rivers-lakes

Coot Lake SWIM fest

Published August 5, 2018

Last day with the Grandpup – past week just flew by.

Fried egg each day on his breakfast, Greenie before my 15-minute work commute to Boulder, Pupperoni treat at bedtime. Ro’s bro, BIG heart. Everybody gets spoiled!

Colorado weekend home, AMAZING weather. What to do? Was given strict orders: NO hikes for Marty, recouping from an elbow injury. Bummer. Think, think, think. Coot Lake by the Rez. Flat, less than 2 miles ’round & a SWIM MECCA for dogs!

Party Marty’s not a swimmer. Ro however couldn’t get enough. Dog days of summer.

Afternoon SNOOZE fest for all 4-leggers; ice cream at Sweet Cow for Papa.

LOVE LOVIN’ Colorado summer 🌞

: happy Pup

: SWIM MECCA

: dog SMILE

: flat, easy 2 miles ’round

: swim SWIM swim

: Colorado summer 🌞

: afternoon SNOOZE fest

: Sweet Cow for Papa

Coot Lake SWIM fest (Boulder)

Lochs of Love

Published July 14, 2018

Alberta Falls

No weekend marathon, no Seven Continent challenge. Colorado HOME, back on Mountain Time. Overheard Ash making hike plans for Saturday. No one minds a tag-along, right? 😊

Early a.m. Start, hour-half commute north to Estes. Day destination: Rocky Mountain National Park. More specifically: Loch Vale, off Glacier Gorge Trailhead. Haven’t summer-hiked in RMNP past few years. Their NO DOG rule, Park’s biggest deterrent. This weekend with grandpup lying low/on the mend, Ash & Tom brought Party Marty over to hang with Ro. BROs UNITED.

Park arrived quarter-to-7, wait-line of 10-15 cars already. No parking at Glacier Gorge. 2 miles further UP, Bear Lake lot also FULL. ARGH! Think I hit the same snag, couple of Fall seasons back. Luckily, the Park operates a mighty efficient transport system from a set of nearby commuter lots. FREE too. Just a matter of remembering. Check, done. Back on track.

Glacier Gorge Trailhead. Super scenic mile-hike thru quaking Aspen, Ponderosa pine.

Alberta Falls, day’s first photo opp. Water powered o’er the Falls. Previously trekked to Alberta Falls, twice (2012 & 2016) – both winter hikes, Falls frozen-over both times. STUNNING when captured in ice; however maybe more BEAUTIFUL thundering STRONG/HIGH with water.

Hike day starts at the Falls (lose 80% of the tourists). People chatter gone; day noise swap. Chipmunk, bird calls, glacier-fed streams, smell of pine. LOVE our Rocky Mountains.

2 miles more to Loch Vale, a large alpine lake 3 side-surrounded by craggy snow-capped peaks. Perched above the water, lunch-snacked on a store burrito. WOW whatta view! Continent count now 5, travelled all 50 States. Easy to forget PARADISE you have in your own backyard.

Back on Mountain Time, good to be Colorado home.

: RMNP summer hike

: Colorado Aspen

: Alberta Falls

: fast-flowing water

: Colorado WOW 🌞

: Mountain Time 🕒

: Loch Vale

: ‘Lochs of Love’ ❤️

: Rocky Mountain High ♬ ♫ ♭

: last peek goodbye

: Glacier Gorge Trailhead

Alberta Falls-Loch Vale, RMNP

Posted in RMNP | Tagged hiking, rivers-lakes, waterfalls | Leave a comment

The Irish O’Sullivans

Published October 28, 2017

After a FULL day (& a half) of Hop-On Hop-Off, met up Sis & husband Paul – just in time for a whirlwind trip to the US Embassy. Poor Stephen…unfortunately, this wasn’t a tourist stop. Good news: following day his wallet was recovered, just the passport lost. Whatta sport, personally would’ve freaked out. Foreign country, no cash, no credit cards, no identification – yikes!

[side NOTE: they don’t actually allow Americans inside our Embassy. We did see trick-or-treaters come-n-go, but the 3 of us with US passports were left outside/looking in, barred outside the gate.]

Lemons into lemonade. Sis noticed folks walking with swag bags. We asked, they pointed. Bib pick-up just a half-block away. Sooooo while Stephen secured an emergency passport, the 3 of us picked up our Sunday marathon bibs. FAAANNNTASTIC!

Another positive? Only 2 blocks away: Dublin’s DART [train station]. Stephen’s extended family (whole lotta Irish cousins) would be greeting us in Bray, 30 minutes away. Dinner alongside the Irish Sea. Drinks & LAUGHs at the Golf Club.

What a welcoming posse of peeps! The Irish O’Sullivans (& Byrnes). Not MY Irish family but I certainly left Bray feeling that way. Chatted it up with 2 family marathoners. Stephen’s cousin Jane – ok, not actually Jane (my fave of the cousins) but her daughter Claire & son-in-law. So many laughs (& tall tales) this nite – glad I packed the pigeon shirt. LOL>

Hug-n-kiss goodbyes, late-night train home, brunch in the a.m. – that’s the correct term when you sleep past 10 🙂

Hearty bowl of Guinness stew, Saturday half-day walked the City. Grafton Street, Ha’penny Bridge, the river Liffey & Temple Bar. Italian feasted for dinner, marathon #100 tomorrow – IN IRELAND. How CRAZY is that? WOW, WOW, WOW!

Marathon #100 Bib Pick-up