An Unusual Day @ Mohawk Lakes

We knew the weather was going to be iffy even before we started.  It's monsoon season and had been acting like it for the past two weeks.  We decided to give it a go anyhow since if you wait around due to weather in Colorado you'll never get anything done.  Another saying is "wait five minutes and the weather will change.'  We made it down the long, bumpy 4 wheel drive road only to be greeted by the sounds of thunder.  We decided to wait it out in the truck.  The kids hung out in the back, Poppa took a nap (he's like a dog and can sleep anywhere), and then it started to hail.  Luckily, it was only small hail so we didn't get any more dents on my poor red truck!

After 20 minutes or so the hail and rain stopped.  We decided to brave the weather.  There's a nice cabin part of the way up.

The falls are pretty!

Little Red Elephant:

This was the signature J face when she was ready to be done going uphill:

Aster:

Our lunch spot:

Poppa and T went fishing on the far side of the lake...

and caught something!

The clouds were all over the place.

Bistort:

Star Gentian:

Mining hole:

King's Crown:

Indian Paintbrush:

Arctic Gentian:

Sheep fur:

One minute it was this beautiful:

and then it turned downright ugly.  We decided to high tail it out of there!

Hike: Mohawk Lakes

Trails Used: Mohawk Lake

Distance: 3.28 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Overall average: 1.3 mph
Overall Time: 2 hr, 36 min
Total Ascent: 1228 ft.

Hiking into the toxic forest...

sounds more exciting than the kids thought it was!  However, the adults managed to enjoy themselves.  The flatlanders did very well for their first hike starting at 9500 ft.  We were introduced to J's 'hiking face'.  I will have a picture of this on a later hike. Contrary to how she looked (tortured by her Aunt Jess) she did fantastic!

We ran across this abandoned snowmobile.  J had to get in some sisterly love!  Hopefully, Q didn't get any ideas.

 We found a great spot to hike up and watch the town's fireworks for the Fourth of July.  

We ran across some old mining cabins, equipment, and sites around the toxic forest. The seepage from the mining must have killed most of the trees around there.

 Heading back down we came across this cute little mushroom!

Hike: Middle Flume to the Toxic Forest
Trails Used: Middle Flume to Slalom to Middle Plume

Distance: 5.95 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Overall average: 2.2 mph
Overall Time: 2 hr, 39 min
Total Ascent: 947 ft.

Ahh....the many moods of my hiking children

You never know which children (good or whiny) you will get on any given day, let alone a 'hiking' day. This weekend Q started off sweet as pie and C was the never ending whining child.  I don't think he stopped talking for the first 20 minutes about how awful the hike was, how much he hated it, or how miserable he was.  After commenting on the beautiful forest, flowers, and company surrounding us and later just ignoring him he finally gave it up.  Maybe he got as tired of listening to himself as we were of listening to him.   Next thing I knew he and Daddy were walking ahead of us having one of their endless chats.  Once you get C talking about something he likes (license plates, states, state capital buildings, places to visit for spring break....) he goes to town.  Our other child started the hike off in an awesome mood, even giving this hike five stars.  She likes looking for the 'bell' flowers with me or she will find a cool bug or animal that none of us would ever notice.  However, as we neared the turn around point of the hike, hunger/tiredness set in and the switch flipped.  C was in a great mood and Q began the unraveling process.  A quick lunch helped a little but then we slowed to a snail's pace.  A cattle prod wouldn't get her little legs to move any quicker.  C and Daddy were long gone and I was left with the 'worst hike ever' child.  I kept asking about the '5 star hike' but was promptly put in my place.  Luckily we spied some wildlife on the way down (a grouse and a snake), took a potty break, and the switch flipped again.  The wildlife spotting saved the hike and restored it to it's '5 star' rating!  

Anyway....we started the morning off with the breakfast of champions!  Donuts!!!!

 We drove up the Poudre Canyon and did Dadd Gulch.  You could tell fall is rapidly approaching with all the berries on display.

We passed many rose hips.

On the way up Q saw this cool purple bug (Blue Fungus Beetle).  I don't know how she spots these bugs but she's always finding something low on the ground that is neat!  She even found the same bug or another one on the way down (2  hours later)roughly in the same place but on a different plant!

Cool mushrooms:

 A bee hive/nest:

 Pretty wildflowers:

I love my 'girl with the yellow hat' photos:

 'The Boys'

 'The Girls'

 Moss/Lichen:

 Pretty bark:

 'View'? from the top:

 Our turnaround point:

 Road Block:

 Grouse?:

 My snake...darn that slow camera...I really wanted the whole body sitting there!

 Long, tall boy legs!

 You've got to love a girl who can dress for any occasion!

Hike: Dadd Gulch

Trails Used:  Dadd Gulch

Distance: 7.35 miles

Difficulty: Moderate (difficult for the kids, Q was tired near the end)
Overall average: 1.9 mph
Overall Time: 3 hr, 55 min
Total Ascent: 1439 ft.