Tales from Kobi: Gem Lake

Yesterday Mom and I went on an adventure with her friend, Susan. Originally we were going to hike the Anne U. White Trail in North Boulder, Colorado. We got there and not only was there a "trail closed" sign, but there was a ranger to remind folks that the trail was closed. So I guess that meant we couldn't go hiking there. :-)

So Mom suggested we go hike Cub Lake, near Estes Park. Susan was game so off we went on an hour excursion. We decided to stop at the Visitor's Center and learned Cub Lake was in the Rocky Mountain National Forest and there would be a $20 fee. If we didn't want to do that we could go to Gem Lake. That trailhead was only a few minutes away and no fee. 3.6 miles/ 1090 ft elevation gain.

So here we are at the Lumpy Ridge trailhead that would take us to Gem Lake. Mom is practicing with her brand new Osprey Aura 65 AG pack with a 23 pound load including water. That's a good start since she'll be carrying more than that on The Colorado Trail. As you can see, it's another beautiful Colorado day, but I'm getting impatient. Let's get going already!

The view up ... where we're going is somewhere up there. It seems to be a popular trail. We saw quite a few people, but at least it didn't feel like a super highway.

Mom's first effort at a foot bridge with a pack on her back. She did great. That bridge was too arrow for me to navigate. I didn't like it. Notice I'm just plodding through the water. Ahh, cool on my little paw pads.

The smell of pine is heavenly high in the mountains with a little breeze. Nice.

And the views are stunning!

Look there, rock shelves that look like they will slide right off.

The climb was steep. Stair steps. Mom did great. She must be getting stronger.

We made it to the lake. There were folks sitting on rocks enjoying the sunshine, having a snack. There were others climbing that rock wall on the other side of lake.

Mom taking a picture of Susan,

who taking a picture of these crazy people climbing the rock face without ropes or any protection.

We went around the lake a bit to stop for a sit. Mom and Susan snacked on plums. Suddenly the wind blew sand at us which made it less pleasant than we would have liked, so we didn't stay long before heading back down the mountain.

While Mom and Susan snacked a man came through and told us dogs were not allowed here (mind you he was about the 5th person to do so), that when we go down I should be put in Mom's pack so rangers don't see me. He proceeded to suggest that maybe Mom didn't speak English ... but what she was doing was illegal! Geez.

Susan and Mom had fun with that on the way down, calling him Mr. Obnoxious. Coming up with all kinds of retorts like, Sprechen si Deutch? Parlez vous francais? No hable Englais. At least we turned it around and had a bit of fun.

By the way, Mom never takes me on "no dogs" trails, but it seems she and Susan were too busy talking to notice the signs!!

This land is full of beauty at every turn.

And interesting rock formations.

There are Mom and Susan doing the double selfie thing. Gotta get a picture together and I sure can't take it for them. I can't figure out how to hold the camera. Haha.

On the way home after a great hike there were about a half dozen elk beside the road. Mom had to stop and get some pictures. Of course. So there we were stopped in the middle of the road.

Then Mr. Elk just sauntered in front of us. What a sight!