This Saturday was a beautiful sunny day, although a bit
chilly. Justus, Cedar and I were joined
by my friend Dan’s flat-coated retriever, Clark Kent, for our 7 mi round trip
Blanca Lake hike.
This was a hard hike, although I’m not sure why in
particular. It was steep, but we have
done steeper. It was longish, but we
have done longer. Both Justus and I were
off our game though and took our time climbing up the switchbacks. The forest was beautiful though, with the
sunlight streaming down, the forest floor scattered liberally with these
miniscule orange mushrooms, and all the leaves dappled with dew. I don't know what the funky little round fungi are. I have managed to misplace all 3 of my mushroom ID guides. I'll add a note to this blog when I find out. : )
When the forest started to thin, we were treated to stunning
views of the newly frosted peaks surrounding us, with a beautiful blue sky as a
rare backdrop.
The dogs enjoyed the hike a lot. Cedar had a good time running around on the
trail, and Clark had a good time near any water. He spent time in this marshy area biting the ice that was in the water.
It was pretty cold near the top of the hill. This ice had beautiful swirls in it.
Finally we reached the upper elevation of our hike, at the 1st
of the two lakes, Virgin Lake. It was a
very still pretty little lake, more of a large pond it seemed. It had water bugs in it and Clark went for a
swim each way as we passed it.
After eating our lunch on a log near Virgin Lake, we dropped
about 600 feet in maybe a half mile to Blanca Lake. We were dreading the climb back up, but
seeing this stunning, large, aqua blue lake was worth it! Look!
It’s gorgeous!!
Justus had an assignment for photography class, so he took a
moment to snap some black and whites.
On the way back up, Clark barked and we looked up in time to
see 2 mountain goats running through the brush about 100 ft up the slope
between the trail we were standing on and one of the upper switchbacks. I was really surprised that with a large
hiking party we had just passed, and both dogs that they chose to show
themselves. It was quite a treat, but
they were too fast to get a picture.
What a fantastic day!
Totally worth the sore muscles. :
)
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