Rainbows!

and a beautiful double rainbow to end this rainy day

Rainy Day Driving

Spillway Falls trail...Lake Irwin. I'm glad my raincoat is big enough to fit over my backpack!

Spillway Falls

Laurie in front of the beginning of the Falls.

Last picture of the Falls before we had to put up our cameras

Gothic Road

Flowers for Days

Even with rain, the view is beautiful

We woke up this morning to a heavily cloudy day and the forecast said rain, rain, rain all day. So, we cancelled our hopes for hiking and decided to do some driving instead. Hallie and I took Laurie out to Lake Irwin hoping to hike down to Spillway Falls. We were very lucky to make it part of the way without rain, but soon the cameras were put up and the raincoats came out. We continued to walk so Laurie could see the entire length of the Falls. Even in the rain, it was beautiful. We came back home for lunch and then we saw a small break in the clouds. Laurie and I decided to drive along Gothic Road so she could see a different view than this morning. The area we went to this morning was mostly tree lined, but Gothic Road is gorgeous mountains and fields of flowers. We were so happy we went when we did, because just as we were ready to turn around and head home, the rain returned.

Silver Queen Overlook

Hallie and I rode up the Silver Queen Lift with Laurie and walked down to the Overlook. The weather was cool and the sky was clear. We sat on a bench for awhile and visited with other people who were up there. One of them was nice enough to ask if we wanted a picture together. I don't think I will ever tire of riding up the Silver Queen. The views are amazing.

Woods Walk 2 with Laurie

Heading out on the trail

Monkshead

Hallie and Laurie

Flowers abound

The bloom on a Corn Lily

Peanut Lake and the Gronk

Harebell

Mule's Ear aka Sunflowers

Peanut Lake and the Gronk

Peanut Lake

I just love this stuff...Prairie Smoke

teeny tiny daisy type flower

Crested Butte

and my beloved Columbines

My friend Laurie came to see me from Lake Providence for a few days. I love it when people come to see me and share in the beauty that we have around us here. To help Laurie adjust to the altitude, we took it easy today, walking on the easy but beautiful Woods Walk trail. This trail goes out toward Peanut Lake and the Gronk. I guess it's called the Woods Walk because it starts in the woods but soon it comes out of the woods into meadows of beautiful wildflowers. It was a great morning for a walk.

Divine Trail to the Upper Loop

Mariposa Lily

Prairie Smoke

Showy or Aspen Daisy

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Wild Blue Flax

Yarrow

Hallie and I decided to drive to the other end of the Upper Loop access road so we could hike up that end. The trail begins in the Country Club area and is called the Divine Trail. It's all uphill until it connects to the Upper Loop and then it's pretty flat. The views were beautiful! We figured out that we had turned back on the Upper Loop not far from where the Divine Trail connected to it.

Recreation Path

The Rec Path to town

Mountain Dandelion

Paradise Valley

Mountain Dandelion..this color is more rare

Bull Thistle

The Rec path is a 3 mile concrete path to town that a lot of bike riders and walkers use. It's mostly downhill although there are a few uphill spots. We access the trail at the 2 mile mark making it about an hour walk to town. Last year we walked this and absolutely thought we were going to die once we reached town. This year we are wondering what was our problem last year! Once we arrived in town, we walked down Elk the main street to McGill's and had brunch/lunch and finished our meal with a scoop of ice cream!