August 31-September 1, 2016 Maroon Bells, Colorado

The sun was out all day, it was in the high 70’s. It was glorious. We took an afternoon hike up to Crater Lake just below Maroon Bells.

The moose is still hanging out at the lake. There are signs out warning guests to keep their distance from the moose. They are very big and dangerous animals, but the people just go closer and closer. It is only a matter of time before someone gets attacked by the moose, we left  so we did not have to watch.

Aspen leaf with dying patterns, the aspens are beginning to change one branch at a time, amanita mushrooms-hallucinogenic and very poisonous, and a stunted fringed gentian. Moss, two photos of cinqfoil blooms, and chiming bells.

Chiming bells with Crater lake and Bells behind. A nice field of yellow senicio.

Speepy mallards with ruffled feathers, huge curly dock and a closeup of a fireweed flower. Chiming bells and the mountains to the north of Crater Lake.

Sunset colors on Maroon lake on the way back.  Marmot, squirrel, chipmonk and fall colored ground cover.

Eveing light on Pyramid peak. Many thin trunked aspen. They have to grow tall very fast to get to the canopy or they won’t get enough sun to survive.

 

A few more of the aspen turning and some colorful ground cover. Closer to Maroon lake . The moose retreated to the trees by the lake and people are still crowding in to see it. . .

Dried flowers, mushrooms, deer and backlit squirrel. Mackeral sky clouds reflected in front of  the Maroon Bells.

Asters and Sievers Mountain. Sunset on the rock bands across from our campsite.

A small buck seen in the campground and a vole.

 

New baskets.

August 30, 2016 Conundrum Creek, Colorado

Rainy, cloudy and cool days. 60/40’s. Brrr.

John at work as campground host in the rain. His umbrella is kind of sprung. I finished another basket, came out pretty nice.

The sun was out when we woke up so we decided to hike Conundrum Creek. It is a long valley with a gentle rise. 8.5 miles up is Conundrum Hot springs. 10 miles past that is Gothic, which is outside of  Crested Butte. We only went 3 miles up, 6 miles round trip,  600 vertical. John in a huge meadow at the beginning of the trail. Then in a huge patch of ripe thimble berries.

Remains of a cabin in a meadow. Fall colors  and bent aspens.

A small tributary of the creek. Another aspen with bear claw marks, aster and blue gentian.

John on a nice bridge over the creek and the creek. It is beautiful clear water. We followed it the whole way.

The sun came out at the end of the hike. On the other side of this ridge is Maroon Bells two vallies over. The view up canyon.

Heart and star shaped mushrooms, lots of golden asters still and an odd pattern on an aspen leaf. Fall colors in the shrubery.

More fall colored shruberies. The sun on a hillside of aspen under a thunderhead.

And a rainbow over Aspen on the way back. I think it is acutally landing on Aspen Ski Area, which is a real pot of gold.

August 26-27, 2016 Aspen, Colorado

We hiked across the valley  on the other side of Aspen in Hunter Creek.

Here is a map of the area with Aspen at the  bottom of the map. We hiked the green trail that goes up the valley and right on to the red one.  From the beginning of the trail this is looking down on Aspen. You can see all 4 ski areas from left to right is Aspen Mountain-right in town, behind is Aspen Highlands, then Buttermilk and you can see the very top of Snowmass above Buttermilk.

The trail started in scrub oak among some of the huge homes. Then up into the trees by Hunter Creek.

The trail passes through aspen and  flower studded meadow with several homestead cabins.  Mahonia, tansy, acorns and a variety of flowers.

A very green meadow. The remains  of one of  the cabins off the meadow.

The view from the cabin and another cabin in a little better shape.

Butter and eggs, service berries, the marks on the aspen trees are from the elk eating the bark on the trees during winter when they can’t get to the foliage under the snow.  In the second set claw marks where a bear sharpened it’s claws on the trunk of the tree,  yellow asters, and pussy toes.

Beautiful aspen groves and yellow asters.

Salsify seed head, gum weed, a grasshopper clinging to a knapweed while it devours it, a cornerstone for a property, gum weed  and autumn looking leaves. John in a flower studded meadow.

In the evening we went to the historic Wheeler opera house in downtown Aspen and saw the first night of the Mountainsummit film festival in Aspen. We were there for adventure documentaries. Very good films. Eric one of the son of some California friends stopped by to visit on the way to work. He is a back country ranger and hikes the back country trails.

Rain washed and sun dried pine needles. I boiled them in glcerine yesterday and left them out over night in a hard rainstorm to rinse them. Linda, one of the other hosts came by with her sister and daughter to buy some jewels. Nice setting for the display.

We drove over to Avalanche hot springs near Redstone only to find out you need reservations and they were full. So we went up stream to the free Penny hot springs. They were quite nice and very hot. When we got back the resident deer was in camp with her fawn.