24 Degrees and SNOW!

August 19th arrived with the thermometer plummeting to twenty-four degrees and a dusting of snow on Trail Ridge Road in RMNP!  I do love snow and the mountains, so this was a gorgeous drive up the mountains!  The vegetation is beginning to brown on the tundra, the bull elk are rubbing their velvet off their antlers, wildflower abundancy is waning, and school bells are ringing in Colorado.  Fall is right around the corner.

Most of my Wisconsin co-workers have left, to school @ UW-Madison, Oshkosh and Lacrosse.  Veronica departed for the University of Nebraska, and yesterday, Ali returned to South Dakota where she attends Augustana. Lars flew home to Florida. Our crew is dwindling as summer comes to a close.  After Labor Day, our hours at the store will be shortened.

I have missed a couple of family friends' daughter's/son's weddings due to my adventures here, but I look forward to a beloved visitor arriving on Tuesday next week, so am working extra hours in anticipation of time off.

Here's what I have been up to in the last week:

• drove friends up the mountain after midnight for a spectacular view of the Persiad meteor shower and an awesome view of the Milky Way,
  
• frolicked with friends/my former educators in the park, stopped at Trail Ridge Store, looked for moose (with no luck), but enjoyed elk, yellow-bellied marmots, pikas, chipmunks and ground squirrels, viewed Grand Lake and Shadow Mountain Lake from Grand Lake Lodge, and nourished ourselves with burgers and brew @ Estes Park Brewery,
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  alpine sunflower

  

  king's crown

  
  
  
  
  
• arose early, and being escorted to Bear Lake by elk, we hiked to Nymph Lake, Dream Lake and Emerald Lake at around 11,000 feet before returning to Bear Lake with Hallett Peak looming over us all the way.  Venturing farther, Alluvial Fan was cold!  Then indulged in a 1:00 p.m. breakfast @ The Egg and I; then bid Brenda and Laura goodbye!

  

  Alluvial Fan with the Roaring River cascading down

  

  COLD!

  
  

  

  how heavy is one side of the elk's antlers?

  

  Bear Lake with Hallett Peak in background

  
  

  

  posing dragonfly

  

  trail beauty

  
  

  

  Emerald Lake

  

  high altitude hikers

  
  

  

  Emerald Lake

  

  trail beauty

  
  

  

  Dream Lake

  

  Stellar Jay

  
  

  

  elk escorting us to Bear Lake

  

  Nymph Lake reflection

• overheard a little boy say while on a trail, "This is the most beautiful place I've ever gone to the bathroom!",
• saw my first bear sleeping on a log,
  
• experienced an outdoor theater performance of "Paradise Protected" with Pat Parker at the historic Baldpate Inn, raising my umbrella several times.  The drama featured the fight of Enos Mills to establish this area as a national park with the help of John Muir, but constantly being opposed by local ranchers and lodge owners, 
  
• drove the shuttle van for the first time up the mountain to work, carrying my co-workers,
• learned about the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) history (1933-1942) and the legacies it left behind.  The CCC was established by Teddy Roosevelt to employ young men during the Depression and the Dust Bowl, resulting in the establishment of many trails/structures in national parks, as well as state and local parks.  The presenter spoke of "Nature Deficit Disorder" that our youth are suffering from due to their sedentary lifestyle.  PROMOTE YOUR FRIENDS, CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN, and RELATIVES TO GET OUT AND EXPERIENCE THE GRANDNESS OF NATURE, NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE,
  
    
  
• reveled in the new snow-laden landscape on the Rockies as I drove up the mountains, and later watched the Taiwanese play in the snow dusting, making a miniature snowman,

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• caught a bull elk with bloody antlers resulting from his velvety covering being rubbed off in preparation for the hunt for his mate,
  
• hiked down the Ute Trail from the Alpine Visitor Center to Milner Pass @ the Continental Divide with three of my hiking friends:  Alison, Sean and Teresa after working all day.  Lots of talking, reminiscing, and laughing occurred along the trail, as we descending about 1800 feet.  We witnessed a layered sunset of yellow, orange, blue and pink on the way down Trail Ridge Road.  We ended our evening with Chinese food, sampling each other's entrees,
  
  
               
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• and shed some tears as one of my friends drove away and had left a touching note.
  
• toured MacGregor Historic Ranch, homesteaded in the 1870s, where ranching still operates.  The ranch was donated to Estes Park in the 1970s with two stipulations:  it had to continue to function as a ranch, and educational programs had to be offered, as the recluse MacGregor relative didn't want today's youth to think meat came from cellophane.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• went on a scavenger hunt into RMNP in search of a bull moose.  Unsuccessful finding the male moose, but spotted elephantheads, a coyote, several herds of cow elk, two cow moose, a pair of sparing bull elk whose velvet was gone, marmots and pikas.  Quite a success!

