Tuesday 8-27-24 Hiking Trails in Pike-San Isabel National Forest

 

Camping at Matchless Campground

We woke up to a brisk 37 degrees in Leadville, CO and the high was 67 degrees. We had a lot of sunshine so Larry put out our solar panels to charge the batteries. It was a gorgeous day.

I got up at 6:45. I noticed, that the cinnamon rolls I took out of the freezer hadn't risen as much as they usually do. I put them in front of the heater and they finished rising in about a half hour. I baked them in the oven at 350 degrees for a half hour. They came out great.

Today we did two hikes and got a total of 4.75 miles. The first one was a hour and a half hike after breakfast. We hiked the road to the Fallen Tree Trail. We hiked the trail, which was 1.25 miles. Then we hiked part of the Bodfish Trail. As we hiked the trails we hiked by the employee housing and a beautiful pond. Then we took the main road back to the campground. It was a beautiful hike through the trees. We saw some wildflowers but only a few squirrels. We were the only hikers. The hike was easy but you still had to watch where you stepped because of the roots and rocks on the trails. The hike was 3.25 miles long. 

 

Hiking trail map

The pond

Our second hike was after dinner, 40 minutes for 1.25 miles on the Lake Trail to the dam and back. While hiking we saw people fishing on the banks of the lake, a few people jogging the trail and other people hiking like us. It was a nice hike through the trees and along the shores of Turquoise Lake.

In between the hikes we relaxed with a book.

Larry helped our neighbor (Deb) with a couple of problems. She is a single lady about our age, her husband did all the maintenance and repairs for them but he passed away. Larry was happy to help and I got to play with her dog (Ponder). She has two RV's. Her van and a trailer. The trailer has been in storage for quite awhile, the battery is dead and there was a problem with her water heater. Larry looked at the battery, it was only about two years old but very low on water. It needed to be filled and charged. It might come back to life and then again it might have to be replaced. Her hot water heater had a piece that needed replaced. She went to town and got the piece along with some distilled water for the battery. Larry had to clean out the connection where the piece fit. He was able to do this with a Dremel tool. Her van has an DC to AC inverter so he could use the Dremel. She needs some thread sealant and then the water heater should be workable. She is a very sweet lady and appreciated Larry's help.  

By the end of the day I did 18,500 steps. After the second hike I walked around the campground for a half hour and visited with another couple and their dog. 

When Larry was going to bed he noticed our garbage was starting to smell so we walked down to the dumpster to get rid of it. It was gorgeous outside. The sky was clear and we saw a lot of stars. We were the only ones still awake and it was only 9:30 pm. There is no power in the campground so we surmise everyone went to bed early because they could not use their TV's without running down their batteries. Come this weekend there will be a lot more people here, many will be younger and some will have kids, many of them will stay up later.

We had an outstanding day.