What a day. We went on a killer hike this morning--equal parts killer on the body and awesome. I wanted to scope out the route up to the South White Peak nearby us here, to make sure the stream crossings weren't bad and there weren't any fences guarded by high mountain cults. So we made the hike, which turned out to lead us through the most amazing high mountain meadow I may have seen. You have to walk for a long while along a steady downhill grade which is pretty boring, and shows you no scenery that you can't see from the road. But then near the bottom before you hit the creeks, you crest over a hill and the view opens up to this meadow nestled down between the Dakota Wall and White Peak. Couldn't have done it better in the Alps, if you ask me. If you come to visit us, we will be picnicking there (assuming there isn't 3 feet of snow on the ground). Yes, Kaitlin, this means you.
A very convenient log.
It was a pretty brutal hike though, it took us 2 hours to hike 3.5 miles, I guess probably because we ascended about 1200' through the hike. I really think, though, that it mostly seemed hard because we had to walk uphill back to the car. Must remember, always park at the low spot... It will be a pretty epic hike once we tack on the extra 500' of elevation to hit the summit. Also as a side note, we saw a shitload (yes, I did intend the pun) of Elk scat. Probably at least 15 piles of it, some pretty fresh. Now just to find the damn things themselves...we have yet to see any wildlife up in our area of the mountains, just tracks and signs.
So the hike was good and all, but then the day gets even better. We had to go down into town for some things--namely a cross-cut saw so I can manhandle some trees for our fireplace. Speaking of not seeing any wildlife in our area, they apparently have a monopoly on the wild things down in the valley. On our drive there and back and around La Veta, we saw no less than 33 mule dear and 1 bald eagle. Yea, thats right, a bald eagle just hanging out in a cottonwood tree. I don't think I've seen a bald eagle for like 15 years, and never one in this area. I had no idea they even lived in the mountains. Shows how much I know about our national symbol.
And to make things even better, Lauren is downstairs making me some spaghetti pie. (Never fear, I'm sure Lauren will elaborate on this later.) How can my day get any better?! Some beer and desserts? Yes!
I bet if that deer in the left front could talk, it would sound like Al Pacino.
What a day. We went on a killer hike this morning--equal parts killer on the body and awesome. I wanted to scope out the route up to the South White Peak nearby us here, to make sure the stream crossings weren't bad and there weren't any fences guarded by high mountain cults. So we made the hike, which turned out to lead us through the most amazing high mountain meadow I may have seen. You have to walk for a long while along a steady downhill grade which is pretty boring, and shows you no scenery that you can't see from the road. But then near the bottom before you hit the creeks, you crest over a hill and the view opens up to this meadow nestled down between the Dakota Wall and White Peak. Couldn't have done it better in the Alps, if you ask me. If you come to visit us, we will be picnicking there (assuming there isn't 3 feet of snow on the ground). Yes, Kaitlin, this means you.
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