Woodland Lake Hike

 I went back to the Hessie Trailhead! 

This time, being a weekday in late September, there was no parking at the high school and taking the shuttle, instead I drove little Audi up the road through Eldora and parked her roadside not a quarter mile from the trailhead. And I took my friend Doug with me. Bonus!

It was the most perfect blue sky day you've ever seen.  The aspen leaves were bright yellow and the temperature was cool to start and warm, but not hot throughout.

We hiked up that rocky road I did a couple of weeks ago. Then at the split where I went yonder to Jasper Lake, we took the "other way" to Woodland Lake. The sign said 4 miles... we were 1 mile in already.

At Woodland Lake, we stopped for little rest. The view was lovely! (Alas not a moose to be found.)

While critters were few and far between, we did have cause to 'rescue' a caterpillar or two from the trail. I couldn't even tell you which end was the head on this one! Seriously though, he has put considerable effort into looking good today and all that eye-catching-ness paid off when I didn't step on him but instead, picked him up and gave him a lift to safer ground.

My watch ran dead flat at exactly 10 miles... I think it missed recording about .5 mile, so I'm saying I hiked 10.5. That's not the best part though. At mile 10 I still had spring in my step, breath in my lungs and no sore feet! I think all this hiking is finally paying off in a way that is visible. Ha!

As you can see, I went a bit faster than normal today. Doug is speedy... he spends a lot of time hiking uphill with 30lb of climbing gear in tow. I had to slow him down, for his own good. We were here to see the colors, smell the forest and picnic by a lake. I even had him eating Werthers candy with me. 

The joy is not found in finishing quicker, it's found in staying out there as long as possible. :-)