Monday 8-30 Camping & Hiking

 

Grab a buddy and go hiking

We had a gorgeous sunny day. 

We woke up to a brisk 40 degrees. I woke up an hour earlier than a thought, I always wear my Garmin activity tracker and it hadn't changed the time yet so I thought it was 7:45 am instead of 6:45 am. I got out of bed and started the oven (it runs on propane). While it was preheating I got dressed. When it got to temperature I baked biscuits. Our refrigerator runs on either propane or electricity. 

After breakfast we went on a 3.5 mile hike. We started from the campground and caught the lake trail. We hiked it the opposite direction for 1.5 miles to Archuleta Trailhead. Archuleta Trail is a wilderness trail that is 6.5 miles long one way. We hiked it for a half mile and rested. After resting we turned around and went back to the Minnie. During our hike we saw people fishing from their small blow up boats, cars in the parking lot, ducks swimming in the lake, we saw a rodent who was apparently living in a rock slide and a beaver swimming in the lake. We were the only ones on the trails until we were almost back when we met a gentleman going to the lake to fish. The cars in the parking lot were people who were fishing.

 

Big Meadow Lake from the hiking trail

 

Larry resting on a log

 

The hiking trail 

A meadow

 

A rodent we saw 

The hike was great and at times got our hearts pumping. We climbed over a few small boulders and downed trees, crossed creeks via rocks or bridge. We stopped now and than to take in the scenery because it was gorgeous. As we hiked we heard the creek flowing. On the way back we saw a pretty waterfall coming down the mountain. I took a couple of pictures but they didn't come out. We try to enjoy the scenery when we can but when we're hiking the trail we have to watch where we're going, there are lots of rocks, tree roots and fallen trees. We had an outstanding hike. 

In the afternoon Larry read. I did the Solitaire Event: Medium Mayhem of 27 games. It took me 2 hours, 2 minutes and 48 seconds, which put me in 15th place in my group. Then I walked around the campground and to Cascade Falls. In order to get to the falls you have to take a short trail. It's a small fall but very nice. I walked for 40 minutes. When I got back I read until it was time for dinner.

 

Cascade Falls

I barbecued seasoned pork for dinner. After dinner Larry and I went for an hour hike. We walked a half mile through the campground until we got to an old service road. The gate was closed to keep vehicles out but we walked around it. It was a wide moderate level trail that went uphill. We saw a few grouses. When we got close to the grouses their tail feathers would fan out. They are great flyers. We only hiked about a mile of the trail but it was very peaceful. When we got home I walked around the campground for 45 minutes to finish my steps. While I walked I said hi to a lot of other campers and saw a beautiful doe. I ended up doing 26,000 steps, which is a good start for the week. I ended up being in 6th place in my group.

 

A grouse we saw