North Park, Colorado

We decided it was a good weekend for some mountain time, so we headed up to North Park on Saturday. Stopped at the cabin on the Cache La Poudre River and found the vegetation growing back, and no more damage from flash flooding. The canyon itself has been having a lot of closures because of the rivers of mud and debris flowing across the road but, for now, the little cabin has been spared further indignities.

May 2013

July 2013

This is directly behind the cabin.

Saturday found us at the Verner State Wildlife Area in Walden, Colorado. Steve was determined to

scare the fish in the North Platte River, and it was a beautiful day to do so. I parked the truck, walked around the front and promptly stepped into a large burrow and fell down hard. Nothing important was broken. I'm going to start carrying a first aid kit from now on, and maybe get a walker, goggles, and a helmet. This proves I need to get out in nature more often. I was looking at the stunning vista of North Park instead of the ground. A rookie mistake.

The mosquitos and biting flies were terrible but we applied DEET, which is absolutely awful yet effective, so we could stay and enjoy the beauty.

The irritating line is part of a fence.

The town of Walden is very small but has some amazing views. Food is iffy, with the Moose Creek Cafe being the most dependable. Even the one grocery store is in bankruptcy, and the residents are a long way from any kind of market. We were able to get a good coffee at the combination coffee house/  feed store that opened last September in Walden. You just have to be patient and wait for the barista/owner/cowgirl to finish up talking on the phone.

Our hotel was fine except that our AC wouldn't work correctly at night. A little white noise might have been helpful until midnight or so with Highway 14 just three feet from out window. 

Something I've never seen in a hotel room before.

The wildflowers were at their peak. We saw abundant wildlife except for the moose who are responsible for making North Park the "Moose Capital of Colorado".

The life-sized moose at The Moose Visitor Center in Gould.