Hanging Lake

by localtravels

Alright, so I admit Hanging Lake is pretty neat.  Perri has been wanting to go there since we moved to Colorado 3 years ago.  I have always deferred because I figured it would be too crowded. It was crowded, but manageable and well worth a 3ish hour hike.

The Forrest Service has a lot of staff on hand to direct traffic and keep people going in the right direction. They were all universally polite and friendly and more than willing to answer any inane questions one might come up with. We arrived at about 8 am –  Just in time to get through the gate before they started turning people around.  The parking area is relatively small which helps keep the number of people on the trail at least, consistent. When the lot fills up they have a one out one in policy.  We had to wait about 30 minutes to get a parking place.  I’ve waited longer than that to get a marginal meal at an overpriced restaurant. Oh yeah, no admittance fee.

The trail was a little over a mile one way and pretty steep in places. We had water and took plenty of rest stops. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take Tess.  Dogs are not allowed on this trail – for good reason.  There are lots of people and dogs could definitely become a treacherous nuisance. Tess  did have a nice shady bed in the Jeep with plenty of water.  She probably would have freaked out seeing all the chipmunks on the trail anyway.

We had to stop now and then just to take in the views. Whenever we were moving, we had to watch our feet pretty closely for trip hazards.  That’s just normal when hiking.

The lake itself is small, but the water is a crystal clear turquoise blue.  Really indescribable. We even saw a few tiny trout in the shallows. As usual, pictures really don’t do justice to the view ( particularly when it’s obscured by a furry faced old man ).

On a side trail above Hanging Lake is Spouting Falls ( Some sites call it Bridal Veil Falls).  This is the REAL gem of the hike. It’s just a short distance further and not at all difficult to reach, but seemed somewhat neglected by most of the hikers.  Perri and I had these falls to ourselves for the better part of 10 minutes, which was like an eternity up there. You could walk behind the falls, and while it was damp, it was not really wet – just NOISY.

So we moved on from Hanging Lake and headed for Glenwood Springs for lunch. Slope and Hatch ( http://www.slopeandhatch.net/ ) is the current go to place for taco’s for Perri and me. Best fish tacos ever.

We were hoping to get to see Rifle Falls on the same day, but much like Hanging Falls, Rifle Falls is extremely busy on a beautiful June Saturday.  Their parking was full up and neither Perri or I were interested in waiting for a slot.  We’ll just make that trip another day. As a consolation prize and to let Tess stretch her legs a bit we went to the riparian habitat area.  It was actually pretty nice.

Our original plan for this weekend had been to camp on Friday and Saturday night at Coffee Pot Springs Campground (https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/whiteriver/recreation/ohv/recarea/?recid=41211&actid=29) near Dotsero . For a variety of reasons, we ditched that plan and opted for just a day trip. No regrets, but we also figured while we were in the area we would check out the campground.  Pretty good idea.  Dotsero  is just East of Glenwood Canyon at the junction of the Colorado and Eagle rivers. About 20 miles North and West of there is the campground.  Most of the road is gravel, but aside from some ubiquitous washboard very serviceable.  I tend to rate roads as to whether I could ride the Versys on them, and this would be no problem.  Some of the road followed Deep Creek and there were dispersed campsites all along it.  Coffee Pot was on a very high tundra area (10000+ feet)  It was breezy but beautiful.  The campground was not full but it also wasn’t huge and most of the better sites were taken.  Perri and I agreed that it warranted a retun trip with camping gear.

After that it was time to head home.  Heading down to the interstate we were stopped by a herd of sheep in the middle of the road.  There was a shepherd on horseback with his dog, moving them along and it took no time at all to clear the road.  That was the first time I had ever had the opportunity to watch a working dog in action.  Coolest thing ever.

After that it was all down hill with one or two up hills to get through Vail Pass and Loveland Pass. Got home about 7 and we both agreed it had been a successful adventure.

Remodel Begins

So Mom and I finally started to remodel the kitchen today. We removed six cabinet doors and prepped for painting. Cleaning and sanding went quickly, but the primer is going on too streaky. Mom will look into an alternate method of application tomorrow. We may have to rent a sprayer to get a nice finish. I took pictures of the kitchen "before" so everyone would have a lasting memorial to the stove and refrigerator.

Mom started picking at the wall paper ,also. That didn't go very far.

Before starting on the kitchen, I started a batch of Red Beans. They simmered all day and kept the kitchen smelling delightful. Lunch at work will be a treat all week.

So I got inspired by Jessica's re-entry into the Blogging world to add a new post. I thought I could update the progress with my garden. This year has gone well. The tomatoes are producing in droves and are delightful.

Perri wanted pumpkins and ornamental corn We bypassed the Square Foot gardening system, and planted in the traditional way. All were coming along nicely.

Unfortunately, shortly after these pictures were taken, a midsummer Illinois Zephyr came along and left this:

I think the pumpkins and tomatoes may recover, but the corn is done. Also, the asparagus is fine and the potatoes continue to be a mystery under a pile of straw. The compost pile was fully non-plussed by the storm and is contributing nicely to our reduced trash hauling.

Garden

I am trying the Square Foot Garden approach to gardening this year and thought I might use that as a starting point for a blog.
Historically, the dirt in our neck of Central Illinois has had too much clay in it to make a very successful garden. It also takes up a lot of space and requires a lot of effort every year to till.
After reading Mel Bartholomew's book ( Well some of it anyway.), I thought I would give it a try. Building the first 4 foot square box was a nice little project for in the garage during the cold spring this year.
Finding vermiculite was the biggest hurdle. Everyone seemed to be out of it or had quit ordering it altogether. I finally found at least three sources and Perri was a huge help in procuring the first bag. peat moss and compost were easy. I'm not too sure how good the compost was. The plants look like they were anemic for quite awhile. I did break down and put some fertilizer on them. Between that and the warmer weather, things are looking better.
I actually had plants in the ground by April 18. I think that the late cold this spring slowed the growth of everything. By june though, things are starting to pick up. the tomatoes and snap peas are looking good. The jalapenos already have peppers on them. Jessica gave me some onion sets and they seem to be fine, although I'm not sure what to do with them.

Since I don't like buying composte, and a big feature of gardening is composting, I started a composte pile. To begin with, I had grass clippings and kitchen waste.








Than I scored BIG!





A co-worker (Trudy) provided me with a nice load of high quality cow manure. It's good to have high friends in low places.















Now the mulch pile has something to work on. Hopefully the neighbors won't mind too much




I continue to plant some items the standard way like sunflowers, zucchini, and pumpkins. So far, I have enjoyed the garden more this year than in previous years. However, I expect my attention will lapse eventually.

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