In The Rapids

The grand finale to my vacation was a rafting trip through Royal Gorge. Jim, Stacy, Carter, and I did the trip on July 6th. The water levels were still higher than normal, and it made for a real fun trip through the Gorge. Stacy bought the pictures of our trip that the rafting company sold. Here are some of the highlights.

Carter is up front for this one and the following pictures

The Eye

On July 4th, my brother and I climbed Mt Ouray. At an elevation of 13,979 feet, Mt. Ouray is 29 feet short of being a popular mountain. It is one of the Centennial Peaks of Colorado. Mt. Ouray is located at the southern end of the Sawatch Range near Salida. The trailhead is at Marshall Pass (10,846 ft) although there is not much of a trail up it. You basically just follow the ridge up. There was a bit of rock scrambling and the wind was blowing really hard on the hike up. I think the hardest part was just being out of shape. I haven’t done much hiking this year. We didn’t see anybody on the hike up. We had the summit to ourselves; however, we did see five going up on our way down. I'm guessing it was a busy day for the mountain since it was the 4th of July. I don’t think this mountain gets hike a lot. Here are the pictures.

View of Antora Peak after reaching the ridgeline

The route up Mt. Ouray

Jim on top of Mt. Ouray

Jim on top of Mt Ouray.  Antora Peak on the left

Brothers

Nap time.  Salida in the valley below

Looking towards Monarch Pass

Me

The Eye

Looking back at the route up  Mt Ouray

Continuing

On July 3rd, a group of us made the drive from Salida to Cottonwood Pass for a little sight-seeing. Most people go for a hike along the Continental Divide on the south side because the parking lot is on that side of the road and the mountains are a little bigger. I don’t remember who suggested it, but the decision was made to take a walk on the north side of the road. It was a great choice. We didn’t see anybody on our short hike, plus we got away from the road rather quickly. Here are the pictures from Cottonwood Pass.

Carter, Jim, Stacy, & Cara along the Continental Divide

Cottonwood Pass

Jim

The Three Apostles & Huron Peak on the left.
 Missouri Mountain & Mt. Belford are visible on the right.

Cara & Stacy

Cara putting a rock on top of the small unnamed peak

Looking down at the lake at Cottonwood Pass

Cara, Jim, & Carter

Time to throw snowballs at Carter

Sunflowers & The Three Apostles plus Huron Peak

Stacy & Cara (Mt. Yale on the left)

Dust In The Wind

On July 1st, we traveled from Pagosa Springs to The Great Sand Dunes National Park. We made a lunch stop at Three Barrel Brewing in Del Norte. The beer and food was good. It is worth a stop. We stayed at the Great Sand Dune Lodge right outside the National Park. After watching the US game, we went into the Park. Medano Creek was dry at the day use area in the Park. The wind was blowing harder than I had experienced on previous visits. The wind has been known to blow there. Anyway, Carter and I walked the farthest out on the dunes, which wasn’t that far. This is the only photo I took from that hike.

Carter

That evening at the lodge, a highly entertaining lightning show appeared over the dunes. I didn’t capture any lightning, but I got some nice pictures around sunset.

View from the Great Sand Dunes Lodge

Stacy and Cara on their porch at the Lodge

Sunset

The Dunes

Sunset - San Juan Mountains in the distance

Another sunset photo

The next day we went back out on the Dunes. It was windy, but it was nowhere near as bad as it was the day before. Medano Creek was flowing at the day use area. Jim and I made it to the top of High Dune.

My parents making their way onto the Dunes

Jim

Jim on top of High Dune

The Dunes from the top of High Dune

After hiking the Dunes, we hiked to Zapata Falls. After lunch, we drove to Salida, the next stop of the tour.

-MM

Wolfcreek Pass

The blog has been a bit silent lately. I’ve been busy with a house, and I haven’t had anything I wanted to put in the blog. The good news is that I just got back from a vacation, and I have something to post. My parents and my brother’s family were vacationing in Arizona and Colorado. I met up with them in Pagosa Springs, Colorado on June 29th. On June 30th, some drove up to Wolf Creek Pass and messed around. Here are the pictures from that day.

View from Lobo Overlook above Wolf Creek Pass

Hiking along the Continental Divide Trail

Carter and Cara in the snow

Hiking in snow

Stacy, Cara, Carter, & Jim

Where's the Family Truckster?

Carter below Treasure Falls