Snowy Mountain Range-Medicine Bow Peak Hike

Gorgeous lake, gorgeous wildflowers, fun hike.  That about sums it up.  Oops, I forgot to mention the 30 mph wind for the first half of the hike.  The last half was so pleasant I will just ignore the beginning of the hike even though there were great views,

 marmots, 

and a girl with a yellow hat hiking through a field of yellow flowers.

We nestled in the rocks out of the wind for lunch.

More of those great views from the top.  We heard it was overcast due to the fires in Washington State.

It might have been the first time the kids hiked higher than 12,000 ft.

What goes up must come down!

Penstemon:

 Little Red Elephant:

 Brilliant Indian Paintbrush, (Rosy Paintbrush):

Loved how these flowers curled under themselves, Avalanche Lily:

At the end of the hike we passed the CCC Latrine:

Makes me laugh that we are talking about the lasting workmanship of a bathroom!

Hike: Medicine Bow Peak
Trails Used:  Lake Marie Trail Head around to Lewis Lake Trail

Distance: 7.35 miles
Difficulty: Difficult
Overall average: 1.5 mph
Overall Time: 4 hr, 49 min
Total Ascent: 2028 ft.

After waking up @ 4 am to get a run in before a day in the car I found that there was quite a bit of cleanup to do from the big hail storm of the previous night.  We spent over an hour raking what was left of our trees, picking up pieces of my decimated pergola, and bemoaning the loss of my garden.  We got it cleaned up enough to leave and put it all behind us for a week vacay.  Amazingly, we were only about an hour behind our scheduled departure time.  Our trip included a stop in Alliance, Nebraska for Carhenge.

 We planned to stop in the Badlands (South Dakota) for a night of camping.  The contrast of the Sweet Clover (invasive legume) and the geological formations was quite striking.

Campsite 41 had nice views of the buttes and spires.  There is no shade in the campground so it could get quite hot during the summer months.  There was a covered picnic table shelter.

After a so-so lunch at the lodge located inside the park we headed out on the loop drive to explore.

We hiked up to Saddle Pass (1/4 mile).  During the homesteading days the horses came down this way but not the wagons.  If we'd had the time it would have been nice to do the whole trail.

We stopped at most of the observation points for great views of the rocks, sky (getting stormy), and clover.

Q spotted these Big Horn Sheep:

We turned around at the Hay Butte Overlook and took the shortcut back to Interior for dinner at the Wagon Wheel (pizza, hamburgers, and cheese balls).  Just so-so food but we didn't have to cook in the rain so that was all right.  By the time we made it back to camp it was storming.  We stayed in the truck for awhile until the storm blew over.

It was really moving the tent.  Good thing we weren't in there!

I was the only one who slept in there that night.  The kids and C stayed in the back of the truck.

Driving from Goblin Valley State Park to Zion National Park

It was a good day to leave as the wind was blowing and the dust was flying.

Highway 12 was a wonderful scenic road.  It dropped off on both sides and 

had great views.

We stopped on a pass for a bathroom and snack break.  We had to let Poppa out of his cage.

We drove through Capitol Reef National Park but didn't stop.

Beginner skiing at A-Basin

Grandma and Grandpa took the kids skiing at A-Basin.  The first day we started on the magic carpet and the bunny hill (Molly Hogan Lift) to get everyone reacquainted with skiing.  C was an old hat at this but it took Q a couple of runs to get back into the swing of things.  By the end of the morning they were pros!

Hot chocolate break with Grandma!

  We came back for another day and they ventured up the Black Mountain Express Lift (the lines were a bit longer than the Molly Hogan) to try out some blue runs.  They did fantastic and had a great day!

 The hubby and I strapped on our snowshoes 

and hiked up the mountain to visit them at the top and have lunch.

 It was windy but warm enough that it was a perfect day to be up on the mountain.

 By the end of the day everyone was worn out and needed a hot tub!

Snowshoe: A-Basin
Trails Used:  Wrangler & Sundance

Distance:  3.76 miles
Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult
Overall average: 2.3 mph
Overall Time: 1 hr, 40 min
Total Ascent: 1242 ft.