What a glorious day!
Slightly chilly, very overcast, but an absolutely gorgeous walk through the woods. An aspen leaf carpet was laid out in front of us as we wound through the trees. The breeze (who am I kidding?? the “wind”) caused it to seem as if it was raining aspen leaves. The colors were, as always, breathtaking. I wish I could come up with a different word. Awe-inspiring. Vibrant. Brilliant. Dazzling. (That’s a good one, eh?) Radiant. Luminous. There–that’s enough of the thesaurus for now. I hope you get the picture. The colors were truly gorgeous, even without the sunlight backlighting the leaves and making them glow.
We went to the eagle catch. Eagle Catch # 2 as we call it. The first summer we were here we hiked up to the first one. My hiking partner was only 3 1/2 years old at the time and we took the front face up which is VERY steep. As in I was thinking to myself that I really didn’t know what I was thinking when we set out. We were practically on our knees close to the top. Maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. The next year we walked a little further up the road and cut up to the top through the saddle, which was a mite bit less steep. The next year we went to the end of the road and then up the back side to the top of Eagle Catch #2. Still steep, but not quite as bad as the front face. This year the trip went much quicker…longer legs? Six and a half years versus three and a half? Bittersweet for sure. I miss the little toddler. I love the young girl blossoming in front of my eyes. The heartbreak of being a mother, yes? That’s a whole other story for another day.
Back to the beauty all around us. I couldn’t stop taking pictures, trying to capture it all for posterity’s sake I suppose. My hiking partners got a little fed up and I finally stopped. Too windy up top to eat our requisite PB& J, so we stopped on the way down, hunkered underneath a towering pine. Buck got the crusts, as usual. In fact I think that’s one of the only reasons he goes on the hikes with us. He knows, as soon as he sees the backpack come out, he’ll get a tasty treat!
We made it down just in time. The skies darkened ominously and started spitting little white things. Back at the house, the moisture picked up but turned to rain. The temperature had dropped significantly since we started out, making the hot chocolate and marshmallows all the sweeter!
Enjoy our pics!
