Out in the wilds of Colorado

So I've been doing this trail running thing for a few years now. I'm no pro, obviously, but I've been working on my milage. I learned a couple weeks back that 20 miles in the heat is no good. This week I dialed it back to 6 very pleasant miles up Ben Tyler trail. I love running through aspen groves next to a creek. I wish it was less of a drive.

Aspen grove and Ben Tyler trail. 

I also went on a photography outing with my friend (incidentally back to the scene of the crime of my previous grueling trail run.) We found some pretty birds.

mountain bluebird

goldfinch

Last weekend, I went white water rafting for the first time. It was super fun! But I won't be able to afford doing that regularly. No photos of that though as I haven't got a waterproof camera and the professional photos were exorbitantly priced.

The weekend before that, we revisited the Black Canyon National Park. It really is quite impressive.

Black Canyon

Friends. 

And the weekend before Black Canyon we took an impromptu hike to Mills Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.

After just over 8 years in animal care, I landed a new job at my work. It's a newly created position that will involve driving and paperwork. It will be good to change some things up for sure.

The escape.

It's finally, officially Autumn! It was a great transition, on the night of the 12th, after work, my boyfriend and I left the city. Early that week, it was hot, like 90s hot. Starting on the 11th it had begun raining rather intensely. So we left. Took our long awaited trip to Glacier National Park. We left behind the recent heat and the deluge. We found refuge in the north and returned to a wonderful Colorado Fall. Here are some highlights from our trip. 

After driving out of Wales (er, Colorado) we slept in the car off the side of I25 in the middle of Wyoming. The next day we drove through the rest of Wyoming and essentially all of Montana. On Saturday we hiked around 9 miles (round trip) to Iceberg Lake. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen.

 Glacier National Park.

hiking to Iceberg Lake.

yes, my feet in the water with an iceberg.

seriously, a lake full of icebergs.

very fun-shaped icebergs. 

Because of the way the cliffs face, this spot hardly ever gets sun. Perhaps an hour or two in the height of summer. So the snow and ice melts very slowly and hangs around in the water. It's absolutely breathtakingly beautiful.

We also hiked to St. Mary's Falls. 

St. Mary's Falls

After driving Going-To-The-Sun Road over Logan Pass, we hiked through some western cedars up Avalanche Creek to Avalanche Lake.

Avalanche Creek

Avalanche Lake

After leaving the Park, we visited Flathead Lake. A lake famous for being crystal clear even when it gets really deep. We didn't get to go out on it, but even from the shore (which was just smooth stones, no mud) we could tell that they weren't lying to us about the clearness.

Flathead Lake.

Hungry Horse Reservoir at daybreak. One of our camping sites.

We left Montana and headed south back down through Grand Teton National Park. These are mountains that I love immensely. They are striking in their shape and beauty and the fact that they spring up out of nowhere as the tallest thing for many miles.

Our last morning was a foggy one, I ended up with a really neat shot:

It was an amazing trip. I want to go back and stay in that area for months. I want to backpack and get lost for days in Glacier. Alas, we left the animals here and had to return. Oh and the whole job thing.

Next year.