Blue Lakes

It was a little colder this morning at 6:00a ... only 42F. We had to run the propane furnace a bit longer to break the chill, but soon we were cozy. Unlike yesterday's mostly cloudy skies, today we expected full sunshine .... with nary a hint of rain. Yeah right ... that just ain't going to happen in the mountains!

We again left early to meet up with Sonia and Boris around 9:00a. The plan for the day called for us to drive to Blue Lakes — about ½-hour away — and do a short hike. All went well ... at first.

Boris managed the heavily-rutted Blue Lakes Road well ... even if we did all feel well and truly shaken by the time we reached the parking lot. We got out of the car, collected our hats and water bottles ... and decided to wear our jackets. At 11,710 feet, it was downright COLD! And the wind wasn't helping those temps.

In the end, it was the wind that put paid to our hiking plans. We made it as far as the overlook for the Lower Blue Lakes. Stopped to take a few photos and were nearly blown over. But we persevered ... for a few more minutes. The wind was just too strong ... and getting stronger the higher we went.

Returning to the car, we made our way to the parking lot at the bottom of the Lower Lake. We'd come down a little ways. Surely the wind would be a little lighter here. It wasn't. We walked down to the edge of the lake, took a couple of photos, and quickly returned to the car.

Calling it quits, we returned to Sonia and Boris's digs. Though it was still windy in Breck, it wasn't so bad that we could not sit out until Chef Mui called us to the table.

Our plan had been to have the Gelmans over to our place for lunch. But the picnic table at the site was in such sad shape that we moved the meal to their place. The menu was, therefore, planned accordingly ... with nothing requiring heating up. Heavy hours d’oeuvres basically — shrimp cocktail, salad, hummus, and guacamole with a variety of chips and crackers ... wrapping up with vanilla ice cream and blueberries ... or, in the case of Sonia, blueberries only.

Once again, no sooner were we in the car to return to the campground that it started pouring. But when we got to our site it was bone dry ... at least for 30 minutes. Then we heard the thunder and before long it was raining. On again. Off again. No matter, our dry camping modus operandi called for us to spend the early afternoon relaxing in the Cruiser anyway. A nap ... reading ... a few downloaded episodes of a TV show.

By the time we left for our afternoon outing, the rain was gone, though distant thunder and grey clouds kept us on alert. Instead of hiking down to the Dillon Reservoir shoreline, we decided to take another drive in the area ... checking out a bit of this and a bit of that. Nothing exciting. But beautiful scenery and peek-a-boo sunshine made for a delightful afternoon drive.

Once again, it was after 7:30p when we returned to the Cruiser. Not very hungry, we had some snacks and wine while we read and relaxed. I did a bit of writing, not too concerned about using up the battery on the laptop since we'll be going home tomorrow.

My one regret about the afternoon ... there was too much smoke from the campfires, so once again I was unable to sit on the patio to enjoy the great outdoors and watch the ground squirrels running around.Read more