Chasing a Thousand Waterfalls

After, the previous day’s misadventures, I decided to take it easy and just spend the day exploring the Endovalley area. The weather was gloomy in Boulder but up at alpine elevations in the park, a blue sky beckoned with fluffy white clouds. I had a vague goal of finding a steep creak flowing out of a hanging valley called Thousand Falls. But, once again, record-breaking snowmelt made the creek impassable. According to the news, this is the story all over the Rockies.

Water washing out bridge planks.

I sat and painted some watercolors of the creek. Later I hiked up to Chasm Fall, walking behind a velvet-antlered elk part of the way. On my way down, I chatted with some German hikers – total opposites of the Hip-Hop Hikers from yesterday. These guys refused to walk across snow without crampons and, in the current conditions, that limited them to hiking only on roads!

I stopped to explore boulder field with house sized boulders and discovered a cozy room, complete with a fire ring, beneath the boulders. Looking across the valley from atop the boulders, I could see flashes of white water tumbling down from the hanging valley. It was my Thousand Falls. It wasn’t the close-up view I’d wanted, but it was a nice surprise.






A Shooting Star flower.



Just below Chasm Falls.

Detail from Chasm Falls



The room under the boulders - it was

surprisingly spacious. A group of college
showed up to climb the boulders as I left.



Thousand Falls is the whitish line snaking

through the trees.



Zoom view of Thousand Falls



I know this photo isn't great, but I was really pleased to see

and catch a photo of this Rocky Mountain Bluebird!

One of many beetle-killed trees

My Death Defying Hike to Loch Vale

It started out innocently enough, a hike to Mills Lake - an alpine lake touted as one of the park's most beautiful. I start out a little late (noonish) from the Glacier Gorge trail head, stopping along the way for photos of Alberta Falls. The trail is snowy in spots and hard to follow. At one point I check my GPS track on my nifty phone app and realize that I was off trail for a half mile and then rejoined the trail without even noticing.

About halfway up the mountain I chat with another hiker who warns me that the bridge to Mills is out. "But," he continues, "a mountain goat and her kids are up ahead on a cliff." "Ha! A bridge out," I think to myself, "maybe that's a deal breaker for this guy, but I will find a way around."

Up ahead I find the cliff, minus the goats. I stop for a break. As I rest, a head appears over the summit. After awhile another, smaller form appears. I LOVE mountain goats. They have such sweet expressions despite the harsh lives they endure. She watches me for awhile and eventually disappears back over the cliff top.

I continue on, past a sign warning of the washed out bridge and then there it is. Sure enough, the little bridge is cracked in half and a torrent of snowmelt rushes over the top. I walk upstream and consider crossing on the snow that bridges the creek. But the snow is really too thin and the idea seems reckless.

I decide to backtrack to the last fork in the trail and head up to Loch Vale instead, just because I like the name. At some point I realize that I haven't seen anyone for a very long time. The trail is getting worse. Suddenly, my right leg punches completely through the snow. I climb out, check my leg and move on.

Finally I enter the bottom of a long, steep chute. High stone walls form a hallway leading up into the sky. As I start up it, I hear rushing water. At first I can't tell where it is and then I realize that I'm on top of it. I'm walking on snow over a raging torrent and I have no idea how thick the snowpack is. Very ironic to have decided not to walk across the snow bridge, only to end up walking a quarter mile up a creek on snow by accident. Since I'm already halfway up the chute, I decide to keep going and hope that there is a better way down.

Then at last, I struggle out of the chute and into a gorgeous crown of peaks. Loch Vale sits in the center, a frozen jewel.

Clouds begin to gather as I catch my breath. I begin a mental list of all of the stupid mistakes I’ve made on the hike, "Wow, 10,000 feet up, snow everywhere, no fleece jacket, alone, a storm coming and the way down is scary at best." I decide to rest before I proceed to freak out. I check my GPS and I'm relieved to find that once again, I'd been off-trail. Of course the motherly Park Service provided a kinder, gentler route than my death-trap chute.

I eat, take some pictures and start looking for the official trail. Then I hear a whoop from the top of the Chute of Death. Three forms dressed in sagging shorts, converse tennies and sideways caps appear on top of a 30 foot wall of snow over the lake. I call out to them and warn them that the snow they're standing on is sheering off like icebergs into the lake. They make their way around the lake and I point out the actual trail to them. I cross paths with the "Hip-Hop Hikers" several times on my way back down. To them, the trail is a suggestion. They whoop and slide their way down the mountain. When I ask them if the Chute of Death freaked them out they say, "Not really." Either they are lying or just too dumb to realize how dangerous it really was.



Alberta Falls



You know the snow's deep when
you're looking down at the trail signs!

 


Before the hike got scary...

 


The mountain goat is the white dot
to the right on the cliff top.



Close-up of goat.



Bridge to Mills Lake



Alternate bridge? Snow bridges the creek.



