More Estes.. long awaited update.

It has certainly been a while.  Jim and I are now in Crescent City, CA.  It feels good to be here.  We are right next to Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park.  It has more of a jungle feel as opposed to other ares with Redwoods.  Since we are close to the coast and several other parks, we'll be spending a few days here.

The following pictures are the last of Estes Park.  I can't believe it's been that long since I could upload.  These files are smaller and that seems to help.

With a view like that, waiting in line isn't so bad.

Now this is my kind of church.

Entering the tundra.  Yes, that's snow.  Generally it's against our religion to be near snow unless we are skiing, but this was pretty cool.  

Yes that's me.  I think Jim quickly turned back and sat in the car with the heat on.  Californian.

The town of Estes Park is at about 7,500 feet above see level.  This is at one of the highest areas we could drive to in RMNP, tundra zone.  I have about 5 layers on.  Can't believe I lived in Chicago most my life.

We took this picture to show the pine beetle damage in Grand Lake.  Apparently, the beetle is thriving because humans have controlled fire so well.  That's one theory anyway.  Fire will mostly likely win out in the end.  I wouldn't want to have a house nearby when that happens.  Currently, controlled fires are being attempted in some areas, but it's a big job.  

Thanks for your patience and thank you for reading.  Hugs all around.  

Greetings from Missoula, Montana

It's been a long time, but I prefer posting with pictures and that has proven to be tedious if not impossible.  The two pictures in this post are the only ones I've been able to download since the last post.  We've been asking around and may be able to purchase, yet another, gadget to boost our reception.  We spent the holiday in West Yellowstone and Yellowstone Park.  I'll give more details as the photos become available.  For now, it's story time....

Jim and I hired a guide to take us fly fishing in YSNP.  YSNP is known for its fly fishing and we weren't disappointed.  Jim was on fire.  He was catching fish left and right.  I was so happy for/annoyed with him.  The guide, Casey, and I were down stream working on my backhand, when we see a bull elk galloping toward Jim.  We shout to Jim, since he was sooo busy catching fish, he hadn't noticed.  This was a beautiful mature bull, nice rack.  Mind you, elk are not thought of as super aggressive animals, but this "massive beast" is coming up on Jim with a bit of speed.  Jim remains calm and starts waving his arms and calling to him in a dominant voice like you would to a horse or to cattle.  He's so cowboy.  But the bull's not stopping.  In fact, it hops into the river just above where Jim is wading.  

Meanwhile, Casey and I are far enough away that anything we did would be too late should the unthinkable happen (and believe me we were thinking it).  

Jim reeled in his line and slowly made his way to shore.  He told me later he saw a dead fall and was planning on jumping under it should the bull charge.  

Both Jim and the elk exited the river, but the elk still seemed interested in Jim.  The bull moved closer, but at the last minute the bull past Jim by and galloped down the river past Casey and I.  Casey and I grabbed our jaws off the river floor and made our way over to Jim.  Casey was astonished to say the least as he's been a fishing guide for the past three summers and had never heard of nor seen such behavior.  Feeling a great sense of relief, our dark senses of humor quickly took over as I accused Jim of spraying himself with elk pheromones.  Casey jumped right in mentioning his worries about liability and signing waivers.  

This story as written here is as close to the truth as it gets.  Should Jim relate this story at a later date, Casey and I will back up whatever he says, regardless of whether or not it contradicts this blog post.

Roaring River valley, RMNP

We arrived today in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  So far, we really like it here and plan on staying an extra day.  Next stops are Seattle and Vancouver.  We'll stay over night near Seattle and quickly move on to Vancouver.  In Vancouver, Jim is going on a wild life expedition, while I go on a meditation retreat on Salt Spring Island.  Next, we come back down and check out the Seattle area and gradually head south till we hit San Luis Obispo, CA.  

Till next time, never underestimate an elk.

Moose Montage

Marmot Montage

Estes Park, CO (pics)

This is Lake Lily, with white caps.  It was blowing.  Didn't hike here this time.

Donde estan las montanas?  

On a much sunnier day, they stocked the pond in the RV Park with trout and changed "fishing" to "catching".  We didn't par take.

Las montanas.

These remind me of L and E.  You can check out their blog which is listed in my blog roll in the right hand column of this page.  Ironically, they were just at Estes too.  They've been blogging for years.

Elk watching.

The kids taking a bath.

The men.

I throw like a girl, but I got him.

The perfect house for the mountains.  It has come to my attention that we didn't photograph my day of climbing nor our fishing adventure.  Sometimes it's good to set the camera down.  Fear not, we shall climb and fish soon.  I'll be sure to document both.  

Thanks for reading!