Friday, 20 July 2018 Today is our final day of hiking together. Six of us will be taking it easy, going only to the Loch. We will walk at a slower pace, the better to accommodate my still sore leg and the rest of this group’s desire for a leisurely walk and frequent rest stops. Since I have five other companions to hike with, O elects to go with the
Thursday, 19 July 2019 My leg is still too sore for a ten mile point to point hike with the group today, but I am determined to do some hiking. After a stop at Beaver Meadows Visitor Center to call home (there is good cell phone reception here,) O and I head up to the Park and Ride on Bear Lake Road. We initially plan to follow the group as far
Wednesday 18 July 2018 O and I bring our pie to the cafeteria this morning and eat it under the jealous gaze of our fellow Sierra Clubbers. Our breakfast inspires the rest of the group to convince Rob that we need to stop at You Need Pie this morning, before our trip up Trail Ridge Road, to acquire more pies for dessert tonight. This we do. We then proceed up
Tuesday 17 July 2018 Alas, I cannot hike today. I ran for cover from the rain on Sunday and irritated a tendon in my right leg. Yesterday’s hike seems to have aggravated things. So today, I stay behind while 11 of the 15 group members hike up to Black Lake. I drive into Estes Park so I can take care of some administrative details for which I need cell phone
Monday, 16 July 2018 This morning’s routine is much like yesterday’s. We wake early, arrive at the cafeteria in time to be first in line and we are on the road by 7:45 am, this time, all together in a brand new 15 passenger van. Despite our relatively early start, the Bear Lake parking area is already full. So we park in the shuttle lot below and wait in a
Sunday, 15 July 2018 Per last night’s instruction, our group of 15 meets outside the cafeteria door at 6:50 am, 10 minutes before the breakfast line opens at 7. Our goal is to get in and out quickly and beat the thousand or two other kids, teen wrestlers, families, etc. so as to get an earlier start on our hike. Our plan is successful. We finish breakfast and assemble in
Saturday, July 14 2018 The morning is bright and warm. O and I skipped the ranger program last night. We were both ready for bed early. Breakfast today is left over cinnamon bun French toast from yesterday’s breakfast at You Need Pie. Our campground neighbors, a family from Georgia with “Resist” neatly scripted on their van window, come over for a tour of Vincent. Vincent, it turns out, is their
Friday, 13 July 2018 This morning is bright and sunny. The air is fresh and pine-scented, with just a hint of vanilla from the red bark of the Ponderosa pines. It’s hard to believe we were sweltering in Kansas yesterday morning. We return to You Need Pie for breakfast and then find a new memory card for my camera. Today we plan to play tourist again. We will drive Trail
Thursday, 12 July 2018 This morning is once again quite hot. We rise early, eat our free motel breakfast and are on the road before 8. We gain an extra hour as we cross into Colorado and mountain time zone. Eastern Colorado does not look much different from Kansas, but after awhile we begin to notice some hills as we drive. Soon the Rockies are silhouetted against the distant cloudy
Wednesday 11 July 2018 Ellis KS It was warmer last night than the night before, but with the fan, we again slept well. This morning we choose a nearby restaurant for breakfast. O and I are shown to a booth. As we peruse our menus we note they are eerily familiar… we realize that the breakfast restaurant we visited while in Cleveland is a chain. This too is a First