A Steller's Jay

 


The Chute of Death - you can see a little bit of the
stream flowing over the boulder in the center. This photo
was taken about 2/3 of the way up the chute.

 


Loch Vale - gorgeous!



Here you can see the creek that flows out of the Loch and
into the Chute of Death.







This little guy offered to share my lunch.

 

















A thirty foot crumbling wall of snow, this is what the
"Hip-Hop Hikers" were walking on...

 



Rockhounding Near Jamestown

Today I went looking for tourmaline crystals near Jamestown. I didn't find any but I did find this cool abandoned mine. On the drive back down to Boulder I saw flashes of crystal in a cliff. It turned out to be mica. No tourmaline, but I did have an interesting afternoon!

Hiking to Fern Lake



Albert the Squirrel - He introduced himself after I incorrectly identified him
as an Albert's Squirrel. I chat with animals often when hiking alone...



Me, halfway up the mountain at Fern Falls.



At Fern Lake elevation 9,500 ';  finally recovering from the Texas heat. I am standing on a bridge over the
lake's outlet stream, you can't see the actual lake very well, but it was still totally frozen! I really was
looking forward to rest and maybe a little painting at the lake, but then I heard thunder, clouds gathered,
the temperature dropped and I remembered that I was four miles and 1,500' above my car - and that I
had seen cougar poop on my way up.




Ptarmigan #1 - I saw her on the way up. The ptarmigan is the smallest
member of the grouse family. These guys were on my "must see" list for
RMNP, so I was estatic to see one, let alone two!



Ptarmigan #2: This guy desperately wanted to have his picture taken. When I saw him, he jumped
onto the boulder, fanned his tail and inflated his balloons. Ptarmigans are white in the winter and
are the only bird that does not migrate away from the Alpine Zone to avoid the cold. They have
feather-lined nostrils to warm the air they breathe.

Mysterious Phenomena: I found this flower shaped hole in a boulder
on my way down. It was 3-4" across and at least 4" deep. I think the
stone was granite. Please comment with your theories on its origin.

Wild Clematis? found on vines growing trailside, please comment if you can identify...

After yesterday's unrully crowds, I was ready to get off the pavement and away from humanity. I liked the looks of the Fern Lake area on the map, several little lakes on streams dotted with waterfalls. The lower part of the trail, up to a place called The Pool was a little crowded but from then on it was just traveled enough to feel alone but not Alone. Apparently plastic bottle wielding foreigners and stone chucking little girls don't hike above 8,500 feet!

To the Top of the World



Crossing a snowpack on the Tundra Communities trail




This ridge was incredibly windy - a sign said hurricane force winds are not uncommon here.




I wasn't expecting this much snow in June!




Beetle on ice.




Marmot (at lower left) in his dizzying home.

 I've never been to Rocky Mountain National Park, but I was really excited to see the tundra. So my first goal was to drive as high as I could until I had to stop.

Rocky Mountain National Park - 2011 Summer Kickoff!

Lunch stop on a rocky overlook.

Three pines growing from the craig.

A friendly chipmunk panhandling at a scenic overlook.

A handsome Clark's Nutcracker gives me a thoughtful glance.

Jeff is taking a photography course in Boulder, CO so I am entertaining myself with a week of exploration in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Rocky Times in RMNP

After the drive down from 12,000 feet, I decided to go to Horseshoe Park to see the waterfall at the Alluvial Fan. I stopped at a valley overlook. As I enjoyed the view a large (foreign) family swarmed over the rocks with shrieking children. As I watched, one of the mothers, chatting with another mom, casually tossed her empty water bottle to the ground. So I casually returned it to her saying, "Please don't litter in our National Parks - it is RUDE!"
I'm not sure which ticked me off more, the litterbug or the episode that followed at the waterfall. I continue on to the Alluvial Fan and walk the trail up to the fall. As I'm lining up a nice shot through the catkins on the willow, a baseball-sized rock hits my hand - hard. Before I can process what happened, another stone whizzes past my head. At that point, I snap out of it, "S%@#! STOP! WHO THREW THAT!" I look up above just in time to see a wide-eyed dad whisking his little girl away while stammering an appology.


That's the Litterbug with back turned on the left. If you
see her again be sure to point out the nearest recycle bin.



A forest of mini daisies growing on the Alluvial Fan. 

A sure sign of Spring!



Amber in the making, a jewel of sap rolls down one of the many beetle-killed trees in the park.



The waterfall where I was "stoned."

National Parks can be dangerous places, and it's not the wild animals I'm talking about.

The Summer Cut

Here is Gohan's cool summer cut. Lots of laughs! Duke did not
recognize him when he saw him and there was a lot of barking and
growling coming from Duke. Gohan ignored him.

Foyer to the Catio

I'm posting this so you can see how the cats come and go through the
fireplace clean out. The fireplace clean out door is used on the side
of the box and there are also two cat flap doors to keep bugs and
draft out.

A Catio Post for Lexi

I finished everything on the catio so far except for staining it. This
post is for you Lexi, hope you enjoy it!