Success! Jo and I made it to Granite Falls! We decided that the only way to get to the trailhead in a decent amount of time was to get up super early because off all the construction work going on in RMNP. I was so proud of us! We got up at 4:00, left at 4:30, and were in the park in time to watch the sunrise.
The good thing about being up so early is that dawn and dusk are the best times to spot wildlife. Jo and I were so excited to see these moose hanging out in a meadow as we drove by. We flipped a U-turn to take some pics. Jo and I see tons of deer and elk, but we hardly ever see moose, so it's exciting for us.
We made it to the trailhead at about 7:00. It was chilly in the morning, but it was suppossed to be a hot day, so we went without jackets.
It was a very moist trail, with lots of little streams and marshes along the way. It was a peaceful morning, with all the soft light and morning bird songs.
The sun was still rising as we walked along, allowing us to get have some unique lighting for pics. Jo got this awesome shot of a spider web just outside one of the many meadows we passed.
We couldn't resist stopping and sunning ourselves in the meadows, because it was quite chilly in the shadowy forest without jackets. The warm sun felt so good!
Eventually we came to a big meadow. The big meadow, actually. This is called, appropriately enough, Big Meadows.
As we followed the trail, the meadow peeked out at us through the trees.
The lodgepole pine forest was lovely.
We walked along a river, which made since since we were on our way to a waterfall.
The foam on the water was making some pretty patterns.
We passed several little mountain streams along the way.
As always with waterfalls, the pictures don't do it justice. But in real life the falls were gigantic, with tons of water- literally- crashing into the rocks. It was loud and spectacular.
Here's a shot downstream. We had the whole place to ourselves. It was so cool!
After taking it all in, we found a nice flat rock to sit on while we munched on gorp and continued to admire the falls.
We didn't want to leave! After half an hour or so, we had to start back. But before we left, Jo made sure to take one of his famous "feet shots."
Remember how I said that Jo and I hardly ever see moose? Well, not only did we see the two moose on the drive over, but we were also lucky enough to spot this mama moose with her gangly baby grazing in a meadow as we hiked back.
I think that witnessing such beauty inspired Jo to stop and perform some Joga on the trail. He can't help it; sometimes he just needs to feel his Life Force flow through his supple limbs.
We spotted some sort of wild orchid on the trail, which thrilled me to death. I lovelovelove orchids, so this is possibly my favorite wildflower find to date.
We also spotted this beauty.
And another variety of orchid, not quite in bloom. Score!
Jo took some time to say goodbye to Big Meadows....
...before we hit the trail again.
We made it back to the car, dipped our feet in the ice cold stream, and hit the road. I've decided that the west side of RMNP is my favorite. It's a shame it's so far away, but I'm sososo glad we came back to visit Granite Falls, the coolest falls I've seen in the park.
And, as a parting shot, check out this amazing dirty-car artwork. So nice!