Bodaciously Beautiful Butler Gulch

The Hussies (minus Beth, darn it) had an extraordinary hike on the Butler Gulch trail. We started at the "new" Henderson Mine above Empire and ended at the old mine above treeline. In between we were treated to an explosion of colorful wildflowers. We were so completely mesmerized by the flora that we had no idea how steep the trail was until we descended after lunch. None of us had ever seen so many different colors of Paintbrush. Flowers that were closed in the cool morning had opened up by the time we passed them again on the way down. We crossed the stream on logs and rocks several times, and saw a gorgeous cascading waterfall. We vowed to hike this trail again before the flowers fade. Here are a bunch of photos in no particular order.

Lake Isabelle

On July12, Val and Carol hiked to Lake Isabelle.  This is the most beautiful hike so far (if one can be said to be more beautiful than another).   Once again we neglected to take pictures so my substitutes will have to do!

Val and Carol on the trail to Lake Isabelle

Lake Isabelle.  We were on top of the world!

We saw Parry Primrose and Rockcress.

Shooting stars, marsh marigold and globe flower, paint brush.  Too many to mention them all.  Now hussies, let's get back on track.  Real pictures next time!!

Ouzel Falls

On July 6, Beth and Carol hiked to Ouzel Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park.  It was a beautiful hike but rather like an outing to Wash Park there were so many hikers!  We forget that people from all over the world come here to hike our mountains!  We did not take cameras so I  found some to illustrate our lovely day!

 There are actually three falls on this hike.  This is the first: Copeland falls.

This is the second which is actually in three parts, called Calypso Cascade.

And the

Pièce de résistance:  Quzel Falls

We were able to almost stand under it.

 

We saw a lot of this also.  All in all it was a beautiful day!

Other Pictures From Three Mile Creek

Here are some other pictures I took at Three Mile Creek.  It was a beautiful morning, cold and the dew and mist rising was lovely.  Hope some of these captured that.

Three Mile Creek

This is the most beautiful hike so far.  Three Mile Creek in the Mount Evans Wilderness.  We went to the "backside" of Mount Evans.  What a wonderful hike!  I think there were 19 crossings of the creek.

Reynolds Park

Val, Beth and Carol hiked Reynolds Park in Jefferson County on June 24. The hike was quite lovely, one suggested in the Best Wildflower Hikes book.  Unfortunately, we did not take a camera, although Beth and Val took camera phone pictures but I haven't seen any results! Here's some pictures from an anonymous hiker.  I remember a wonderful meadow of wildflowers!

Matthews Winter Park

May 10, Connie and Carol had a terrific hike in Matthew Winters Park.  It was cloudy and cool and absolutely beautiful.  Connie took pictures with her iphone and uploaded to Facebook.  Here's a picture:

Time to Catch Up!

It's time to catch up on all the hikes we have NOT blogged about. I will also have to fake pictures as we stopped snapping.  What happened hussies? As my memory isn't what it used to be, I will try to remember where we went. Anyway,  there are two hikes I remember from April.

  Val, Beth and Carol hiked to Marshall Mesa and the South Mesa Trail right outside Boulder.  We met at the famous hippie gas station and hiked Marshall Mesa first then drove to the South Mesa Trail and had lunch.  Beth brought "strawberry shortcake!!" for dessert. Then we hiked South Mesa Trail.  I know it was lovely and beautiful and I know we thought we were very lucky. This is not us: but it is the trail!

The second hike was also Val, Beth, and Carol hiking in Deer Creek Canyon.  For some reason I mostly remember that Val has (had) a beautiful home.  Here's a description of the park.

This picture of the trail reminds me that I was almost killed by a bicyclist who was speeding UP the trail and almost ran up off the path down a rock cliff!  It was a bad memory.

I also remember that the wind nearly carried us away.

A great front range hike!