A Walk in the Woods

Shoes? Check.
Cameras? Check.
Water bottles? Check.
LOTS of snacks? Check.
Pirate gear? Check.
Princess paraphanelia? Check.
Train sounds? Check.
We were ready to go hiking, a little walk in the woods.

 I was on the lookout for photos for a photo challenge, with this week's theme being fruit and flowers. I found some Oregon grape (Mahonia repens) berries.

 Desert Boy had expressed some interest in taking photos, so I let him use my old camera. Desert Girl just wanted a snack.

 Redroot buckwheat (Eriogonum racemosum), one of the prettiest late summer flowers.

 Our hike suddenly got exciting when we found we could eat some of nature's bounty. The wild raspberries were delicious.

 A butterfly landed on my shirt. It turned out to be a Pine White.

 The currants were at their peak, and the kids quickly learned how to forage for them.

 Yum!

 I saw this dragonfly (or is it a damselfly?) and that made me take the photo, but I didn't notice the spider dangling underneath till later.

 We made it to our destination, a bridge where the kids snacked and spent twenty minutes throwing sticks into the water. They really didn't want to leave, but finally conceded it would be okay as long as they had hiking sticks.

 The sun peeked out from the storm clouds and made the mountain mahogany seeds glow.

 The trees look so cool!

Here are the kids sharpening their wood pirate and princess knives. They made up lots of games on the hike back, which made me delighted as in the past I've had to make up games for them. They also thought it was lots of fun to run down the trail, and Desert Girl would yell out, "Running," and then take off. They already want to hike again today, so I think that means we had a successful day.

Up to the Snow

 I'm taking fire training this weekend, so I took Friday off so I could spend more time with the kids. We decided to go up the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive at Great Basin National Park, as the road had recently opened and I was eager to look at the high country. Anna and Evan joined us, and on the ride up I thought the trees looked funny. We took a second look and found that they had icicles on them! We pulled over to take a closer look.

 Apparently the weather had been just right after our recent snow to make these wonderful decorations on nearly all the trees. It was spectacular.

 We had thought about walking the quarter-mile nature trail, but we weren't the best equipped for snow, so opted instead for the recently plowed but still closed Wheeler Peak Campground.

 The kids liked finding their very own icicles.

 The walking was easy until we  got to a shaded, icy patch.

 We found that it was so icy because the creek had jumped its banks and was making a new channel through the snow. The kids threw snowballs into the water and watched them float downstream.

 The water had carved a two-foot canyon through the snow and ice. It was moving fast and sure looked cold!

 Around on the other side of the meadow we found a bit of color.

 The snow might have only melted in this spot a few days ago, but the plantainleaf buttercup (Ranunculus alismifolius) couldn't wait to catch some rays.

 The aspens didn't look like they were even thinking about leafing out. Even so, this spring is so different from last year! We had so much more snow and cold all the way into June last year, and this year the campground is already plowed out before May.

 On the way back (amid complaints from Desert Boy that he was starving--I think he's going through a growth spurt!), we wrote our names in the snow and made footprints. Desert Girl and Evan had their shoes on the wrong feet, so their footprints were a little strange looking.

 Finding the biggest icicle was a fun diversion.

Then we made it back for a big snack break. Afterwards we weren't quite ready to leave. We still had to take out the sled.

 The boys nearly crashed on their first run together.

 Evan doesn't look too sure of this bigger hill. It's slightly higher than the picnic table behind them that's mostly covered with snow.

 Then Desert Girl decided she wanted to get in on the fun.

 Their expressions are priceless!

 I'm not sure if these kids know how lucky they are! I grew up in such a flat spot that I called a three-foot high rock on the other side of the block my mountain. These kids have such an awesome backyard!

It's cooled off this weekend, but I don't think the snow will be around for much longer. This could be the last sledding trip for awhile. It was great to have one more winter adventure and then descend 5,000 feet in elevation and enjoy the warm spring weather.

Hope you're having a good weekend!

