Camp Dick 4WD Adventure II 8-12-22

On our previous Camp Dick trip Gordon and I met some ingenious 4WD guys from Omaha. They have become famous for introducing us to what they called “The Game Changer”. They had a RoadPro portable oven which cooked their lunch while they were navigating the rocky road. I bought Gordon one that Christmas and he has gifted most of his adventurous friends.

So as we got to our lunch spot we unveiled the Game changer. It plugs into the cigarette lighter and had been cooking our lunch of brats and hot sausage all morning. It maintains a temp of 300 degrees. 

 

A hot lunch was ready.

Relaxing with our lunch beside the stream we were at the top of our game.

 

The Middle St. Vrain didn’t care.

 

Gordon surprised us with a gourmet treat for dessert: a Milky Way.

 

 

Camp Dick 4WD Adventure III 8-13-22

 

After our sumptuous repast we were ready for the more difficult part of the road. There was a fork in the road and as Yogi Berra has suggested, “We took it”.The road got narrower and steeper and of course it started to sprinkle.

We arrived at the 'major obstruction' remembered from our last trip as a ‘graveyard’. This had taken us the better part of an hour and a half to get through for various reasons the last time. We got stuck in one spot for twenty minutes where someone finally helped us out by strategically placing one stone  the size of a softball which allowed us to go through.

 

After moving a few rocks to make some mini ramps Gordon went straight up the middle this time despite some rain making the rocks slippery. Muns had no trouble either.

Soon we were at Coney Flats with a beautiful view of Sawtooth Mountain in the background.

 

And Will drove the Rangie through a large pond with some hidden obstructions.

Unbelievably the road got worse on the way down to the exit at Peak to Peak Highway. 

After some hairy spots we came to the Reservoir at the bottom and pressured back up. Still it was easier than a few years ago. Great fun with my boys.

 

Long Lake I 8-11-22

Long Lake is my choice for the most beautiful lake anywhere. It is nestled below Navaho and Apache Mountains in the Indian Peaks area in Roosevelt and Arapahoe National forests south of Rocky Mountain National Park near Ward Colorado. The required Timed entry ticket to the Long Lake Trailhead is one of the most coveted and hard to get. This year Chris got the ticket and we met him in the Brainard Lake  parking area. We transferred to one car and went to the trailhead.

 

Its always exciting to enter an area where there are moose, bears, and cougars lurking.

We are starting at an elevation of well over 11,000 feet. The trail to Long Lake is a short quarter mile. From there I have gone to both Lake Isabelle and to Pawnee Pass, which looks over at Monarch Lake and Lake Granby Reservoir on the other side of the divide. Today we are here for a picnic by the lake.

This is the tributary from Long Lake.

and then to the lake itself with the Indian Peaks in the background.

As you can imagine there  are flowers everywhere. This one is called elephantella (Pedicularis groenlandica).Each flower has a long, pointed beak which curves upward, superficially resembling the trunk of an elephant, and the lateral lobes of the flower resemble an elephant's ears.

Long Lake II 8-11-22

 

Working our way to the lake we found one of many sand beaches.

It was great place for lunch. Lake Isabelle is on the other side of the ridge.

Its a great place for taking photographs.

Or talking a nap in the shade. 

While Jan rested Chris and I went looking for wildflowers. There were pale gentian (Gentiana alba).

and Indian paintbrush (Castilleja parviflora).

and alpine Bistort which I have enjoyed in the arctic.

 

Long Lake III 8-11-22

 

The beauty of Long Lake and its setting is extraordinary. It is two miles around the lake. The lighting is constantly changing.

I always walk the trail back in a state of some melancholy.

There are some peaceful ponds at the base of the outflow stream.

When we get back there are two pleasant girls from Kyrgistan. They have four sacks filled with large brown discs. These are porcini mushrooms which they have  been hunting.

They tell me that porcini mushrooms grow here every year in August. They are an excellent source of protein. The cook them with olive oil and herbs in a stove top pan. They also dehydrate them saying that they last  four months. When I ask them where they found them like good fishermen when asked about where the fish are they said, "they are in the forest up there".

