July 16, 2015

Finally, a Sunny Day in the Mountains

Hesperus Peak at 13,330'
We have had so much rain here this spring and summer that it has been hard to get up into the mountains for hiking.  Either it starts raining by noon, or the trails are very muddy and messy to traverse.  Today, we are having a break from the annual monsoon rains, and since I had the day off, I left the house at 7 AM to hike one of my favorite high elevation trails.  I drove to the trailhead which is at 10,900 feet to hike a 2 mile trail up to 11,900 feet.  You end up in the alpine zone on tundra.  About half way up on my drive into the mountains, a great horned owl flew right in front of my car.  What a nice omen for the day!   

The higher in elevation I am, the better I feel.  It is a real joy to be up there.  It might be the effects of the lack of oxygen, too.  So I thought I'd share some of the photos from my hike.

Twin Lakes on the way to the trailhead
 
One of the many waterfalls on the trail
 
A very cute pika squeaking at me from his rock

Remaining snow up top

Old Man on the Mountain asters
Alpine paintbrush
More paintbrush on the tundra

A rock shelter


4 comments:

  1. Beautiful, just beautiful in my opinion. I have had dreams, scattered throughout my lifetime, of an area like the pics represent above. A few months ago I was led to where.."The 4 Corners Area"(Swest Colorado/Nwest New Mexico...etc).I have felt a huge...pull..to this area for the last 9 months or so.

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  2. Thank you so much for sharing these beautiful photos. Alpine tundra...one of my most favorite places!

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  3. Love those photos !
    Especially that cute little artist on the rock :)))

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