A Day of Hiking- Big Meadow Recreation Area- South Fork, Colorado

Our hike for today located about ten miles from South Fork on 160; it is a very long hike, so we have decided to do 2.5 miles up and then back--5 miles; the trail length is over 11 miles.  I like that they posted the tracks to look at for :)

The trail really begins at Big Meadow Reservoir, a popular place for fishing and primitive camping.

Much of the first part of the trail ran along the lake.

well, this looks easy...there is still a dot of snow on the distant mountains

a beautiful day for a hike

the trail veers away from the lake after awhile and starts climbing

We love it when we come across signs like these :)

Jeanette pondering over the warning.

there were several steep climbs that made us think we are getting too old!

It is a beautiful hike; too bad those pine beetles destroyed so much of the forest

After 2.5 miles we stopped for lunch; the trail flowed a creek.  The forest had so many fallen trees and overgrowth that it was hard to make our way to a spot...but we found a nice little area

where we could meditate a bit

and enjoy our lunch

the water was cold and clear

butterflies were everywhere  as well as some pesky flies

this butterfly found him a spot to rest

I don't always share my sandwiches with insects but....

heading back to the car...oh, our knees!

a peek at the creek we were following; too bad the trail just didn't go along the banks of it instead of up and down :)

there were several waterfalls that we could not get to

Of course how can you not enjoy walking in fields of flowers !

so delicate

these guys were the only wildlife we saw today

Storm clouds are on schedule...summer monsoons usually pop up around 2, but we got a good hike in !