What Is All That Green Stuff?

Look at all this green stuff that showed up around our house this week!  Its been brown or white here for so long that I'd forgotten what a green lawn looked like.  That's what a few days of cool but sunny spring weather can do after a late snowstorm.  We had another storm last Wednesday and it sure seems like the grass and flowers liked the moisture. 

As I reported in my last blog entry, Ben and I were longing for a little getaway and a rematch with the Hanging Lake Trail in Glenwood Springs, so we slipped it in on Monday and Tuesday, after our Monday morning Meals on Wheels run and before the storm which was predicted for Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning.   We made the three hour drive Monday afternoon, spent an hour at the Glenwood Hot Springs (ah, bliss!) and then had a good dinner at the fun and excellent Pullman restaurant, conveniently located next door to the Denver Hotel, where we stayed.  We were up early the next morning to hit the trail.  

We had twice before tried this hike in the early spring only to find it too icy and snow-covered for safe passage.  This time we came equipped with our crampons (strap on ice-walkers) and hiking poles.  They made all the difference.  Well, it probably also helped that I was in better shape this year.  This hike is among the most popular in the state, but that doesn't mean it's easy.  It's a mile and a half of unrelenting "up," (1135 feet), quite steep and very rocky.  

When you are close to the end of the hike the National Forest Service has installed a series of handrails you use to safely ascend up the last steep section....

photo by CLaP at claplist.weebly.com

...from which you get a wonderful view across the canyon you just hiked up and off to the mountains.  It's very dramatic.

And at the top is the lake itself, very beautiful with several waterfalls emptying into a turquoise lake.  It's called Hanging Lake because one side of it "hangs" over the edge of canyon, held in place by a natural dam.   There is a drop off of 100 feet or more on the dam side. 

A short hike above Hanging Lake is Spouting Rock, a waterfall that comes directly out of the rock and then flows into the lake below.  Ben went up and took this photograph which he kindly texted to me as I rested at the lake.    

 We celebrated our climb with an early evening visit to the Iron Mountain hot springs (ah, bliss again!) and another wonderful dinner, this time at Juicy Lucy's, a great steak and seafood place right near our hotel.

Then it was an early bedtime since we were tired out and the storm was coming!  We were on the road by about 7:30 a.m. and wonderful Ben drove three hours through snow showers,  "wintry mix," and thick fog to get us safely home.  It was scary to me but the mountain scenery was pretty.

Here are plows near Vail pass (11,000 feet) all ready for the troubles the day would bring.  I read later that parts of this road were closed during the afternoon when the really bad weather hit. 

We were glad to be home and we settled in to enjoy the three-inch snow that fell in Boulder late Wednesday afternoon and through the evening. 

Will that be the end of the snow around here?  When I see our lawn turning so green, I think maybe it will be.  But often we have snow in early May, sometimes even on Mother's Day even, so we're not putting the snow shovel away quite yet!