Pictures/Writing: Lyle Such
Camera: Canon 5d MkIV
Sunrise, day 3.
We crossed a nice river...a perfect place to refill our water supply.
We climbed out of the valley and got a nice view of Maroon Lake.
A rockslide mixed with snow. It was late enought in the season that this wasn't much of an obstacle. Any earlier and this can get pretty treacherous.
Slender cinquefoil
Another steep climb up to Trailrider Pass. I spent so much time and energy shooting flowers here that I almost didn't make it up the pass.
Colorado blue columbine. They really stand out against the green carpet.
The storms were far enough away that we didn't have to worry.
After descending from Trailrider Pass we came across this beautiful pond surrounded by rolling hills that were covered in wildflowers. I wish we could have camped here for another day or two, it was so beautiful and peaceful.
These guys have a really cool name: little elephantshead. When you zoom in close, they do look like little elephant heads.
Aspen grove.
The trail led us along a stretch of river that was sort of like a horizontal waterfall.
The only river crossing deep enough that required us to take off our shoes. At its deepest, it only went up to my knees.
The skies were darkening, but we wanted to get as far as possible so our final day would be a little shorter. Our campsite for the night was somewhere near the top of that waterfall. More climbing to end the day.
We made the climb and the view back down the valley was totally worth it.
Our camp was on the river just above the main waterfall. It was nice to be able to clean up a little bit and have the river noise to fall asleep to.