Naniboujou Lodge and Temperance Stte Park

The rain in the night was windy and very heavy.  Waking to the rumbling waterfalls thru the forest, we had to take a short hike, less than a mile from our site, to check it out. the water level had doubled. Standing on the swinging bridge, we spent some time reflecting on our journey. The sound of the water just makes my mind wander.

 

We had driven to Naniboujou Lodge after Hans from Metamorphosis blog had suggested it. Driving north the rain stopped and sun almost came out.

The lodge was built in the 1920s and painted by a French artist with Cree Indian designs. Shortly after opening, Black Friday hit and it closed shortly after when members could no longer pay their fees. Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey were original members.

Breakfast was served on china. Wild rice is grown and harvested in Minnesota and served in many dishes.

 

On our drive, there are many waterfalls and beautiful views. We stopped and took a hike at Temperance State Park and Devil's Falls before returning home.

 

 

Happy birthday Mike in the Black Hills

Today was much cooler for our hike after  having temps in the high 80s. We had spent time in the Black Hills 6 years ago and were glad to return for some hiking.

 

The sun was shining as we drove into the Cathedral Spires area with amazing views of the rocks.

 

 

 



The tunnels are quite narrow and with this one being 8 feet and 4 inches wide, we had to pull in our mirrors to fit through.

 

 

What a nice lush hike. The raspberries were rather tasty and flowers everywhere. Not a bad way to spend a birthday.

 

 

As we got higher the clouds kept getting lower which made for a cooler hike. The sun gets pretty intense this time of year.

 

We made it up Devil's Overlook which included some scrambling. But about half way to Harney Lookout, there was thunder to the west and then to the north. We turned around and made it back and just beat the downpour.

We got here for the end of the Sturgis Rally and never saw so many motorcycles in one place. There were so many beautiful bikes everywhere. The tow trucks were busy with lots of break downs along the road. The rigs that many of the bikes arrived in were pretty impressive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summit County and Lake Dillon in Colorado

We enjoy Summit County in the winter for skiing, hiking and cycling in the summer. There are several National campgrounds around the lake but Heaton Bay is our favorite. Safeway is a couple of miles away in the town of Frisco. The bike trail runs along side the campground. You can ride to Vail, Keystone or Breckenridge.

An evening of kayaking on Lake Dillon.

Riding our bikes from Frisco to Copper Mountain and on to the top of Vail Pass.

The hike is out of Breckenridge up Boreas Pass and beautiful.

After rain and lightening every afternoon, the weather is warming up which sends us looking for shade. Back to Colorado Springs for a couple of weeks while we finish up our jobs before heading out further.

Buena Vista, Colorado

We haven't been to Buena Vista in a while. Everything was beautiful and river running high after all of the rain we have received.

Mount Princeton in the background while we ride our bikes up Cottonwood Pass.

We managed to ride up to Cottonwood Hot Springs before the pass really started to climb. When we stopped in for a visit, they were very pleasant and showed us around. We have visited Mt Princeton Hot Springs in the past but really liked the atmosphere here.

I was hoping to hike up to Ptarmigan Lake but as you can see the snow was still a bit deep.

After driving down the pass to under 10,000 feet we found another trail with lots of beaver ponds and streams.

The Buena Vista Park runs along the Arkansas River with hiking/biking trails, kayaking and rafting.

So glad we got to return even though its not very far from where we live.

H. B. Wallace Reserve, Green Mountain Falls

After so much rain this month, it was good to get out with the Pikes Peak Over the Hill Gang for a morning hike.

We started out down here and headed to the rocks way up there. Of course, we had to take Fat Man's Squeeze up and squeeze between the rocks.

Lots of short switchbacks going straight up. We made it to the top of Castle Rock.

The toes got sore going down. I guess I should tie my shoes better. It was fun to catch up with everyone. Only found one tick. Isn't it early in the season?