RMNP

A walk around the block

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We effectively took a walk in our “neighborhood”, around Lumpy Ridge. Lumpy Ridge is a massive granite rock outcropping that’s been sculpted by wind and erosion over the last 1.8 billion years. It features many named rock formations, my favorite is Twin Owls. Once you see it, you can’t miss it.

Twin Owls

These are popular rock climbing destinations after the Peregrine Falcons finish roosting.

I’m always pretty happy at the beginning of a hike.

Happy hikers

We were prepared for winter hiking conditions, especially after our earlier, exhausting, post-holing experience.

So of course, we didn’t need our snow shoes. It’s like carrying an umbrella, forget it and it’s sure to rain.

The views of the Continental divide were stunning. We climbed for the first 4 miles then it was all downhill after that. We ran into slushy snow on the back side of the ridge along the Dark Mountain trail. Microspikes were all we needed.

We picked a gorgeous day for it. This is an outbuilding on our neighbor, MacGregor’s Ranch, which transferred 1200 acres of lands for conservation to the NPS.

I decided to name a few of the formations myself.

I would call this Twin Chickens
Chicken hat on a post
Angry man and family
Toucan with a hat
First sign of spring on Cow Creek Trail
Home stretch

Luckily for me, we were able to use two vehicles and did not need to complete the loop, which would have added additional elevation.

Meanwhile, back at the Ranch, the big boys came to visit.

It was a nice change from the turkeys.

A good time was had by all!

Rabbits and Mountain Lions

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We went for a walk out back to stretch our lazy legs. We met a couple of hikers, who excitedly told us they saw lots of Mountain Lion tracks. That’s all Tim needed to hear. Despite my protests, our walk got a little longer.

Once we found one print, we saw a lot.

For comparison

On our way back to the Ranch, it became clear why the campsite was named Rabbit Ears.

Today it’s blowing stink, we won’t be walking. I think a swim is in order.

Another walk in the park

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We rallied ourselves and drove south west to a trailhead in a different part of the park. We took the back way through Rocky Mountain National Park, where the views were stunning.

Our goal was a short string of lakes created by the Tyndall glacier. Even though it was only 3.2 miles, we took our time because the hike begins at 9,500 ft elevation and rises to slightly over 10,000 ft.

I noticed one steep portion above us on the way in. On our return, a National Park volunteer, like us!, pointed out a small avalanche caused by a skier earlier in the morning.

The lakes, Bear, Nymph, Dream, and Emerald, were still frozen and Flattop Mountain set our course.

Emerald Lake

We’re smiling now because we’ve eaten our lunch and our return trip is almost all downhill.

The sky over the Park is always lined by contrails.

When we returned home, I baked a very tall loaf of whole wheat bread. I tried the bread machine but didn’t set it correctly. I have since downloaded the manual rather than randomly pushing buttons. I had to take it out of the machine when it risked popping the lid open. I put it in the only bread pan I could find and salvaged a delicious loaf.

Tim is a very lucky man!