 

Just down from Long Lake is Brainard Lake

And here is a pano of the area from Brainard Lake.

Morning Walk on the Cow CreekTrail 8-10-22

 Ken and I tried the Cow Creek Trail parking lot again. This time therefore several parking places. 

The trail starts at the old McGraw Ranch.

 

 

This working ranch morphed into a dude ranch in 1936 and thrived for 40 years. My next door neighbor Kaye and her family loved it here.

Currently it is utilized for ecological projects.

 

Ken and I went up toward Bridal Veil Falls. It is a wonderful gradual trail.

 

When  we got to a fork in the trail as Yogi Berra said ‘We took it.”. We went up towards Lumpy ridge rather than to the falls. We encountered an interesting phenomenon. Several trail runners came by us actually forcing us off the trail. These runners start at the Lumpy ridge trailhead,  go over to the side we were on and then return on another trail which has a steep uphill component. It is called ‘The Loop’ and is quite taxing. On the other hand I am not a big fan of moving out of the way of zealous runners going fast on trails where I am having more of a Zen experience. Ken agreed.

When we we were ready we turned round and went back downhill after a great morning walk filled with wonderful discussion about life’s thorny issues.

Jan's Colorado Art Work 8-9-22

 Here is what the artist produced at Solitude in Estes Park this year.

Elder Walk 8-9-22

My guide had family visiting so I went hiking alone. I got up at 6:00 and drove to the park. It was 48 degrees when I started out and
I was in shorts and a jacket. I approached the park entrance at 6:50 and there were 4 cars in line. The booths were unmanned. The holdup was a single file line of 8 juvenile mule deer all with good size racks who were crossing the road just then. When they had cleared I drove through the open entrance putting my pass back in my wallet. I went up the road to Upper Beaver Meadows. There were two cars in the lot.
The rising sun was on Longs.

I went up the trail towards Ute Meadows. I have been up this trail many times but have only reached the meadows once, several years ago with Ken .Today I was just heading up the trail. I have noticed lately that my destination is where I am. The distinction is that when this is so I am at choice in the matter - I own the hike instead of the hike owning me. There is some satisfaction in this arrangement.
The trail was mature and gradual. You can see that many of the trees are dead. This is from disease rather than fire.

Despite it seeming very dry there are a myriad of flowers. Here is a geranium.

I came upon a new phenomenon on the trail. There were more than one today.

I kept on poking' up the trail until it was time to turn around. I saw no one until coming back. I got the sense that this was an elder trail as three of the four folks I passed were about my age. Not bragging but they were slower than me. But they were vertical and their feet  were moving so that's in the plus column. I love being on the trail.

And the flowers keep showing up. Here's an Indian Blanketflower (Gaillardia). I had a whole front garden of them last month at home.

Anyway another great trip into the national park loving every minute.

The Adams Tunnel 8-8-22

In 1940 construction began on the Adams Tunnel Project which was  to bring water and power from the Grand Lake area on the western side of the continental divide to Estes Park on the east side. Contractors starting from each side and drilled the 9 feet high tunnel and met each other in 1944. The alignment when they met was off by less than the width of a penny. Water started flowing through in 1947.

The tunnel drops 109 feet in elevation from west to east so the water flows downhill by gravity. It has a capacity of 550 cubic feet per second. It helps produce electricity to Estes Park and north eastern Colorado.

The water from the tunnel collects in a basic now called  Mary's Lake. In the late 1940's one day we walked from Cheley Camp to the new  Mary's Lake dam. The lake was empty and we had a barbecue by the dam.

At regular intervals they open up the water flow producing a spectacular spout. That's the lake with the power house in the background.The lake is stocked with trout. 

Jan and I went down from the road to check it out. Amazing.

Colorado Classics 8-8-2022

 Jan’s Fashion Statement at Lake Estes

Jan and Gord at Bear Lake

Jan at Sprague Lake

Selfie at Bear Lake

And a few extras