Hanging around
Frisco, Colorado
While living and working in Colorado Springs, we would always look forward to our time in the mountains of Summit County. I would mention that I could easily stay much longer when it was time to leave. The bike paths take many different directions and the hiking trails could keep a person entertained for a long time.
Heaton Bay is our favorite USFS campground with water and electric hookups and just a couple of miles to Frisco and four to the grocery stores in Dillon and Silverthorn.
Many mornings and evenings we could hear the osprey. We would walk down the lake and watch them catch fish and return to their nests. We have been watching one nest for several years and could see the kids grow. This year, we found a new nest as we were watching the osprey fish.
Mayflower Gulch
We have a habit of hiking many of the same trails. This time we made an effort to find some great new trails. Even though we had been at elevation for a couple of weeks, we were still moving slow as we started our hike to Mayflower Gulch on Fremont Pass climbing to 12,000 feet. We thought we could make it to the top of the mountain but weren't quite ready for 13,000 feet yet.
There were several mines in the area.
The Mayflower Gulch Trail is a direct trail into a basin surrounded by sawtooth peaks. We started hiking up the dirt road through the forest and along a creek. After about 1 mi, you break out of the trees, cross the creek, and are at an old abandoned mining town.
The sawtooth ridge was impossible to ignore and we wanted to follow the trail as far as we could. There are great views back down the basin of Jacque Peak and the ridge ahead is actually made up of Atlantic Peak and Fletcher Mountain.
The Boston mine camp with many mine ruins and a gold-veined ridge that dazzled early prospectors.
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| Moving slow, very very slow |
Highlands Ranch, Colorado
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| Kyle |
Part of the advantage of being on the road fulltime is being able to spend time with family. We usually stay at Chatfield State Park, not far from Highlands Ranch when we visit the grandkids. Of course, we had to stop and see Tyler and Kyle play their last game of baseball of the season.
They are too cute.
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| Tyler |
Tyler had a very good game. I was surprised at how well they played.
My sister Patty and I got a chance to catch up before she headed over to a concert at Red Rocks. We enjoyed getting to know Frank.
Old Dillon Reservoir
Clinton Lake Gulch
We weren't acclimated to the altitude enough to climb to the ridge of Mayflower Gulch to look down on Clinton Lake Gulch. We decided to drive up the road a little father and hike around the lake near the mines.
Another gulch on Fremont Pass but easier trail.
The smoke gave us hazy but still incredible views.
We were surprised to see this Ptarmigan all nestled down by the trail. In the winter they turn white to blend in with the snow. I missed the owl that we saw up in a tree.
I had seen these mountain goats climbing on the rocks while bike riding. This day we saw them down along the creek. A couple of them kept butting heads.
Bluegrass and Brews in Keystone
We made a stop in Keystone for the Bluegrass and Brews Festival on our 28 mile to Montezuma. There were three stages of music and so many distributers of beer and food through the streets.
Each mountain town has its own evening concerts in the parks or along the lake for free and weekend festivals. Our first month here went far too quickly.
