Colorado Trip Post #3

On the fifth day of our trip we all went out to one of Alan's favorite fishing spots, which conveniently, has now become a favorite spot for the boys to play as well. It is about a twenty minute drive north of Lake City, off a little parking area on the side of the road. If you don't know it's there, you'll probably miss it. The boys get excited about passing over the fence ladder...

Then there is a short hike down to the river. Before we left home Aaron picked out a new little backpack and practiced carrying their waters and snacks. He was stoked... a real hiker now.

The short tree covered trail opens to a pebble stone beach area next to the river that the boys now call "the old beach" for unknown reasons. It is a perfect area for them to play and Alan to fish and me to sit and watch them all and contemplate the amazing setting.

Watching him fly fish is right up there with watching him work on a car.

The only structure in sight is that beautiful log cabin in the distance.

The boys would play here all day if we let them. The mountain sun gets a little intense, so we sat under the big umbrella and ate our lunch.

A little video documentation of the rock beach area...

We went home (to the cabin) for a couple of hours to have some nap/quiet time. Then we decided to go on a long ride to hunt down a couple of waterfalls I had read about.

Highway 149 south out of Lake City (toward Creede) is one of the most beautiful drives I have ever been on. As you go up and down a couple of steep mountain passes, the road winds in and out of aspen forests and has some of the most beautiful vista views of the San Juan peaks that you can get from a road....

Mt. Uncompahgre (14,321 ft.) in the center.

It was nice to not be on a mission with time contstraints, as we usually are when headed south out of Lake City (that's the way we drive home). We pulled over at a few scenic overlooks so I could take pictures and look around.  This is a photo of the "Slumgullion Slide" which began over 700 years ago when a portion of the mountain fell off, for lack of a better phrase. It has been slowly moving ever since. 

Here's a photo I swiped from the internet, showing the path of part of the earth flow - headed toward Lake San Cristobal. It still causes the north east portion of the lake to turn colors from the minerals and debris.

I've been to the Lake City area more times than I can remember. As a kid my family would generally do the same sort of things each time we came. We rarely ventured south of Lake City on highway 149, so we missed the North and South Clear Creek Falls. Two waterfalls that are within easy walking distance and both breathtakingly beautiful. Given our slightly handicapped hiking status (ahem, Adam), I was looking for things we could do that would not involve a lot of hiking. 

At the back of the Silver Thread Campground there are three extra parking spots and a small trail leading into the trees. There are no signs, so we were trusting the guide excerpt I read about South Clear Creek Falls. The trail was doable but sketchy for Adam. Under close supervision and a with a tightly squeezed hand, we managed. 

And to maintain a stable morale, when it was safe, we let him loose...

It was difficult to stay focused on Adam-duty, the view to the left was stunning.

Then as the trail narrows and bends one last time, the corner reveals this... a good sized, easily approachable waterfall hidden from all forms of civilization.

The landing area to view the falls was a little unstable, so they couldn't move around that much; which meant we couldn't hang around long or bad things would happen. 

It was a beautiful and secluded spot and with little effort you could go all the way down to the base of the falls. I left the boys with Alan and carefully hiked down there, yes that involved a bit of butt scooting, but I have no shame. A cool breeze blew the mist from the base of the falls, which covered the boulders and made them slick and damp. I took a quick couple of photos and a video and headed back up to assist in managing the wild beasts. 

That's me.

Fireweed-like plant that grew around the base of the falls.

From the bottom looking up at my boys. Despite the lack of clouds Alan managed to get some good photos.

On our way back toward the car Adam felt quite confident...

The next waterfall was a little closer to Lake City and even closer to the highway. It was crazy... a half mile road lead to a nice parking area right next to a canyon, where at the base was a huge waterfall, North Clear Creek Falls.

Video of our waterfall hunt...

North Clear Creek Falls is much larger than its southern neighbor and therefore not as approachable, at least not by those with little kids and responsibility. 

However that didn't stop my husband from climbing out to the edge for the sake of good photography.

I'd say his efforts paid off...

I'll post more later if he gets to them.

While Alan was taking the risky photos, we were observing the falls from behind the railing.

I'm not sure what was more picturesque, the falls or Alan out on the edge.

We found a different spot on top of an overlook to look at the water and the gorge...

The view opposite the waterfall was just as nice.

The green covered rocky face is called "Mammoth Mountain."

The boys at the overlook.

On the way down we spotted a marmot, one of my favorite creatures.

Highway 149 winding back toward Lake City.

On our drive back I spotted this moose in a pond way off the road. From the moving car at full zoom, I was surprised this photo came out.

There is something magical about Uncompahgre. It is so easily distinguishable from the other peaks.

Once we made it back into Lake City we decided to go out to dinner. We chose the Packer Saloon, a little place on Silver Street with a nice outdoor patio. The hamburger I got was awesome and the handmade pizza the boys ordered was apparently in Alan's top three ever. However, there was something about the sugary pizza sauce that made Adam a little crazy. Scoff if you'd like, but we tend to video our children when they are crazy. It makes for endless entertainment...