Linda and Curt invited me to Breckenridge, Colorado for some hiking, which was my first time there. The town is at 9.7k ft elevation and the hikes are even higher elevation. I was glad I was still a bit “high altitude climatized” after being in Tahoe recently but still felt the altitude effects while hiking.
We also visited the Isak Heartstone troll, one of two in Colorado. Oscar took me to the other one last year near Victor. (Rita the Rock Planter). Created and built by recycle artist and activist Thomas Dambo, these trolls are part of a massive global phenomenon focused on bringing awareness to our worldwide concerns about depleted natural resources and the significant amount of trash humans create and discard each day. There are 62 trolls in 18 states in the USA (except the one in Austin, Texas recently burned down) and about 100 worldwide. Curt, Linda, and I pose in front of Isak.
One of our first hikes was an easy hike to Rainbow Lake and the surrounding area.
This photo is of the McCullough Gulch waterfall. Curt arranged shuttles to take the two of us to McCullough Gulch area to hike to the waterfall and small alpine lake above it. The parking is limited so the shuttle was a help. The hike starts at about 11k ft elevation and climbs 950ft following the stream to the waterfall (then up to the lake above). You could sometimes see one of the 14k peaks, Quandary, from the trail. The sky was cloudy and we suspected we were going to get wet at some point (but the rain held off until we returned home).
Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) on the McCullough Gulch Waterfall trail was at peak blooming.
Our lunch spot was at the alpine lake above the McCullough Gulch Waterfall. You can barely see Curt sitting on a rock on the right. It is a popular trail, but we had the lake to ourselves for a nice quiet lunch.
I noticed this “new to me” flower at the lake in McCullough Gulch: Redpod Stonecrop (Rhodiola rhodantha).
The ground was wet around the McCullough Gulch waterfall and lake and wildflowers were thriving.
Here is a view from the ridge at the lake in McCullough Gulch looking back at the unimproved road to the trailhead in the distance.
Our next hike started at the continental divide on Boreas Pass Road and went up to Black Powder Pass. Here is a view from the pass from our lunch spot. This was the highest point of the trip at 12.9K ft elevation.
Curt took this photo of the two of us at Black Powder Pass.
This photo of the green carpeted forest is from the Mountain Pride trail off of Boreas Pass Road.
This shot was the sunset over the mountains in Breckenridge after it rained. It was a very short trip, but a fun trip and I plan to come back to explore more in this area.
These are breathtaking photos. Thanks for sharing the beauty my fat ass will never get to see firsthand.