Uncompahgre....Dirty Water

We have obviously made it home safely from our mountain adventure. What a grand time we had! I think I have to agree that the Uncompahgre wilderness is just about the most beautiful part of Colorado. No wonder the Utes revere(d) this land as sacred!!

Luke did fantastic in adjusting to sleeping in the tent, though he was just a tiny bit bored at the campsite. Who can really blame him? He was the only kidlet among 5 adults! Lesson learned: next time we pack his bike and some things to dig with.

Sunday gave us an unexpected family opportunity. Our ATV broke down, so daddy spent the day with us. We hadn't planned on climbing a 14'er or doing any heavy hiking, so I didn't pack our good hiking shoes, but we have a fantastic vehicle for getting us into parts of the wilderness that are otherwise unseen (also why we have the ATV). Once up about 12,500 feet...maybe a little higher, stupid us, we left the GPS in the tent...we did get out and wander the tundra a bit. The columbine, paintbrush, and tundra daisies were JUST blooming, the pika were serenading us, the snow was still thick in many places, the waterfalls rushing and plentiful, and it was just perfect.

Not ours, but a good example of the amount of snow leftover.

Part of the road. Notice the overhang on the road, and the sheer drop of probably 700 feet on the side. It was barely wide enough for one vehicle.

It was a serene scene that even the dogs and the older generation were content sitting back and reading a book in peace. THIS is the part of Colorado that I adore and can't get enough of! Bear in mind that these peaks are littered with mines, and headframes stand strong in this harsh landscape. Seriously, there are headframes and remains of the glory days of mining in this state on the summit of many, many 14,000+ peaks! All taken up the mountains via mule and lived in year-round by the men who worked inside the depths of the mountains. So, if I can figure out how to do a slideshow, you can understand why we take so many pictures, both up close and from afar, of the mine remains.

Jenn posted about her family photo venture. I have pretty well given up on the studio thing, but the impromptu shots in the back country work for us. I am pretty pleased with what we got, and it will be framed as soon as I get it properly printed. Notice that Luke and I are in sandals and we actually had to convince Luke that he could, indeed, keep his shirt on. I was quite tempted to run around barefoot, my "shoe" of choice, but that would've entailed killing tundra. Big no-no, and too many people are idiots about that. I'm convinced part of the reason the Rockies are called that is because the footing at elevation is nothing but rock.....SHARP rock. I can wander just about anywhere and on any rock barefoot, but I did try it at elevation once. Never again!

It was a great little trip. We've decided to make it an annual trek. There are miles and miles of the mountains that we just NEED to see. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten my Utah roots, and we've got some plans to hike around Alta when we visit in October. If anyone in the area wants to join in, we'll certainly have to try.....