Continued from previous page . .

I turned around at about 11,000 feet and had a couple thousand foot drop in 3½ miles. I took these photos in order on the way down:

 

I got back down to the camper at the base of the mountain in about half the time it took me to walk up because I was trying to outrun a storm coming in from the south. I walked fast, did some shuffling, and even did a little bit of what some folks might consider "running." (Don't tell my orthopedist.)

It worked. I got into a little bit of sleet where I turned around but no rain until the last couple of minutes near the camper.

Once again, I wondered what the Hardrock runners were experiencing out on the course. By Saturday morning they were spread out over more than 40 miles in those mountains.

 

 

 

Doesn't look so good to the south . . .

On the way down the mountain I could hear the steam train huffing and puffing its way toward Silverton but I wasn't in a position to see it until I was nearly back to the camper:

 

 

TODAY'S HIKE AT THE BASE OF KENDALL MOUNTAIN

After lunch I walked Cody over to the ponds at the base of Kendall Mountain where we were camped during the race.

There are some scenic views toward the ski lodge and other buildings and houses in town from this vantage point:

 

Beaver lodge

I was surprised how many flowers were in bloom this weekend. I walked over here a week ago and didn't see nearly as many then:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above and below:  one of the more intriguing alpine wildflowers -- Elephant's head

See the "trunks" and "ears?"

SCENES IN TOWN

After my hike today I took a bike ride around town.

There are some very interesting houses in Silverton, including this one with bright poppies blooming in the yard and a variety of sleds leaning against the side:

Jim also rode the bike today, watched a Netflix movie on the TV, read e-mail, worked on the camper to prepare for our drive to Colorado Springs tomorrow, etc. When he went to dump trash and get water he stopped at the Forest Service office to talk with Barry, the host at the South Mineral Creek dispersed campground. He’s a nice guy; I’m glad we got to meet him.  

Just before 6 PM we could see/hear the Silverton Brass Band assembling a block from our camper on Reese Street.

After they walked over to Main Street, playing their instruments, I remembered that they give a free concert each Sunday evening. I've heard them play in the annual July 4^th parade. They’re good.

I could hear them from the camper but wanted to see them and mingle with the onlookers so I got
Cody and walked a block and and half to their location (above).

I saw Roy, Laura, and Barry and talked with them about 15 minutes. Cody was getting antsy so I returned to the camper. I'm glad I could say good-bye to those three folks.

 
Roy and Laura listen to the brass band.

While I was listening to the brass band Jim went to the visitor’s center to get on their WiFi and watch another movie. Even in town we can’t get any TV stations with just our camper antenna. Jim will be a happy boy when we get to the Air Force Academy CG and he can watch TV again.

He did make the comment recently, however, that it’s nice to not hear as much "news" as we do when we have several local and national stations available – the "news" is often repetitious, negative, and/or skewed politically. We like to pick and choose the "news" we want to read from several different websites that offer a wider variety of perspectives than the mainstream media does.

 
More pretty flowers from the ponds near the ski lodge

It’s always a little sad when we leave Silverton because we always have a good time here.

I’d love to hike up to Ice Lake and Clear Lake again, now that more snow has melted. There are so many more flowers blooming today in the valley than a week ago; I know more are out at the higher elevations, too. And I didn’t get a chance to hike up to Highland Mary Lakes or the new CT section north of Stony Pass . . .

It seems I always leave several things "undone" wherever we visit! All the more reason to return.

This has been a reflective, tiring week. We needed this decompression time today. After one more night's sleep we'll be ready to hit the roads and trails again.

Next entry:  back at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, another place that feels like "home" to us

Happy trails,

Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil, and Cody the Ultra Lab

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© 2011 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil