Hidden Falls roaring this fall!

We had a gorgeous fall day for our hike Labor Day Weekend.  I think we all especially enjoyed it since we won't be doing much else on our upcoming weekends but playing/watching soccer and football.  It made it even more fun that our neighbors were able to join us.  We stopped at the newly opened visitor center.  I learned all sorts of things about Curt Gowdy that I didn't know.  They had these cool fish in their concrete.

Curt Gowdy is a gorgeous area with lots of rocks, pines, grasses, and wildflowers.  They have some fantastic mountain bike trails for all levels.  

The flowers were past their prime for the most part but it didn't stop me from taking a couple of pics.

Bell Flower:

Butter & Eggs:

Geranium:

Once we made it to the falls we waded over to see them.  Boy was the water cold!  

The kids had fun climbing the rocks and playing tag 

while the older folk sat in the sun and watched them.  

The moss in the canyon was crazy thick and green!  

Beebalm:

Deer Print:

Indian Paintbrush:

Climbing under a 'rock tunnel':

Mullein:

Lots of fun nooks and crannies for exploring:

Ahhh....I'm going to miss these skinny little legs and dirty butt when she grows up!

The kids did some mountain biking after the hike.

Hike: Hidden Falls

Trails Used: Aspen Grove Trailhead to Stone Temple Circuit to Pinball to Crow Creek Trail to Falls to Albert's Alley to Stone Temple Circuit

Distance: 4.93 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Overall average: 1.9 mph
Overall Time: 2 hr, 38 min
Total Ascent: 604 ft.

Breakfast of champions, a scenic drive to a hike, and then a drive through RMNP

We started the day off at Daylight Donuts.

Headed past Dillon Reservoir towards Rocky Mountain National Park.  We came up with this plan so we could avoid the drive down I-70 into the inevitable construction traffic.

I guess we wore the cousins out or woke them up too early in the morning!

 

Arrived at our hike (Cascade Falls) by Grand Lake.  This pretty falls was right by the North Inlet Trailhead.

The kids always want to know how far we are going and refuse to read the signs so I told them we were doing Bear Lake!

The first part of the hike starts out through private property.  

Then we passed this pretty stream.  It was so clear you could see the fishing swimming around.

We were walking along trying to freak J out about mountain lions when J spotted these three moose taking a break in the woods.

Of course this made the hike for me!

At another break spot we saw these marks on some trees.  Poppa informed us that they were from a bear marking his territory.

The falls were actually less than inspiring as far as falls go for me.  It was also hard to get a decent shot of them without a lot of scrambling on rocks.  The sky started getting grey fast and the lowlanders didn't have rain coats so we left quickly....

but not before we grabbed a quick bite to eat.

We passed this small falls on the way.

That would be a headless deer...just kidding!  We did see the moose again on the way back but they were pretty far away so I didn't bother taking anymore pics.

The marmot turned right before I took the picture so it doesn't look like much....I need a telephoto lens!

After our hike we headed 'officially' into the park.

Along Trail Ridge Road (more on the Grand Lake side) we saw another moose!

Pretty views:

Lots of elk at the top:

Hike: Cascade Falls
Trails Used: North Inlet Trail

Distance: 7.53 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Overall average: 2.3 mph
Overall Time: 3 hr, 19 min
Total Ascent: 953 ft.