Saturday, November 08, 2008

The Loch Hike

Another hike, another couple hundred pictures... Once again, the best 40-ish are online, and below are the best of the best:





A beaver-dam pond












Yeah, we're weird. Get used to it.






This is The Loch. I wonder if it has its own Monster....



There it is!!! Oh, wait... never mind.










This should be titled "The Circle of Life" or "Birth from Death," or something cheesy like that.









See Little Red Riding Hood?



Near the end of the hike, as we approached 11,000 feet, the trail was paved with a nice thick coating of ice. It was easier to abandon the trail and just scramble up the mountainside.



At the top!


This was a 10-mile hike... 5 miles out, 5 miles back. Due to some poor planning and plenty of side trips and photo stops, we still had to hike the 5 miles back.... and it was half an hour to sunset. That's The Loch down there, about a mile away.






Back at The Loch, close to sunset... meaning we hiked the remaining 4 miles at dusk and in the dark. Through the trees. Without flashlights or a moon. The stars were out by the time we made it back. Quite the adventure!



We stopped for hot chocolate and Battleship on the way back.


Guess who lost? ;-)

4 comments:

ryan said...

travis, you should have called in the big guns for battleship... and when i say "big guns" i really mean flipper the dolphin.

sweet pics.

Jamie said...

I love the reflection pics. What a gorgeous day for a hike! Where was that particular loch?

Unknown said...

It's also in Rocky Mountain National Park, where the "fall colors" hike was. I don't know if I'd ever really heard of it before moving here, but it's quickly becoming one of my favorite national parks. Behind Redwood National Park, of course... gotta keep that home-town loyalty. :)

Sarah said...

What a beautiful place! I love it! Yeah for being newly married and going on grand adventures in the wilderness. :)