Water, View and Waterfalls

Washington Gulch

This photo just screams "The Sound of Music" to me

Travis and Kids at Washington Gulch

Danny and I are going to come back and check out that trail to the left.

Hallie and Noah at Washington Gulch

Travis saw a cross pounded into the upper tree trunk

Travis and kids at the Upper Spillway Falls

Danny at Spillway Falls

Water shoes on and splashing at the Falls

Lower Spillway Falls. A LOT more water than last year.

Kings Crown

The view from the old Lake Irwin lodge

The old Lake Irwin Lodge

The wildflowers are still in bloom, but not as plentiful as early in the summer

Lake Irwin way down below

It may not look like it, but Noah is
actually sitting on a ledge down below.

Danny, Noah, Travis and his kids went white water rafting in the morning. When they came back, we packed sack lunches and set out for the day. First stop was lunch at Washington Gulch. This was the first time we had seen it on a sunny day. It was still just as beautiful. Next stop...Spillway Falls at Lake Irwin. This was a huge hit as everyone put on their water shows and played in the pool of the waterfall. Then we got a little adventurous and set out to find a new trail. After missing the trail head, then finding it, then hiking until we were tired, we decided to turn back and tackle that trail on another trip.

Judd Falls 2

The scenery is GORGEOUS out to the trail head

walking in and out of Aspens. The undergrowth has gotten very lush

Monkshead is everywhere, standing tall with their dark purple hoods

Mariposa Lily unfurling

Dwarf Blueberry putting on fruit

Crested Butte in the distance

Northern Bedstraw

Judd Falls

Silly pic for Travis's kids

and a cute one

Hallie and Noah at the Falls

and another one

another view of the Falls

Mariposa Lily

I think this is Golden Aster...a member of the Sunflower family

I love going back to trail where I have been before. There's something about knowing what's around the next corner that's comforting to me. Danny, his brother Travis, all three of Travis's kids, and Hallie's fiance Noah came in today. Travis is a pilot and flew them all in, bring Noah along as a surprise for Hallie. By the time we picked everyone up, had lunch at Garlic Mike's, went to the grocery store and Walmart, we only had a couple of hours before dinner. Danny knew we could make this trail pretty easy for first day altitude, so off we went. The Mariposa Lillies have come out on this trail since I walked it last so I was thrilled. Travis's kids a lot of pent up energy and Danny allowed them to go ahead of us at their pace as long as they could see us. This worked out really well and I was glad noone fell and hurt themselves along the way.

Three Lakes (Lost Lake) Trail

There were so many forks in this trail, that we were excited when we saw a sign telling us we chose the right fork

We think this trail would be GORGEOUS in the fall

We ate lunch by this running stream all the while jingling
our bear bell

Lost Lake

Lost Lake

Sky Pilot

Bitter Cress aka Brook Cress

Gorgeous waterfall above Lost Lake

Corydalis

Blowing Dandelions

Spotted Coralroot

Wood Nymph

Spotted Saxifrage

The underside of a Wood Nymph

Canada Violet

Dollar Lake

Dollar Lake

Sneezeweed

Lost Lake Slough

Lost Lake Slough

This was a new trail for us via Kebler Pass. I think it's about 3 miles long, and was quite an uphill journey to the top lake (Dollar Lake). Once we left the Lost Lake Slough, we walked upward toward Lost Lake. We ate lunch just below Lost Lake along a running stream. We were surprised to find our friends, the Stradingers, fishing at Lost Lake. We visited for a few minutes and then headed upwards again, finding a beautiful waterfall that we waded across to get a better view. The water was shockingly COLD! Hallie left her walking stick behind on the bank, but luckily another hiker was right behind us and threw it across. We did NOT want to get in that water any more than we had to! We then walked up again toward Dollar Lake and suddenly came across some amazing views of the Slough below and mountains beyond. Dollar Lake was beautiful and after finding it, be backtracked to find the sign pointing us down toward the campground and our home. We were so glad to make this hike and plan on bringing Danny with us next time.