Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains..."
When we go to Estes, we always stay at Annie's Mountain Retreat, who has several cabins to choose from. We always stay at "The Carriage House," just outside the RMNP. (Blessing #735) It may be the closest I ever come to owning a cabin in the mountains. (Click on the link above and check out all the photos inside our cabin.)
Our "home away from home" is up these stairs. (The bottom level of the cabin is used for the owner's storage.) Inside the cute little building at the bottom of the stairs is our hot tub, which came in very handy after our really long hike through the mountains. (#736)
There's nothing better than waking up to the sounds of nature in the mountains. (#737) The wind whispering gently through the pines, forcing the fresh scent of pine through our open cabin windows. The birds singing, hummingbirds chirping, and other sounds I didn't even recognize, all came together to create the best worship experience last weekend. That's what last Sunday was like for me. It was a perfect Sunday. in God's Outdoor Sanctuary.
After taking in the brisk breeze of the mountain air on the deck of our cabin, and coming face-to-face with a hummingbird that thought the blueberry in my bagel was for him . . .
. . . we found a bicycle built for two and zipped around Lake Estes, the Golf Course, and wherever my leader took me. (#738) I've always wanted to ride a tandem bike, but it's a little harder than it looks. Chad likes to go fast down the hills. I suppose because it makes me scream.
Our friends Tracy & Shelly were in Estes Park over the weekend also. (#739) (They stayed in Annie's "Romantic Cottage" next to the Big Thompson River.) It's always a blessing, hiking the mountains with friends who love the Rockies as much as I do. We took Matt & Lori's advice and hiked to Alberta Falls. It was beautiful! I love the sound of the roaring mountain water, rushing over the rocks and boulders down the mountainside. (#740)
This is where we ate our picnic lunch, on God's patio. Sitting on rocks, inhaling the crisp air infused with the scent of pine. Everything tastes better in the mountains.
Shelly & I took every opportunity to peak over the edges at the falls, while the guys waited patiently for us.
After leaving Alberta Falls, we continued up the mountain to Mills Lake, located in Glacier Gorge. It was a 2.5 mile hike (one way), and gave us a great view! The elevation at Mills Lake is 9,940 feet, and it was pretty chilly up there with the wind coming over the mountain. But the sun was shining, and the view was spectacular. (#741)
That's Tracy in the red jacket on the rock.
Instead of going back the way we came, I suggested that we take the trail over to Lake Haiyaha, then to Dream Lake, Emerald Lake, and Bear Lake. The first part of our hike was great. The second half . . . not so great. The trail was laden with snow, ice, and steep slopes.
We had to hang on to trees and rocks so we didn't slide down the icy slopes. In a couple places, we had to sit on our bum and scootch across the icy snow. It was treacherous! But we didn't think it could be too bad since we met a guy with his pregnant wife and little kids coming from that direction. I have no idea how on earth they made it across that trail.
Notice Chad's forced smile? He was not happy about the path his mountain-hungry wife suggested for our group. It was too late to turn around and go back, so we forged ahead. Around every corner, the trail got worse and worse. And then it started to snow on us. We came to an opening on the trail and noticed our destination far below. I zoomed in to see the lakes we needed to walk past in order to find our parking lot again.
We took the second picture (above) looking back at where we had just come from. You can barely see the basin with Mills Lake in the far distance. I'm not sure, but I think we hiked about 8 miles that day. When we made it to the bottom of our mountain hike, we were so cold and tired that we snapped a quick photo and went to the car to warm up. We all prayed for God's protection more than once, and He kept us safe the entire time and no one got hypothermia. (#742)
We came off the mountain, down to the Morraine Park area, and noticed several cars pulled off to the side. We slowed down and noticed some idiot taking a close-up shot of this big elk. We were just sure this elk would charge him, and the elk even backed up a step as if to get a little momentum and then took 2 quick steps towards the dude taking his picture and then stopped. We didn't get a good video for YouTube, but at least the guy without a brain safely made it back to his car. (#743)
It snowed on us while on the mountain, but as soon as we got down in elevation, the sun was out, as you can see from the photo above. Our legs were a little like jello, but not enough to keep the guys from grilling steaks for supper. We found the game "Horse-Opoly" in our cabin, so we settled down in the big comfy couches and enjoyed a unique version of Monopoly before our eyes were so sleepy they couldn't hardly stay awake.
It was a great day, and I really wished I had my pedometer on for our hike. But maybe it's best I don't know how many steps we took. We burned a lot of calories, that's for sure. And our blood pressure was a little high at times. Next time, we'll know not to hike on the back-side of the mountain, which doesn't see a lot of sunshine. At least not in May. I'm having withdrawals this week, wishing I was still in the mountains.
But there is a bright side of leaving the mountains . . . The 3 bright smiling faces waiting for us back home. (#744)
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