2022 Fall Trip - Day 8/42 - 9/01/2022

Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022 - One last hike, then leave Estes Park, CO:

After 2 BIG DAYS, I am planning on holding to day very lightly - just go up the trail, see how I feel, and turn around when I want. I was planning on taking the trail up to Lawn Lake (and maybe Crystal Lake), but I took the side-trail to Ypsilon Lake and ALMOST Spectacle Lakes:

10.1 miles in 6 hours 4 minutes.

I was busy with stuff this morning, and the time just slipped away (hey, these postcards don't write themselves!), and it was 10:15 when I realized that my Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park Entry Pass was only good untill 11 AM!!! So I grabbed everything in my room (Thank You Quality Inn for a great 2 nights!) and hustled up to The Park - I was at the gate at 10:52

I parked shortly thereafter:

The first mile is nice through the woods, with views:

The trail then goes right next to Roaring River:

I saw the sign for a side-trail to Ypsilon Lake and thought "That sounds nice - let's check it out.":

which goes over a bridge over Roaring River:

I didn't know there was going to be CLIMBING involved:

After "The Stairs", it is basically 3 miles of hiking up through the woods:

I reached an Unknown Lake at 1:38

and Ypsilon Lake at 2 PM:

Well, I was feeling pretty good, so I figured I would keep following kind-of-a-trail up alongside a waterfall:

This was the "unofficial" trail up to Spectacle Lakes:

I had already done "a scramble" up to a lake yesterday, so I have already gotten that "out of my system". I made a deal with myself - turn around at either 5 miles, or when I run out of trail/cairns, whichever is later. Sometimes you get the cairn:

and sometimes you get the trail:

So I'm heading up:

and then, at 5.15 miles, I ran out of trail/cairn:

So that's where I took my selfie:

Wonderful views on the way down:

Once again, I'm on the "ridge trail" on the way down:

And in my last mile, the western sun makes Horseshoe Park beautiful:

But that is not the end of today's adventure. Since I didn't know how long I would be out hiking today, I wanted to bring my battery-charger (see, I can learn things!) - but IT WAS NOT IN MY CAR (don't worry, I had a spare). I had left it back at the Quality Inn, plugged into the wall next to the sink-area. So I drove back to Estes Park.

I am fascinated by seeing how God Works In My Life, so I was interested in seeing how this was going to play out:

First of all, after I got out of The Park, I was able to have my phone call with Wendy (since there is no reception within The Park, that would not have happened today).

Second, I was able to go to Domino's and get a GREAT Chicken Parm sandwich for my dinner-on-the-road (and then I picked up my charger at the Quality Inn).

Third, if I had just gone through The Park at the time of day I finished my hike, I would have missed THE BEAUTY OF THE LIGHT:

I checked into the Super 8 in Kremmling, Colorado at 8:30 PM:

For a day that I was going to hold very lightly, THANK YOU GOD for this wonderful Rocky-Mountain-National-Park Hiking/Adventure Day!

Music for today:

various - Footloose soundtrack, 1984 soundtrack album:

Kenny Rankin - The Kenny Rankin Album, 1977:

I really like his acoustic guitar and singing, and interpretations.

Paul Simon - Paul Simon 1964/1993, a 3-cd Box Set retrospective:

Wonderful songs, plus three previously unreleased tracks: "Thelma" (which was left off The Rhythm of the Saints); the original demo version of "Bridge over Troubled Water"; and a live rendition of "Still Crazy After All These Years."