POST BY MICHAEL:

Saturday, June 27

After two days of rain, rain, rain, we finally saw the skies clear, and this is the morning view from the deck. We decided to try a new hike today. We're taking the Roaring Fork trail about 3 and half miles, and then connect to the Lake Watanga trail which in another mile and a half, will take us to Lake Watanga, at an altitude of 10,780 feet. Our trailhead begins at 8300 feet so we have an elevation gain of about 2500 feet. This trail lies in the Arapaho National Forrest, known as Indian Peaks. This part of the Arapaho lies about 15 miles southeast of the entrance to RMNP, and the trail system differs from RMNP, in that they allow dogs on the trails, and in general, the trails are not very well kept, and in places quite primitive.

We begin our hike at the Roaring Fork trailhead, the temperature being a cool 50 degrees, and immediately are faced with an uphill climb of 700 feet in the first half mile of the hike. The trail is very narrow and rocky, and a bit slippery from the recent rain.


Once we have finished the initial chest pumping ascent, we find ourselves in a dense and lush forrest quite different from the forests in RMNP. This is almost rain forrest, with amazing greens and blues, with the occasional bright yellow flower peeking through the ground cover.

We can hear the thunder of rushing water, and soon find ourselves on the edge of the Roaring Fork creek, overflowing its banks.

Last year there was over 40 more inches of snow; however the rivers were not at as wild. The theory behind this, is that last year, the spring was rather warm, and dry, and so a lot of the snow evaporated. whereas, this year's spring has been rather damp and chilly, which has created a much larger run off. There are at places, precarious logs placed over the raging water, connecting one side of the trail to the next.

We continue to climb, as the trail winds around the river, which eventually flows all the way down the mountain to Lake Granby. At one point, the river has obliterated the trail.

After about 30 minutes of bushwhacking we find about a five foot space where we can jump across, and continue. We get to the Lake Watanga trail, and find small patches of snow, but nothing too deep or obstructive. However, after about a half mile up, we are stopped by our raging river again, which has made the final climb to Lake Watanga impassable. There is no way across, and the water is too deep and fierce to cross.

So, we are forced to turn around, and head home, all the while plotting our next attempt at this stunning trail in late July.

Pelicans, Osprey, Ducks and ... Sea Eagles?

POST BY JOE:

Ever since Michael, the kids and I have been coming to Grand Lake, we've always spent at least one afternoon each summer on kayaks with the Walcott-Rounds family. Callae's brother-in-law Tom took us fishing our first summer on Monarch Lake, and subsequently, we've put in either at the marina on Shadow Mountain Lake where Callae and Ed keep their pontoon boat, or on the beach near downtown Grand Lake. Last summer, Michael and I wanted to buy our own kayaks but the expense of finishing and furnishing the house left us tapped out.

We've been doing research on kayaks this past year, but we kept returning to the issue of transportation. Callae's family has a big red pickup that used to belong to her father, and when they're here, we just pile kayaks in the bed and drive over the hill to the marina. With the Lexus only, it's a bit more complicated. We looked at tandem roof rack systems but they're very expensive.

Our friend Peggy Payne had told us about her inflatable kayak, a Sea Eagle, which she regularly paddles on Jordan Lake back home. At first we worried about punctures, submersion in mid-lake, drowning and death. The hefty price tag for hard kayaks-and-roof-rack overcame our concerns, however, and we found two-person Sea Eagles on sale at Costco and bought a pair. We also bought an air pump you connect to your car battery to make life simpler.

We'd been saving this past Friday afternoon for our maiden voyage and it turned out to be the best day we've had so far this summer: clear, sunny and still. We decided to start out with one kayak only and drove down to Pine Beach on Shadow Mountain Lake, about five minutes from our house. From start to finish, reading directions for pump and kayak, figuring out which nozzles to fit on the pump hose and which valves to use on the kayak, it took us 25 minutes to inflate the Sea Eagle. Here she is, ready to put in.


We were a little nervous climbing into the kayak, but two minutes on the water and we felt we'd made the right choice. There is definitely more yaw (side-to-side) motion than in a hard kayak but nothing serious. We set off for the wild bird refuge nearby, about five minutes of paddling away.

These small islands and peninsulas are a protected habitat for nesting osprey, and the summer home for pelicans, ducks, geese and other migratory birds. Here's a photo of an osprey perched on a tree.


We paddled for about an hour, then I took the Sea Eagle for a short spin by myself. Although these are billed as two-person kayaks, there's not quite enough leg-room for two, and we're relatively small people. Next time, we'll bring both kayaks.


