Colorado: Picnic - Aug 7

Since Emily arrived on the 4th, she has had to acclimate to the altitude. And, since it was rainy anyway, we took it easy for a couple of days. Thursday, we went to the movies. Friday, Lidia and Sawyer had to show their mama the now famous Sapphire Trail.

On Sunday, the 7th, we went on a picnic on the Frisco side of the lake. We found a place to park and then hiked down to the lake. It was a beautiful, lazy sort of day.

It was cool enough for a jacket, when we left home. It didn't take long to warm up, though, and Sawyer took the opportunity to use a natural tree hanger for his jacket....Bear Grylls approved, no doubt. The next day, we discovered that Sawyer's jacket was missing. Emily thought back to the last time she had seen it and it was right here, hanging on the tree. So, Cliff and Sawyer went back to look for it. For sure, we thought, someone would have taken it. But no, Sawyer came walking out of the woods wearing it and grinning from ear to ear.

 Cliff

Emily

Sawyer building a Cairn.

Lidia decorated her Cairn  

.

 A few nature shots along the way....

Hornets Nest

 These last few shots were taken with my phone...

Quality is lacking, for sure.

 Sawyer was practicing his Crane Kick.

This was our picnic view for the day. I hope I'm not starting to bore you with pictures of the surrounding mountain range. And, for sure the photos doesn't do them justice. But, I could sit and look at them all day.

Til soon,

Laurie

Colorado: Frisco Hike - August 3

 

I have gotten really behind on documenting our trip to Colorado. We've been so busy trying to make sure we expose Lidia and Sawyer to as much as possible that there hasn't been enough time left in the day to blog. Emily came out on the 4th to stay for a week with us and to take L&S back home. That was yesterday. And as much as I hated to see them go, it will give me a chance now to catch up. I think!  Below, I pick up on a hike we took in Frisco.

 

******

 

Frisco is hosting a 10K race and half-marathon in a few days. Cliff may run the 10K, so he wanted to check out the trails. We began our hike on part of the trail where the race will be held and then veered off through the woods to another trail that paralleled Lake Dillon. Actually, it ran along the shoreline of Lake Dillon. You can not imagine how many hiking trails there are around here. We are hoping to do a different one every day or so, with rest days, for L&S, in between. They really need one tomorrow. Lidia wanted to swim 50 laps, today. Cliff stopped her at 19 laps. Bless her heart, she was so tired, but was trying to meet her goal. She was okay with stopping for the day.

 

Total Miles hiked: 3       Total Time hiking: 1:12 hours

Lidia's swim in the pool: 19 laps

 



 Frisco Marina

 

 I tried to get L&S to wade out to that rock to have their picture made, but they weren't too keen on wading through snowmelt-cold water to get to it or sharing it with the gull. 

 

 

Lidia and Sawyer were more willing to climb out on this piece of

driftwood....they didn't have to get wet.

 

Of course, this trail was not hurting for wildflowers and I couldn't just pass them by. They really are no different than those I've already been photographing, but to me, on different trails they are a different kind of pretty.

 



On another note, Whitney saw a Colorado State Flag painted on a piece of wood that she fell in love with. I don't know how big it was, but it cost $900. Of course, that's not in her budget. I told her I could paint one for her. So, I've been picking up pieces of wood from our hikes. I picked up a piece on our hike, today, that I think will be perfect. However, I wanted to practice on a different piece of wood before painting Whitney's. The weather was perfect on the balcony this afternoon and proved to be a great spot to do a little practice painting.

Hope she likes the prototype. If so, I'll paint the bigger one for her, next week.

I used the watercolors that I brought from home. They worked very well, I think.

Laurie

Colorado: Dillon Reservoir Ridge Trail Hike - July 26th

The next few weeks are going to be action packed. My posts may get a little long at times and most definitely picture heavy. But, you want to see what Colorado adventures and explorations we get ourselves into, right? I thought so. Let me start by saying that the altitude sickness is milder this time than two years ago, when we made this same trip. But, I am still having some issues. Right now, I feel like I could puke. I haven't let it stop me though....I take it easy and drink lots of water, when I feel like that. It passes quickly enough and then we are on to our next adventure.

The following is day three, after arriving in Dillon, CO. Granted, the past couple of days were active, too. I just didn't get any photos.

The hike today was at the Dillon Reservoir Ridge Trail. Lake Dillon is situated at roughly 9000 ft. It is surround by an 18-19 mile bike/walk/running trail, which we will be using daily. Right across the lake from us is the hiking trail highlighted in this post.

The trail begins in a meadow filled with wildflowers.....which will be in tomorrow's post....and, then after a mile or so up the trail we head into the tree line and ridge. It was hot, but not too bad in the shade. Lidia was ready to go home about half way. She was having difficulties breathing, but after passing the half-way mark, we proceeded on down the other side. We stopped often to catch our breath and to seek out the shade and have a drink. Sawyer wore an old pair of Lidia's hiking boots that ended up being too big. He slopped up and down in them kicking up dust like Pigpen in a Charlie Brown cartoon. LOL!! He stuck by my side all day..."so he could take care of me". This is the reason you may see a few more pictures of him today than Lidia. Lidia, despite having a little trouble breathing, stayed by Cliff's side. They left Sawyer and me, regularly. Ha! When we were almost to the end of the hike, Sawyer told me that his whole body hurt. That didn't stop him, though, when he saw a pile of rocks. He jumped on them with the tenacity of a Colorado rock climber. 

Total miles hiked: 3.78 miles in 1:18 hours



 Starting our hike in this pretty meadow.

 Heading for the tree line.

Passing through gates....

 One of the first overlooks.

 Lidia, resting....

Cliff, waiting on us to finish resting...

 Rocky ledge overlooking Lake Dillon.

Sawyer was trying to scare me by pretending to go over the side.

Sawyer, me and Lidia at another overlook.

Lidia needed to rest, while we went up the last overlook.

Bless it, I know how she feels. But, she was a trooper and

stayed with Cliff, step for step, until near the end.

Another overlook of Lake Dillon.

Sawyer found sticks...he has one there sticking out of his backpack....

...and, he found rocks. These two made the shape of an arrow and the number "4".

We are staying in one of those condos across the lake.

More rock climbing....

And then, we came to the end of the trail.

One more rest before....

...heading home.

Fun! Fun! Fun!

See you tomorrow with more,

Laurie