts off through a meadow that has banks of wildflowers in it.
A field full of Mexican Hat
Since it’s in the foot hills, many of the flowers had already gone to seed, but were interesting to look at nevertheless.
Mystery Pods (anyone know what this is?)
Only a few trees were growing in the meadow, although a little stream trickles out of the hills here. This one is clearly done growing.
Birds kept flying over us. A couple of hawks were chasing each other up and down the line of hills. Dad took a slew of pictures and got some nice ones. I also managed to get one with my little camera. (Note: the secret to this close-up is cropping instead of down-sizing the original.)
Red-tailed Hawk
The trail starts to wind its way up into a canyon, and new flowers could be found there.
Wild Rose
Before we knew it, it was baking hot and time for lunch. We didn’t hike far because we weren’t moving very fast, but the small section of the trail that we saw was exquisite, and excellent material for a family with cameras in their hands.
Tomorrow: Fossil Creek Reservoir
While the mountains were full of wildflowers, I did not have much luck getting good pictures of them. The abundance of flowers meant I was always trying for landscape shots that showed the colorful meadows. But wildflowers, especially subalpine ones, are on the small side. Get too far away, and you can barely see them at all. So we’ll have to make do with this close-up, which at least gives you a taste of the beauty that was all around us:
Taken near Long Lake, Colorado.
I took a number of tree photos. For some reason, they look better when they’re dead. (Probably it’s just easier to appreciate their structure when they no longer have any leaves.)
A dead tree in Rocky Mountain National Park
These birch trees have been stripped of their bark (up to a point) by grazing elk.
Trees in Rocky Mountain National Park
While it makes for interesting texture, I’m afraid it can’t be good for the trees.
Tomorrow: we leave the mountains to spend some time marveling at the plains of Colorado.
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.
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.
