Vaughn Lake, CO near White River National Forest
July 14-16, 2016
We feel like we just haven't fit enough camping into the summer with all that has been going on and all the other fun stuff we have crammed in. So...off we go to the high country in northern Colorado. We headed to Vaughn Lake and Trapper's Lake. As we studied the area, we found that all these dirt roads and trails are connected and if we had our RZR, we could go all the way through to another of our favorite camping places: Coffee Pot! Oooh, plans for the future are bubbling up! The most amazing thing about this place is the color: green green everywhere and the wildflowers were at their peak! I had made a joke earlier about combining the two lakes and saying we are going to Von Trapp lake and Kevin teased me saying: this isn't the sound of music! But being surrounded by lush green hills and mountains, it was difficult not to spin a circle and burst into song! Huge fields of Columbine, yellow sunflowers, Larkspur, and all sorts of other flowers surrounded everything.You can't go wrong if you are in a place with Columbines and Larkspur! You know that Monk's Hood and Little Pink Elephant Heads will be close by! And we found them too!
Since we arrived on a Thursday, we had the lake practically to ourselves! Peaceful and quiet with birds chirping everywhere and the bees buzzing all over the yellow sunflowers and columbines. Along with the bees came the mosquitos and flies, which were, at times, almost unbearable. But, we layered ourselves with bug spray and still managed to get at least a dozen bites each! On our first night, we headed down to the lake for some evening fishing. Caught about six or seven, but mostly enjoyed the peace and playing by the lake. S'mores by the campfire and off to bed!
On Friday, we decided to check out Trapper's Lake which was a beautiful like as well, but all the surrounding hills had been burned in a fire in 2002, it would have been so beautiful before the fire. Because Trapper's Lake was flies only, we decided to do a hike to a different little Lake called Big Fish Lake. There were no big fish in Big Fish Lake! No fish, but hundreds of flies! It was a three mile hike to the lake and was beautiful winding through meadows, trees, open areas and lots of cows! There were quite a few river crossings, including one that was pretty wide. Jadeyn took a tumble in it on the first crossing, and I took a tumble in it on the second crossing, and I took Jadeyn with me! Hiking in wet boots was not that fun! But the hike was really fun and rewarding. When we got up to the lake the wind picked up and the flies arrived, so we had lunch, didn't stay long, and then headed back down. If only there were as many fish as their were flies! Back to camp for some dinner and more s'mores around the campfire and off to bed.
The only bummer part about the trip was Jadeyn was a little sick, and Kevin was very sick! Poor guys! I think that the 6 mile hike might have been a bit much for how sick Kevin was, so we decided to head back home on Saturday. We went home by way of Rocky Mountain National Park again and enjoyed the spectacular beauty of the mountains and the elk.
Jayden's favorite parts of the trip were fishing. His comments: We went fishing and hiking it was really fun and we caught a lot of fish and we had a campfire and s'mores. And we slept in the tent, and it was super fun
On the way, we stopped at Rocky Mountain National Park so we could participate in a Ranger Hike. Of all the countless times we have visited this park, we can't believe that we haven't taken the time to do Jadeyn's Junior Ranger Badge! The hike was part of the requirement. We met our Ranger at Medicine Bow and totally expected a 30 minute walk and talk. Over two hours later we were so happy we were a part of this hike! We learned so many amazing details about the alpine tundra and just how special it is!
We learned about how old some of the plants could be, and how low to the ground they have to grow because of the wind and cold temperature. Some of the willow trees were only 2 inches high! The Alpine Sunflower only reaches 3 inches and finally make one blossom after 20 years! They only bloom one time in there life. The nature walk was amazingly informative as we learned about all the plants and animals in the area. We loved every single belly flower we were introduced to (the ones that are best appreciated laying on your belly!). Alpine Bistort, King's Crown, Alpine Forget Me Nots (my very favorite!), Saxifrage! But it was very well worth it. Oh, and the highlight: while we were crouching on the ground sheltering from the wind by a low shrub, we happened to glance over and saw slight movement in the rocks: two Ptarmigan! These birds are so well camouflaged and are so hard to spot! There they were, happily munching on alpine flowers!