  

  elephanthead flower

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

I close with fond thoughts of my family and friends that I miss often, but will be reconnecting with before I know it.

Love you all,
Amy

How Juicy are the Palisades Peaches!!

The calendar has flipped to August, and I waver between "where has the summer gone?" to "how much longer until I get to see my family, Joey (my cocker spaniel), and all the familiar faces back home that I have taken for granted?"

Mexican Hats in the foreground of the Rockies

I seem to wake up a little more tired every day.  Business is booming as families are cramming in the last days of summer before switching gears to purchase school supplies. Can I admit that I miss my August shopping excursions to Target and Lakeshore to pick up all the cool stuff I need to have in the room to greet the energetic students that appear at my door each fall?

The weather is changing here.  People are speculating when "the elk bulging" will start. The elk are beginning to rub their velvet off their antlers, they're migrating to the lower elevations, and the bulls will soon be searching for their mates during the rut season.

And I haven't yet told you about the Palisade peaches.  Grown on the west side of the Rockies, one bite will send juices streaming down your chin.  They're at roadside stands, at the farmers' market and occasionally in the grocery store.  DELICIOUS!!

Here are some of the highlights since my last entry:

• celebrated World Ranger Day with rangers, and watched an informative video, "Thin Green Line," that showed rangers in action world-wide.  Rangers in poaching countries really put their lives on the line every day - much more dangerous than in the U.S.,
• attended a seminar of a professional photographer, Erik Stensland, on his preparations for his landscape photo shoots, purchased his book, "Wild Light," which he autographed for me,
• sampled wine with friends at our compound,
• witnessed a beautiful mountain sunrise near Bear Lake, hiked to Alberta Falls in Glacial Gorge, continued on the magnificent Mills Lake and enjoyed a Palisade peach, climbed 1380 feet in elevation to Black Lake, strolling past fields of abundant wildflowers and seeing Ribbon Falls cascade down the mountainside, returned to Mills Lake where I consumed my lunch, then again gained altitude as I maneuvered over huge rocks to Lake Haiyaha nestled in the mountains surrounded by massive granite boulders, continued on what I THOUGHT was the RIGHT trail, only to find myself LOST amidst more BOULDERS (but was redirected by some youthful climbers after some prayers were offered and inner strength was gained), rejoined a well-worn trail that overlooked Bear and Nymph Lakes, descended to Dream Lake (where I suffered my third round of muscle cramps), past lily-pond covered Nymph Lake, and welcomed the sight of Bear Lake and my Jeep.  THIS WAS QUITE A DAY, HIKING 15.5 MILES, DISCOVERING SIX ALPINE LAKES AND THE MOUNTAINOUS LANDSCAPE, TESTING MY INNER STRENGTH AND FAITH, HUMBLING MYSELF, TESTING MY PHYSICAL ABILITIES, and APPRECIATING THE COMFORT OF FAMILIARITY AT THE END!!

  

  sunrise near Bear Lake

Alberta Falls

wildflowers everywhere



alpine river



Ribbon Falls above Black Lake



Black Lake



Mills Lake






Mills Lake






"boulder" path?  NO!!



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Lake Haiyaha



Bear Lake and Nymph Lake from 800 feet above them



Dream Lake with Hallett Peak in background



lily pad covered Nymph Lake



Bear Lake

• received a surprise visit by my good friend and college roommate, Jonesie, her husband and her brother-in-law.  We ate lunch together and caught up with each other and our families,
  
• watched a FAKE bear jam; this is when someone stops, gets out with a camera and looks like he/she is searching out an animal, then everyone stops, and suddenly a person in a BEAR COSTUME runs at them and into his/her car - very funny,
• had a cookout with my colleagues before some of them begin their journey back to their former lives - college, family, etc.,

  

  the Xanterra crew!

  
  

  

  WISCO group - me, Jim, Molly, Mark, Jonas & Logan

  
  

  

  me, Sean & Teresa

• received news that my sister, Nancy and her husband, Gary, became grandparents as John and Mallory had a daughter, Cattarina - she's adorable in photos!, and 
• learned more about myself and the others that I spend each and every day with.

Cram in as much time with family as you can before the kiddos go back to school, look for the small miracles in your day, wake up for sunrises and stay awake for the sunsets, and give thanks to the Lord for everything!

Amy