Summit Springs Battlefield

After checking out the Big Boy, Noelle and I stopped at Cabela's to use the bathroom. Then, we made the drive south into the plains of Colorado. We bypassed Sterling and headed south to Summit Springs Battlefield. You can't drive directly into the area but can park on a county road and walk a private road to the site.

During the short walk into the site, we looked for birds. 

We saw lots of little sparrows and a couple of birds of prey. 

After the short walk, we found ourselves at the site and the four different monuments.

The story of the "battle" is familiar and depressing. More information can be found here.

After returning to the car we drove into Sterling for lunch at Parts and Labor Brewing.

We each had a delicious burger and a beer. Then, we walked around downtown for a bit before making the drive north to home. 

Union Pacific Big Boy 4014

This morning Noelle and I drove down to Sidney to check out the Big Boy, which was passing through. We were not disappointed.

Mount Blue Sky from Summit Lake

I awoke in my campsite at Echo Lake a little bit before 5 am and made the drive up the Mount Blue Sky Summit Road to Summit Lake and the start of my hike. I parked the car, grabbed my pack and hit the trail in the dark. The first signs of sunrise started to show themselves as I looked out over the Chicago Lakes Overlook. 

From the overlook, the trail gets quite a bit more rugged and starts a fairly steep ascent of a ridge north of the lake. It was as I was climbing this ridge that the sun peaked over the horizon.

Soon, the Mount Blue Sky massif was bathed in red, morning light. 

It was an impressive sight!

I continued to hike up the ridge and onto and over the summit of Mount Spalding. Off to the west high peaks like Grays and Torreys looked amazing.

From Mount Spalding, the trail descends to a gap, and then ascends to a ridge. In the gap, there were great views off to Summit Lake 

and over to the Sawtooth Ridge that connects Blue Sky to Mount Bierstadt.

Out of the gap, the trail hugs the southwest side of the Blue Sky ridge. There were a lot of small ups and downs along this ridge. Soon enough, I could see the observatory near the summit of the mountain. My trail connected to the tourist trail from the summit parking lot. I climbed to the summit and had it mostly to myself. I took in the views and posed for a summit photo.

Then I decided to go check things out over near the parking lot. There's a new sign to reflect the updated name of the peak.

There's also a peak finder that I don't recall checking out before.

After a little while, it was time to start making my way down the mountain. I admired a few clumps of wildflowers on the way.

My energy levels were low as I made my way back to Summit Lake. Right near the lake I was able to observe a mountain goat making its way across a grassy slope.

I took a look at the Chicago Lakes Overlook, which had been too dark to appreciate earlier in the hike,

and was soon back to the car for the drive back down to Echo Lake to retrieve my tent. On the drive I was able to see a baby bighorn sheep up close.

Boulder Falls

Of all the times I've been to Boulder, I had never visited Boulder Falls. It's a very short walk off of the highway that passes through Boulder Canyon. I brought the new camera and the neutral density filter and tripod, so I took a few long exposure shots. Here's the best:

After that, I drove into Golden and got a beer at New Terrain Brewery. Very good!

Then it was on to Idaho Springs and up to Echo Lake, my campsite for the night.

Walker Ranch Loop

This morning I drove through some very thick smoke near Cheyenne and down into Colorado to do some hiking outside of Boulder at the Walker Ranch. I drove up Flagstaff Road for the first time (past a bunch of interesting looking trailheads) to get to the start of my hike. 

What an interesting, diverse hike. The trail started out in a higher elevation, meadow.

The trail passed some really interesting rock formations,

and then started to descend down to the South Boulder Creek.

Wildflowers dotted the sides of the trail.

Along with plentiful Oregon grape in some of the shadier sections.

After a short time along the river, 

the trail started to ascend back up to amazing views of the high peaks to the west.

The trail entered Eldorado Canyon State Park and passed the Crescent Meadows Trailhead. Here the trail passed through its namesake meadows.

Soon, there were views off to the high peaks of Boulder (Bear Peak and South Boulder Peak) 

and the mouth of Eldorado Canyon.

The trail then descended to South Boulder Creek for the second time, 

descending a steep staircase down to the stream.

As I climbed out of the canyon, I passed one of the few wild animals I saw on my hike, a red squirrel.

It was a steady ascent, with great views 

as I made my way back to the trailhead to finish the nearly 8-mile loop. 

Paddling Oliver Reservior

Today Noelle, Sierra and I got the canoe out for the first time this summer. We got the car packed and headed south to Kimball. First stop: ramen for lunch!

With full bellies we headed to the Oliver Reservoir. We put the canoe in the water and paddled the shoreline in a counterclockwise direction.  

We saw a few birds as we paddled: teals, herons and a cormorant that we were able to paddle relatively close to.

Eventually, we made our way to the swim beach and let Sierra cool off for a bit.

Then, we made our way back to the car, got the canoe strapped to the top and drove home.