Playing Hooky on a Beautiful Fall Day @ Curt Gowdy State Park

 It's amazing what a beautiful fall day spent outside will do to improve your mood!  

I went for a hike with the sole purpose of playing with my camera and the hubby test rode his new 'clown' bike.  You can't tell in these pictures but the tires are HUGE compared to the rest of the bike.  He has now introduced himself to the world of the single speed mountain bike.

It wouldn't be a visit to Curt Gowdy without running into a cow or two.  They were all hanging out at the start of my hike this time.

 The Aspen were in their prime.

 Caught this guy just hanging out!

 There were still a few flowers left but I thought the seeds were more interesting this time.

 Hiking along the Crow Creek Trail:

 Views headed towards the scenic lookout off of Granite Ridge Trail:

Hike: Crow Creek to Granite Ridge

Trails Used: Aspen Grove Trailhead to Stone Temple Circuit to Pinball to Crow Creek Trail to Falls to Mo'Rocka to Foxtail to Mo'Rocka to Crow Creek Trail to Granite Ridge Trail to Shoreline Trail back to Aspen Grove Trailhead

Distance: 3.93 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Overall average: 2.1 mph
Overall Time: 1 hr, 51 min
Total Ascent: 527 ft.

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.

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.