Two minutes to deflate, a few more to repack and we were on our way home. That evening, we sunbathed on the deck, ate dinner outside and admired the sunset, so typically Western in its pinks and oranges. All in all, a perfect day.

East Inlet Trail

Sunday, June 21

The early season warm-up hikes are behind us and yesterday, we went on a much longer and more difficult hike -- 14 miles round trip up the mountains to Lone Pine Lake and Lake Verna. Last year, Joe and Dave did this hike and we were anxious to get back. With an elevation gain of about 2000 feet,this hike takes us to 10,200 at Lake Verna. For those following Kathy and Dave's blog, that's nearly twice the height of Glacier National Park.

The hike begins at a trail head right outside Grand Lake village. About 5 minutes from the trail head, you reach Adams Falls, a spectacular waterfall on the East Inlet stream. Legend has it that Walt Disney conceived his world famous log flume ride after seeing these falls. (I made that up, but you never know...) There's an outlook with elaborate stonework for viewing the falls. With its convenient location close to town, and only five minutes from the trail head, it's one of the most popular spots on this side of RMNP.

The hike then meanders , following the East Inlet as it cascades down to the falls, and quietly winds through dense pine forest, opening onto meadows and quiet water. We are headed straight for those snow covered mountains in the background of this picture. (Incidentally, this stream will eventually feed into Grand Lake itself.)

This hike is all about water, as every quarter mile or so, you come upon magnificent waterfalls and raging streams.

The snow melt is still fresh, and parts of the trail were literally under water. Waterproof hiking boots are in order. The trail itself is a marvel of engineering, and the trail crews that built this trail in the 1930s did an amazing job of carving out passages and steps on the sheer sides of the mountain.

We climb and climb, and eventually get to Lone Pine Lake, a tranquil and beautiful lake at about 9,750 feet.

We continue on, still climbing, and find even larger waterfalls, as there is still snow at this elevation. At last we come to Lake Verna.

At this time of year, every 200 feet or so of altitude gain presents new wildflowers, some having only a day or two life span. Just as we were approaching Lake Verna, we came upon the avalanche or glacier lily, a wildflower that pops out shortly after the snow melt. This was our first encounter with this beautiful flower.

Onahu Creek-Green Mountain Trail Loop

The weather this past week has been gray and rainy, but once again the mountain gods smiled upon us, and gave us a beautiful sunny morning for our hike. Today we decided to do a hike that has become a favorite, the Onahu trail connecting in a loop to the Green Mountain trail. This is about 7 miles long, but has about a 1000 feet of elevation gain. A good hike to acclimate the body to the altitude, as we are around 9200 feet at the height of this hike. Our next hikes will average 2000 or so feet in elevation.


This hike begins with a walk through a beautiful aspen forest, which we affectionately call Hobbit Woods, as you feel dwarfed on the windy path and it reminds us of the Peter Jackson films. We soon ascend, following the Onahu river, which is rough and wild from the Spring snow melt.





After about 2 miles, we reach another forest, with much different flora -- much healthier, as the evergreens are mostly spruce and fir, which are immune to the deadly beetle. We pass some small unnamed meadows en route.

We climb again after reaching the Onahu bridge, and then descend to Big Meadows. rightly named, as it is a huge expanse with a fairly quiet river running through it. Not many wild flowers yet, but in a week or so, it will be bright yellow and purple. We spotted a heard of elk at the far side of the meadows.














And of course, there is the obligatory photo on the log that traverses the stream running through Big Meadows. In our TV room back home, we have several photos, taken over the years, with all our kids and the Walcott-Rounds family. Here's Michael looking (as usual when he's hiking) very happy.

Evening Walk

Most evenings, we take a walk from our house down to the road that fronts the Colorado River; we used to make a 45-minute loop, but this year, after her surgery, Maddy can't walk that far without become exhausted and physically sick. These pictures show the evening sky, with snow on the mountains ...



The Rustic Cabin owned by our friends Callae and Ed -- so named not only because it looks, well, rustic, but also because it lacks electricity and interior plumbing ...



and finally, there's a view of our house as seen from the river road below.

Monday June, 8

The spring weather in the Rockies is ever changing, and at times frenetic. Brilliant blue skies suddenly are enveloped in storm clouds brought by a fierce north wind. And then, as quickly as they appear, the sun comes streaming through. Most every evening, we sit out on the deck, and watch this magical transformation. The thin air gives the light a clarity that throws lavender shadows over the mountains, and the view is hypnotic. Not to mention, mosquito free. Here is Joe in his deck chair, and this is our view.

