Off to the hills!

Irv and I went on one last camping trip for the year.  This time we went to Mueller State Park which is in the mountains west of Colorado Springs.  We knew the aspens would be starting to change and that is always a magnificent sight.

When Irv and I head to the hills we go for two purposes:  1) to hike and 2) to cook over the campfire.

 

Here I am at the trail head rocking my new hiking hat.  I found out that on a windy day this hat becomes a sail and tries to carry me away.

 

Irv is signing us in on the trail register.  That's in case we ever go missing and they need to start looking for us.

 

 

One thing I learned about Mueller State Park is that wherever you hike to it's uphill both directions. 

 

Our first destination was Grouse Mountain Overlook.  Quite an amazing view!

 

Then we decided to make the trek over to the Visitor Center to check it out.  The flags in this photo will give you a hint on the wind situation.

 

 

Then it was back to the campsite to get a fire and dinner started.

 

Of course it was happy hour while dinner was cooking.

 

The first night we had salmon, potatoes, and baby portabello mushrooms.  No hotdogs or hamburgers when this girl goes camping (although we did have turkey burgers on night 2).

 

The next morning our first destination was Dynamite Cabin.  There was a geocache in this area so I took photos while Irv found the cache.

 

 

I think it's really cook to come across a piece of history like this.  It's obviously very old and can you believe there's a cast iron stove in there?  How the heck did they get it up these hills?

 

I always wonder about the people who might have lived here.  They were probably miners and they had to have been some hardy folks.  Winter would be quite miserable here.

 

Next we decided to head over to Cahill Pond.

 

 

The aspens along the way did not disappoint!

 

 

We came across another old building, but it was not nearly as interesting as the cabin.

 

I was delighted to see there were still some wild flowers in bloom.

 

We didn't see any critters, but we definitely saw signs of critters.

 

Finally, the pond!

 

Some scat nearby--definitely not bear, more than likely it's deer.

 

 

Not only do I like the color of the aspens, I like their trunks also.

 

This is a shot of Pikes Peak from the west side.  We were at about 9,600 feet so it doesn't look quite as impressive as from our house out on the prairie.  Remember how I told you the trails were uphill in both directions?  Those hills are doubly worse with the lack of oxygen at this altitude.

 

 

We went back to the campsite to rest for awhile and then headed off in search of another geocache.  Do you see it?

 

After finding the cache we headed off to Peak View Pond.  Can you spot what we came across?

 

We stalked him or her for a while (from a distance) and then just waited for the perfect shot.

 

And there it is...with a telephoto lens.  After getting the shot we moved away to leave him or her in peace.

 

I love the reflections in the pond.

 

 

Back to the campsite for another fire!

 

This is my favorite aspen shot!

 

We hiked 17 miles over these two days and it was fantastic!

 

It was nice to get away and reflect on what I've been through since August 23rd.  Sometimes I find it hard to believe my dad is actually gone.  A couple days in the mountains is healing.