In Colorado

Day 3:

In the morning we went to town to get a few things and we went to the Arkansas River for a few minutes to watch river rafters depart.

 

Then we went for a picnic lunch on a mountain side road by the Arkansas River. While lunch was heating Nate and I got our first climb in.

Here is the foothill we climbed. Nate made it all the way up to the top and was standing by the highest pine tree you can see in this picture. I didn’t make it quite that high but I was up quite a ways to. Below is the picture I took looking down. If you look really close at the wide dirt spot by the river you can see the red jeep that we use for traveling.

The view from up there!

Here are some more plant pictures I took while climbing up and down. (since the air is thinner than I am used to I have to stop every once in a while to catch my breath. Taking flower pictures can be a good excuse to stop for a little bit.) 

Don’t touch this one!

On the way home we drove through a series of  4 tunnels. You can see them all in this picture.

Then everyone else decided to nap but I was skill feeling adventuresome, so my uncle gave me vague directions to hike to an old mine. So armed with my camera, cell phone, and a 2 way radio I set out.

Here is the grove of Aspens I walked though to start with (first land mark I was given.)  For a while I was a little unsure if I was on the right trail because as I mentioned my directions were vague so I was relived to see the sign pictured below

Here is one of the bridges I had to cross.

It was an old mine but pretty much all that’s left now is piles of boards and logs. This structure still had part of a couple walls up. 

What does this rock remind you of?

It is a little hard to see in this picture but look at the interesting things that extend from the back of this flower.

An other flower.  Also on this hike I saw my first mule deer and a red fox.

 

As the day came to a close there was a pretty sunset. These are taken from the deck and balcony of the house so it give you an idea of the view we have.