Moose in the Yard

It rained most of last night, and this morning we awoke to find this moose resting on the slope below our deck. We have a couple of local moose that munch their way through the neighborhood, and a large herd of elk that graze on the valley floor beyond this moose, on the other side of the river. Lots of new snow today at the higher elevations, especially the Never Summer Range we face from our deck.

Cascade Falls and Beyond

(JOE POSTING)

After several gray days with intermittent rain, the weather began to improve and today, Saturday, we awoke to clear blue skies for our first hike of the season. Because we've only been here one week and aren't fully acclimated to the altitude, we decided not to overdo it. We chose the North Inlet Trail to Cascade Falls, 3.5 miles in, with a mere 300 feet in elevation gain. We hadn't done this hike in several years, when we hiked with Callae and Ed and their three boys, as well as our own three kids. Lots of complaints about the distance, boredom, etc. Here's a picture of Michael at the trail head, looking very happy.















The first twenty minutes of the trail are flat, open and fairly uninteresting, although we did cross private land and found two horses (four on the way down) happily munching on spring grass. After that, the trail enters the forest and starts gradually to rise. The wild flowers begin to appear.

Last summer, our dear friends Kathy and Dave spent almost two weeks with us in June; hiking with Kathy is like having your own personal naturalist along, and during those hikes, she imparted her knowledge and enthusiasm for the wild flowers of the Rockies, whether in Glacier National Park (where they are summering this year) or here in Rocky Mountain National Park (hereinafter to be abbreviated as "RMNP"). So now when we hike, in addition to looking up at the mountains and out into the forest, searching for moose and elk, we also look down at the forest floor. On this, our first hike of the season, we re-acquainted ourselves with the flowers Kathy had taught us to recognize last year, among them: Pussy Toes (both rosy and regular), Golden Smoke, Oregon Grape, Mountain Parsley, Star Solomonplume, Cow Parsnip, Spotted Coralroot (just coming up), Rock Clematis, and my two favorites:

Fairy Slipper (a member of the orchid family and fairly rare) and Flame Columbine (aka Western Red Columbine):
.



About an hour or so in, the trail began to rise and the sound of rushing water grew louder. Another 20 minutes and we came upon the falls. The video doesn't quite do them justice as they continue upward for some distance.




We both felt we had energy left for more and so we continued into virgin territory for us. Although Cascade Falls is the most dramatic of them, the cascades continue for another couple of miles, with the trail mostly tracking the stream. We continued another mile and a half to a spot called Big Pool before we turned back. At that point, we could see snow on the mountaintops, the air had cooled, and the flowers were yet to bloom. It's one of the pleasures of hiking throughout the summer: as the weeks progress, flowers you saw at lower elevations in early June begin to bloom higher up in July. Here's a photo of Big Pool:


By the time we reached the trail head, we were very tried -- 5 hours and 10 miles round-trip -- but very happy. This is why we built a second home here in Grand Lake. We stopped at the post office and the market on the way home and got here just in time to watch Belmont coverage!

Sunshine

After four days of intermittent clouds, rain and thunder, the sun came out today. Here is a video (below) that shows the panoramic view from our deck, beginning with the Never Summer Mountains to the right, moving through the large horse farm across the river (you can't quite see the big red barn), and traveling downstream where Callae and Ed's rustic cabin borders the stream. Their family's cabin, and their small green cabin, are off-screen to the left. That sound you hear is the rushing Colorado river and one of the main reasons we chose this lot.

We've resumed our usual work schedule, which is a little odd since both our jobs revolve around Eastern time, so we start the work day at (Colorado time) 8:00 a.m. and finish around 3:30 p.m. Despite the weather, it has been wonderful to be here, and to have a respite from our hectic schedule in Chapel Hill with all the driving to and fro.

We're gearing up for our first hike of the year on Saturday, a little over 7 miles round trip up the North Inlet Trail to Cascade Falls. With the Spring run-off, they ought to be spectacular. Photos to follow. Joe has also resumed bread making and tomorrow will bake his first loaf of high-altitude bread.

We had a scare earlier this week when Maddy was throwing up all day, 8 or 9 times, and in the evening, Michael rushed her off to an emergency appointment with a vet in Granby. Turns out she was exhausted, stressed from the trip out, and suffering from altitude sickness. The vet gave her a shot and she's fine now. Michael made an interesting connection with the vet, who owns horses, and also told him her practice partner has Dutch Warmbloods and at one point owned a Grand Prix jumper. He may find a way to include horses in his Colorado life as well.