The hiking and biking just gets better and better, I tell you what! We hiked by ourselves and with friends. We biked around the neighborhood and all the way to Huntsville! We got to enjoy plenty of wildflowers, cool temps, sunsets, and a rainstorm on our outings this month!
4 July 2021: Slow Poke to Sundown
Can't think of a better way to celebrate America's birthday than a Sunday walk in the mountains surrounded by wildflowers (nature's fireworks!). Glorious!
This was a research hike for tyke hikes, but I also invited some friends who had specifically asked about group hikes this summer to come along. We had a good little group show up and enjoyed a fun hike to the pond.
 |
| Moms = Kim, Holly, Marin and Mackensie Kids = Leo, Harvey, Claire, Ezzy, Jonas, and three new friends that I can't remember their names (oops!) |
 |
| I just love that reflection! And also, that beaver lodge is new (ish). |
8 July 2021: Old Highway Solo Walk/Hike
I needed a good solo walk and took my chance one lovely evening to get down to the Old Highway trail at sunset. It was simply gorgeous!
 |
| It's sunflower season! |
 |
| I just can't get over how low the lake is this year! |
 |
| This is where we played at the beach last year (that sand bar at the bottom of the pic was the beach and the water was where the green grass is just past it!), |
 |
| Wowza! |
10 July 2021: Bike ride to Hunstville Park
A Hiawatha training ride and a check on our summer bucket list! The kids improved our time from last year and did awesome!
 |
| Plenty of beach at middle inlet! (Yikes!) |
 |
| Sometimes when we ride along this stretch the water is at the bottom of those rocks! |
 |
| Almost to Huntsville! |
10 July 2021: Solo Walk to pay the water bill
And I saw a bunch of cranes in the field across the street from the Eden Waterworks office.
18 July 2021: Lightning Ridge
Another hot Sunday, another lovely hike at Pow Mow. This time we turned right at the saddle at the top of Slow Poke and headed up Lightning Ridge. We spent some time in the aspens on the hammock, exploring the cliffs a little higher up, and even made it to the shack at the base of James Peak. Since it was late enough, we stayed a bit longer just to "watch a sunset in the mountains" (and check another summer bucket list item off the chart!).
 |
| Grass blossoms. Whoa! |
 |
| I really want to eat these itty bitty peas. But I didn't. |
 |
| Butterfly heaven tonight! |
 |
| Practicing some bouldering skills. |
 |
| Gregg moved his hammock up the hill so we could all hang out together near the cliffs. |
 |
| Group shot at the top of lightning ridge! What a buncha goofs! |
 |
| Photo by Sam |
 |
| And again by Sam. |
 |
| Sunset starting! |
 |
| This is the life! |
20 July 2021: Another Evening Walk to the Lake
 |
| The sky was so pretty! |
 |
| Our "secret beach" is getting further and further away from the water. |
27 July 2021: Old Highway
Sam and I rode our bikes to the lake one morning and then walked across the old highway. Broken record alert here, but I can't believe how low the reservoir is!!
 |
| Pretty lush where it's typically water or just mud. |
 |
| Lots of cranes here (though they're hard to see in the photo). We counted 13 total on our outing! |
 |
| Crossing the bridge was super easy today! |
 |
| These are the buoys we walk out to in the winter when they're frozen in the ice! |
28 July 2021: Bicentennial Middle Fork Loop
This was a new(ish) hike for us - always a fun thing! We had hiked up the bicentennial trail a ways before, and we had hiked on the river trail a ways before, but never had connected the two in the middle. Plus, it was raining when we started and we hiked in it anyway, ready with umbrellas and jackets and old shoes. It was perfect! We didn't see another soul besides a moose (!!) and a juvenile eagle (!!). Glorious in every way!
 |
| We saw a rainbow, too, but it didn't photograph well. |
