We are back from an amazing walk on the wild side - the wildflower side of the Continental Divide. Janene got this super deal for us to stay at the Sheraton Hotel in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. We left Friday after work and drove as far as Vernal, where we slept out in the desert and then continued to Dinosaur National Monument for a short hike to see dinosaur bones in the Morrison, and then it was off to Steamboat. Our first day there, we went on a hike to a place called Fish Creek Falls and then continued another 2-1/2 miles to an upper falls. It rained on us, but it was a gorgeous canyon ( not meant to be a pun).
We took off to Rabbit Ears Pass where we found these wildflowers alongside the road. As we did this small loop drive we also got to see an old coal mining town, Oak Creek, and even spent about an hour with one of the locals, a man whose family emigrated from Croatia. He was trying hard to preserve the history of the town and it's immigrant families. He seemed drawn to the work and didn't know why.
On our last full day in Steamboat, we took another hike crossing the Continental Divide that traversed a lot of high meadows in the shadow of Rabbit Ears Peak. The rule seemed to be "primary colors only". We thought the flowers on the road were incredible, but the meadows were full as far as the eye could see of huge patches of wildflowers. We got to see healthy lupine, indian paintbrush, columbine, sweet pea, asters, and many, many more. We hiked to two different lakes one of which was our grandson's favorite - Elmo Lake. We could have walked for a week with a new burst of color over every ridge.
3 comments:
Sounds like a fun little getaway. Beautiful flowers, beautiful pictures!
I'm so glad you guys got to have this "flowery" vacation. What a deal! The wildflowers truly are spectacular.
Lake Elmo! Mikey's there - he would love that, you're right!
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