Mountain Magic

Good Evening -

We had a great weekend of Rocky Mountain National Park yesterday and getting things done around the house today.

On the way to the Park yesterday, we stopped in Boulder and I got a bunch of apples which are currently getting to be apple butter. I'm just about where I need to get back into the kitchen and am not feeling super verbal tonight, so rather than write about our day, I'll show you with some pictures.

The Virgen is from the map they give you when you enter the park, noting that the Rockies are the backbone of our continent, and an aspen leaf from our hike.

Here's to that. Here's to being knee-deep in home-made apple butter. Here's to National Parks. Here's to hiking, and here's to changing leaves.

This was a stream that runs through a field where the elk like to dine. There was a big herd behind me and down the way a bit, but I was more interested in capturing the mountain and stream and letting the elk have their lunch. This is by Moraine Park, if you know RMNP.
Our vista as we started our little 4.6 mile hike. The speck of gold in the distance is a grove of aspen we would eventually walk through as we worked our way to Cub Lake.
Those same aspen once we were in the midst of them.
We drove in on 34 from Lyons to Estes Park, but headed out on Hwy 7, towards Allenspark and back around to Lyons. On the way out of Estes, we saw these elk dining on a lawn. They're such massive creatures - like refrigerators with fur stretched over them. I can't even imagine a moose...
A stream on the way down the canyon of Hwy 7, just before Lyons.

We stopped in Lyons for a dinner of chili and red beans and rice as Oskar Blues, and it was fantastic.

Here's to more of that.