An Uphill Climb

Pictured above is Mount Princeton, taken from the Collegiate Peaks Overlook state park on our recent trip to Salida, Colorado. It was an incredibly beautiful day as we enjoyed our picnic lunch, looking down over Buena Vista and the Arkansas River valley.

Soon the second table under our shade shelter was snatched up by fellow travelers. The two couples spent much time discussing the surroundings. What was that town in the valley below? One woman insisted it couldn't possibly be Buena Vista. "That's nowhere near here," she said. I smiled to myself, hoping for their sake she was not the group navigator. Then one fellow asked another, "Is that a ski area?" Eventually--after a lively debate--they came to the conclusion that the slivered mountain trails were not ski slopes, but avalanche chutes.

After checking in to our motel, we took the dogs downtown to Salida's Arkansas River water park. Isn't this horse trough flower planter lovely?



Normally Tonka is afraid of the river's current but on this trip he tapped into his latent courage, grew some doggy water wings and swam like crazy.

We drove around the neighborhoods in search of homes for sale. It was a sizzling hot afternoon and this deer had the right idea.

Then we headed back to the motel for an impromptu happy hour.

On day two, we zoomed up the highway to Nathrop to check on a friend's trailer. He had asked for a photo looking down on the river from the Mini-Gorge Bridge to assess the river's depth. We all agreed the Arkansas was running pretty low.



Both dogs had a blast swimming and playing in the river here, too.

Our planned activity for the day was a short hike. We asked some neighbors near the Mini-Gorge Bridge about the half-mile trail to Agnes Vaille Falls. Super easy, they said. Very pretty, they said. Oh, it was pretty alright. Easy? I suppose that depends on your perspective. (By the way, Agnes Vaille was an interesting woman. You can read a little bit about her life on the sign.)

Okay, one-half mile, shouldn't take long. Clouds were gathering but we figured there was still plenty of time. A group of hikers arrived at the same time, so we held back. Notice the pointed peak above?

Several minutes later and there's the peak again, with some ski slopes avalanche chutes below. We've gained quite a bit of elevation already.

I stopped along the trail to photograph this dead tree, ostensibly for its stark beauty. In fact, what I really wanted to do was catch my breath and consider how much I was beginning to feel like this dead tree.

People were now leaving the area in droves. On the way downhill, one woman remarked about how we weren't even close yet. Seriously? The nicely groomed path soon disappeared; the trail grew narrow and less discernable. At this point we let go of the leashes and left the dogs to fend for themselves. Now we're scrambling over rocks, moving slowly through the slippery, less forgiving area of the trail. At least, we think it's still the trail. At the end it became quite steep, then just as I'm crawling up the side of a huge boulder, I hear a loud thunder clap in the distance.

Finally we made it to the falls only to discover that because it has been so dry this year, there is barely any water pouring over the edge of the mountain.

We plopped down on a nice, flat rock to rest and admire the scenery, which consisted mostly of rocks. Lots and lots of rocks, with an occasional tuft of pretty little wildflowers peeking out. And I'm thinking, well great. Here we are, sitting right in the middle of a rock fall area as a high altitude summer thunderstorm bears down on us. Perfect.

The other group of hikers was cavorting near the falls and Dave said he wanted to wait for them to leave first. No way, I said, hearing another crash of thunder as the storm drew closer. So down we went, gravity aiding us in our race back to the starting line. No time to finish reading the interpretive signs, there's lightning right over there! We made it to the car just as the skies unleashed a torrent of rain.

FYI: Dip Danger. Always a problem in the Colorado Rockies. Beware.

And yes, a good time was had by all...