Adventuring, Grooving.

This summer has diverted a bit from the planned.  Actually, it has diverted a lot.  We’ve had an out-of-the-ordinary weather pattern- cooler and so much more rain than usual, which has been nice because I don’t have to water the yard and I don’ have air conditioning, so bring on the cool air!

I had a plan. The plan was to get Epic ready to trial this summer in Montana. Lolo, Montana. Because it would be a tiny show and a fun way to debut. Alone, no local eyes watching (teehee).  I could road trip it up there, camp along the way and meet up with my cousin who currently lives in Whitefish.  We would then make a week of the trip and head on up to Whitefish and have Montana Mountain Adventures.  Well, Epic’s injury persisted, stripped that plan away, and now he’s on the recovery path (Which is going well. All in the positive direction and we are 8 weeks out from the PRP injection).

So, we haven’t been able to play agility, our summer trip will no longer be a summer trip because of costs and rehab, and then there is that hot topic of what my next step career-wise will be. Things feel a bit out of place.

Epic and I have a new daily routine. Lots of walks (now turning into runs) through all of the streets in Berthoud. It’s such a cute town, I’m happy to walk and take in all the old homes and amazing gardens. Epic is happy through it all.  Wags his tail at everyone and constantly reminds me that we have it pretty good. Then, we do our PT exercises and then maybe work on new “thinking tricks”.

Guppy has been getting more “special” time lately because Epic can’t go on adventures with us yet.  I sure miss him something awful on these outings, but Guppy is loving the special attention.  He’s literally the best hiking dog ever.  Guppy is totally at peace when he is in the mountains. It’s actually the only place he’s coordinated and not herding my feet or other dogs.

We’ve only gone on three hikes this summer due to all the snow and other weekend activities.  The first hike of the year was to Diamond Lake in the Indian Peaks Wilderness.  A familiar hike for us. To me personally, this hike’s high points are on the way up to the destination.  There are views of huge waterfalls and peaks, you get to walk across a couple waterfalls, and by some very large cascades. You reach a meadow before Diamond lake that is full of wildflowers. Then you reach Diamond lake surrounded by high peaks. If you explore a little further you’ll find a little inlet stream entering the lake. This stream originates from Upper Diamond Lake which can be accessed by hiking just a bit further.

Browns Lake in the Camanche Peak Wilderness was next on the list. This hike starts 10,450 ft and ends at 10,500 ft, but you hike up (straight up) to 11,500 ft twice. It was not an easy hike in the slightest, especially for my second hike of the year, but it was worth it! I went one this hike with a friend and we car camped on the road about a mile away from the trail head.  We decided that since our destination was a lake, we needed to bring floaties and a growler to enjoy. These items were not light, but well worth it! This hike had such amazing views of the Mummy Range, Medicine Bow Range, AND Snowy Range! But did I get a photo when the sun was shining the right direction? No. Guess I’ll have to go back…bummer.

Last weekend My parents and I headed back up to the Camanche Peak Wilderness to hike up to Emmaline Lake.  Getting to this trailhead is not well documented on the internet. Very helpful in keeping the traffic on the trail down, but not that helpful in keeping the tension in the car down when you’re lost. Anyways, we “got” to drive around the CSU Pingree Park campus a bit- pretty cool actually- before backtracking and finding our way again.

This hike starts out (for about 3.5-4 miles) with a gradual incline. A couple trail splits that I would like to investigate another day.  After 3.5-4 miles you come to Cirque meadows. The views here are absolutely breathtaking and the water moving through could not be any clearer.

After another half mile of a gradual incline, the trail begins to make the true ascent.  Crossing Fall Creek numerous times and viewing it’s cascades is a treat in itself.  After a mile of increasing elevations, the true climb begins.  Steep grades and rocks make fore quite the clamber at some points.  Following Cairns to keep on the trail.  Another mile and a half to two miles and you’ll come to a dark turquise lake in a stunning basin: Cirque Lake.

Just a bit more of a climb and you’ll reach Emmaline Lake.  A dark turquoise lake surrounded by pink rocks, boulder fields, rocky peaks and glaciers.  Completely worth the tiring climb. Off to the right of the lake is large waterfall overflowing from the lake and cascading down the mountain. So did not suck.

12 miles round trip we were in dire need for big meal and some beers. We finished the day at Fort Collins Brewery and it was just, oh-so-good!

I was thoroughly exhausted and Epic was not tired in the slightest (not that he’s ever tired these days. Even after running for 16 minutes he’s throwing toys at me and back up to a 2o2o on all the furniture he can find), but I needed sleep.  The next morning we spent together enjoying the wonderful town we live in. Soon Epic, we’ll have Epic adventures together again. Soon.