Amtrak Adventure-Day Two

Our second day of our Amtrak Adventure was from Glenwood Springs to Denver. We were supposed to depart Glenwood Springs at 12:50 PM, but due to a broken down freight train on a single-track section, the train came about an hour late. I've heard many stories of delayed trains, so we were prepared for much worse. We were entertained while waiting by watching big logs and even entire trees float down the Colorado River. Some locals also gathered to watch the train, and it was entertaining talking to them, as they were a bit on the colorful side, to put it mildly.

As soon as we got on board, we went to the observation car. We wanted the full experience of seeing Glenwood Canyon with the big windows and skylights. We also went because National Park Service volunteers with the Trails and Rails program provide commentary from Grand Junction to Denver (and back) on weekends in summer. I really liked listening to the extra information they provided.

The volunteers were excited about the new technology they had to share information: an iPad. It was loaded with the Audubon apps with birds, wildflowers, mammals, and more so if any passengers wanted to learn more about a particular species, it would be easy to pull up.

(If you're planning on taking the train at a different time and still want to learn some information, their are some great books by Eva Hoffman that cover the entire California Zephyr route. I actually bought one in Grand Junction before I knew about the NPS volunteers coming on the train, and it is full of wonderful info and photos.)

Glenwood Canyon is one of the most spectacular sections of the Interstate system in the entire country. The scenic canyon has the Colorado River charging down it, the train tracks perched on the side, and the Interstate weaving its way over the river, through the cliffs, and along the edges. It was started in 1980 and completed in 1992.

During drier parts of the year, some of the river goes nearly dry due to diversions for water power. However, this section was a massive whitewater section--Class VI rapids, too dangerous for anyone to run. Three people tried a number of years ago and their raft flipped instantly. Two were saved by people watching close by, while the body of the third was found weeks later downstream.

In one place the canyon is so narrow that the Interstate goes double decker. Along with the river, the train tracks, and the road, there is also a bike trail. Someone please drop me off on the uphill side and let me ride down the 16 miles! Much of it was submerged by the flooded river during this trip, though. When it's dry, the bike path must be a fantastic way to see the sights at a slower pace.

The train eventually veered away from the Interstate at Dotsero and heads north. We passed a water wheel, and only when I looked at this photo at home did I realize I also had a photo of a horse stranded on a little island.

This section of the river is quite a bit calmer, with rapids interspersed. It has become known as Moon River, due to a frequent action performed by river rafters. As one of the volunteers said, we saw plenty of white-rumped rafters and bare-breasted rafters. (Click on the photo if you want a larger version.)

We continued north with some spectacular scenery.

As we entered Gore Canyon, we could see a highway high above us on the west. A couple wrecks are located on the steep slope below Inspiration Point, also known as Dead Man's Curve, but fortunately no one was injured.

Gore Canyon was steep and narrow, and this terrain made the Interstate planners choose another route.

Middle Park is crossed next. In Colorado, the term "park" means "valley." You can see the snow-capped Rockies in the distance.

Then it was time for Byers Canyon. Many places along the canyon have wires hanging just above the train. These detect falling rocks and can send signals to the train if there is any disturbance.

Then it was time for dinner. I had enjoyed breakfast in the dining car so much that I decided we would also do dinner there. We were seated with Grandma Pat, who has a plethora of children, grandchildren, and great-grand children. She has a friend in Grand Junction and travels by train to see her several times a year. I asked her what was her favorite season to travel, and she said she enjoyed them all, and that they all look quite different. Hmm, another reason to take the train again!

Here are the three of us! Hopefully next time my husband can come, he would really enjoy the trip, too.

We started going through a lot of tunnels as we got closer to the edge of the mountains. There are 42 tunnels between Denver and Grand Junction, and Desert Boy enjoyed seeing how long they were by counting in each of them. We knew we were in a long tunnel when we counted more than 15. And then of course there is the Moffat Tunnel, 6.2 miles long. We were busy eating dinner then so we didn't have to count. (Thank goodness)

The sun was shining on the distant skyscrapers of Denver. A group of teachers helped me entertain Desert Boy and took turns holding Desert Girl in the observation car. The train is a good way to meet people. We enjoyed the sunset arrival into Denver.

We arrived in Union Station in Denver, happy to have had such a grand train adventure.