Fall 2016 - Day 21: Estes Park, CO - Denver Airport - Denver Art Museum - LL Bean - Hiking - Leadville, CO

Wednesday, Oct 5, 2016 - took Wendy to the Denver Airport, then visited the Denver Art Museum, went down to L.L. Bean for socks, then west for 2 hikes on my way to the Super 8 in Leadville, Colorado:

235 total miles driving today!

After dropping off my Beautiful Bride at the Denver Airport (see You in ONE WEEK!!), it was a beautiful day to visit Denver:


I found a parking space one block from the Denver Art Museum; they do have an Excellent collection - I took pictures of:
Albert Bierstadt (6)
Alfred Thompson Bricher (1)
Canaletto (1)
John William Casilear (1)
Thomas Cole (1)
Samuel Colman (1)
Maynard Dixon (1)
Sanford Robinson Gifford (1)
John Frederick Kensett (1)
Alfred Jacob Miller (2)
Claude Monet (2)
Thomas Moran (3)
Giovanni Paolo Panini (1)
Frederic Remington (1 sculpture)
Worthington Whittredge (2)

My 4 favorites (today) are:

Albert Bierstadt - Wind River Country, 1860


Albert Bierstadt - Estes Park, 1877 (lent by the Denver Public Library)


Thomas Moran - A Snowy Mountain Range, 1896


Thomas Moran - Sunset, Green River Butte, 1915

To quote the Display Info Card: "Moran painted and drew the Green River in southwest Wyoming over 150 times. The artist first visited this landmark in 1871 and it held his imagination for nearly half a century."

Some Happy Guy got a new pair of socks at L.L. Bean:


I then headed back up into the mountains:


I had done a little homework, and found two small hikes on my way to Leadville. The first is Officers Gulch - a 1.55 mile hike around Officers Gulch Pond, right next to the highway:






Sure is pretty up here in the mountains.

Only a little more than a mile along the highway is the parking area for my second hike: up to the Wheeler Lakes. To quote the p.r.: "Walk west past lakes, then up mountain to the right. Hike past stunning aspen groves, beautiful meadows and pine forests. At 2.2 miles, make a 90º right up to two high alpine lakes.":

Um, I think it is just a little late for the "stunning aspen groves":



But the "beautiful meadows" are there:



as are the views of Copper Mountain Ski Area:


The pine forests are wonderful:



Of course the clincher is the "two high alpine lakes":




Wait - did I mention the 4 deer that ran away just as I came around a corner??:


Boy, they are FAST and Beautiful!

I recommend this Wheeler Lakes Hiking Trail for anyone, ranging from families that want to make a day of it to in-shape hikers that want a quick 3-hour workout. Thank you God for these Great Adventures!

Music today was from my big iPod - "1st Albums" today:

The Eagles - Eagles, 1972


Blood, Sweat & Tears - Child is Father to the Man, 1968


Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced?, 1967


Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper and Stephen Stills - Super Session, 1968


Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Hiking the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire/Vermont/Maine (On Sept. 1, I joined Deede and Tad hiking Mt. Katahdin [Hunt Trail] - his final day on the AT!)
hyperlink: dixonheadingnorth
http://dixonheadingnorth.blogspot.com/