Practicing Bird Photography at Dodd Reservoir

Nothing much to say except the morning was glorious and the birds were few!

One blue heron, one pelican and one cormorant. But they performed and I was grateful.

Chicago Lakes

This was an ambitious but very fun plan that didn't really come together... but you know, the universe provides and things turn out the way they were supposed to. In the end, there was no shortage of joy!

A month or so ago, I secured a parking permit/entry permit for Mt Blue Sky's Summit Lake trailhead. This 14-er is one of just a couple that had a road to the top, but for Scott and I, the adventure was going to be parking a few miles back down and hiking to the top. Extra special perhaps because the road and trailhead had been closed since 2024 - under construction - getting a little facelift, so I had not ticked it off last year. 

The permit was for 5-7am entry on June 25th. The plan was to arrive at Echo Lake early on the 24th, hike to Chicago Lakes, disperse camp overnight and hit Mt Blue Sky the next morning.

Chicago Lakes Hike

Perfect! We packed and left on time at crack'o'dawn and were on the trail by about 7:15am. It was quiet. Only 3 cars parked. Only a couple of people on the trail and none appeared to be going all the way up.

Check it out; Beautiful weather, wildflowers, this here hare, a very friendly marmot and changing scenery all the way to the top. Its a moderately hard hike. 

A bit up and down (mostly up) and a wee bit on the cool gusty side at the summit where we picnicked behind a large wind-stopping rock.

 We had company... a hungry little companion with a craving for granola bars and trail mix. His little monkey paws and twinkly eyes made me go "Awww!"

He was soon upstaged by the arrival of the goat gang. They were shedding and they had babies in tow so that's kinda hard to compete with when you are a common ground squirrel with few actual tricks in your playbook.

The way back down was easier of course and even with stops for "meese" (yes!) it was quicker too. The last push uphill to Echo Lake was nowhere near as bad as I remembered it from 2025.

Dispersed Camping:

Along Hefferman Gulch Rd there are a handful of stunning campsites in the forest. We pitched the tent, blew up the mattress and marveled at our good fortune to be all alone there. It was time for burgers and fries in Idaho Springs. Mmm... pretty darn yummy!

By 7:30pm there was a game of Phase Ten going back at camp. Did I win? I don't remember, but probably not. LOL

And at 8:30pm, snuggled up in the tent, the pitter patter of rain sounded wonderful. 

Hmmm. Pitter-patter was a fleeting description. Torrential is what superseded it. All. Night. Long.

I guess we were alone because all the other campers checked the forecast?!

At 5:30am, when the alarm went off, in the mostly dry tent, we both felt the most relaxing course of action was to stay in bed - the slightly deflated airbed was becoming hilarious and kept us off the ground only if both remained firmly on it, so unanimous commitment to the cause was required.

Mt Blue Sky would be there next time and there was no urgent need to hike in the rain for a view of nothing but clouds.

At 8:30am, we used a slight slow down in precipitation to quickly dress and take down camp. All the wet things got thrown into the truck and the new plan was a meandering trip home via Evergreen while eating banana bread and drinking milk.

And here is where the universe rewarded our relaxed attitudes and rolling with the weather; 10 minutes into the drive, low and beyold, mama moose and her teeny baby on the side of the road at a very convenient pull-out! Camera-candy for this gal! Scott was, as usual, so patient as I took my mandatory 100 pictures of wildlife before we could move along. Mama moose was super-chilled as cars and cameras came and went along the road.  Ahhhhh... bliss.

The best laid plans should often be upstaged/replaced by funny incidents, surprise weather, wildlife encounters and scenic drives with your favorite person, IMHO.

Black Lake

 And so the training for ... Da da da... Peru, begins!

That's right. Scott and I are headed for Peru in October. Macchu Pichu is on his bucket list and while I have done it, I'm delighted to be going again with Alex and this time, ticking Rainbow Mountain off my own bucket list. 

Both of these are high altitude hikes and Salkantay Trail to Machu Picchu is both high and has several really long (16 mile) days. We are officially in training.

Last week we attacked the 8 miles and 2000 gain of Walker Ranch.  I was nothing short of sore the next day. It was the first day I had even laced up my proper hiking boots since Kilimanjaro last year. 

Yesterday I went forth at the crack of dawn to take advantage of a last minute timed entry permit for Rocky Mountain National Park. 

I was at the Bear Lake parking lot by 6:00am and had secured a new annual National Park Pass along the way. Let's make 2026 a year to celebrate RMNP, eh?!

6:15am: And I'm off. It was a 5 mile hike to Black Lake. I remembered it was tough and long last time (2024?), but this morning I felt GREAT and bounced along with the sun on my face, t-shirt clad and warm enough already. 

At this time of day the clouds have not begun, the colors are saturated and the wind is non-existant. There was a half moon looking down on me. I spent considerable time photographing pretty much anything that took my fancy. But had an especially good time at Mills Lake.

I was half way. The easy half! As I clomped along in my heavier mountaineering boots I could feel people wondering "aren't they a little bit overkill?". Myself included. 

The infrequent patches of thick, slightly crusty-slightly slushy snow started becoming more frequent, crossing my path in bigger and bigger chunks. My boots had a way of showing their value at this time and as I post-holed a little, the heavy treads did me proud. I stayed glued to the ground on some very sketchy spots that would have otherwise resulted in an impressive downhill slide to the river!

I was feeling pretty grateful to still have a smile on my face, the sun on my back and be upright. Today was a good day.

At the top, Black Lake was only half thawed. I sadly did not see that big ol' marmot that I had been promised. I took a few minutes to park on rock, watch fish jump and waterfalls cascade down the towering granite that overshadows the lake and makes it appear black. Reflections danced on the water. I was truly alone up here and it was peaceful. No... it was blissful.

The final climb up here had steep, but going down turned out to be a little less technically challenging and treacherous than I had anticipated, after retrieving poles from my backpack. I did a pretty good job of balancing, digging in and stepping down, if I do say so myself! (Although it would have been better judgment to bring spikes too.)

I might have taken me almost 4.5 hours to get up here, but going down, in the heat of the day with little in the way of photo-opps left and throes of people now up as far as Mills Lake, I made haste and found myself back at the Bear Lake parking lot in just 2.5 hours... with feet still intact and feeling pretty darn good overall. 

I can't wait to drag myself up a fourteener in less than a month!