Lakes and Wildflowers

Last year at this time, I was due to have a baby any moment! Well…that is, it didn't turn out to be as soon as I thought it might be—it never is—but, in any event, I did NOT feel up to hiking to see the wildflowers, even though I wanted to and even dreamed about it repeatedly during those weeks! So that means it's been TWO years since we last hiked my favorite wildflower hike, and last time we went the girls and Teddy looked like this:

Tiny!

This year we had to do all kinds of contortions as we tried to figure out HOW to fit the hike in. How could I leave Clementine early in the morning when she needs to nurse, who would be home with the little ones, who would drive the boys where they needed to go or how would we divide up the cars…it all seemed impossible until I realized that actually we did use to do this hike with ALL the children! Those days of taking all of them everywhere feel so far-off now, but in fact, I was quite capable of doing such a thing even by myself…once. Like this:

Oh! This picture gives me quite a pang. Those sweet little boys that used to love hiking with me!😥

AT any rate, we are not here to live in the past (are we?), but only to observe that I had to laugh at myself this year when I realized the answer to all our complications was just to take the littlest ones with us! So take them we did. It meant the pace of hiking was slower, and there was rather more whining (mostly just from one little cherub), but I also remembered how much I loved sharing these beautiful places with my little hikers in days of yore. It was fun to do it again, even if it did mean I had to carry a baby backpack!

We headed out early, though…not as early as I'd have liked…and decided to go up the Brighton Lakes side of the trail again. Sam had never been that way, and it's nice to have landmarks for the children to look forward to. The three lakes are perfect for that.

Sam started out carrying Clementine in the pack, but we realized after about five minutes that coaxing Gussie along was going to be the much harder task, so Sam switched me and I carried Clemmie. Gus really did do quite well, for his first hike, but it was good to have Sam there to just pick him up and carry him over a particularly rocky or steep section now and then.

Gus did very much like the construction equipment at the trailhead!

Teddy is an old pro at hiking now.

Sun coming up

I always particularly like these multi-colored patches of wildflowers!

Though, of course, I won't say no to pure yellow either.

Marigold surrounded by Elephanthead, her favorite!

(It really is the undisputed winner of "cutest flower." Look at their tiny trunks!)

There were several sections where the bluebells were growing en masse, like sweeping blue rivers. It reminded me of England. I didn't know they could grow in such profusion here! Except…I see I wrote nearly that same exact thing two years ago. So maybe I did.

Stopping to admire a chipmunk

When you get up higher, under the aspens, the yellows (these are showy goldeneye, I think?) really come into their own. Like little pieces of fallen sunshine.

Especially when the sun lights them up from behind.

Junie found a tiny daisy-flower

I didn't get a close-up of this tall whiteish flower, but I think it's California False Hellebore. Very pretty and feathery. And that's purple Monkshood around it, and some kind of yellow groundsel.

Here's the Monkshood up close ("perhaps the most poisonous plant on the planet," FYI)

Alpine Rose. I don't know if I've seen wild roses on these trails very often before!

Lupine and Paintbrush and Goldeneye

Bluebells

Paintbrush

The purple flower is Mountain Aster, and the white is Richardson's Geranium

Lupine

Forget-me-nots! I love them. There was a big mound of them by the trail in one spot:

More lupine

And more darling Elephant-head.

Some bright Sulfur-flower Buckwheat

Buttercups

More bluebells, and the white flower in front is Heartleaf Bittercress, I think.

I don't know what this is! Some kind of berry.

When we got to the first lake (Lake Mary) we took a little rest, and Ziggy and Gussie suddenly found themselves with all KINDS of energy to run around singing and chanting and pretending to be "mans" (this is what they always play—it means one of any kind of worker—the sprinkler man, the cabinet man, the lawnmower man, etc.)

Lupine above the lake

And even more lupine!

A resting-log

Junie carried the baby pack for a few minutes, before giving it back exclaiming that "I can't believe Clementine is so heavy!" Yes. Somehow babies manage to be tiny and heavy at the same time. One of life's mysteries!

I think this is Lake Martha. It was so reflective you almost couldn't even see it!

Daisy was hiking next to me when the other children had forged ahead, so for her reward she got to be in lots of pictures! :)

I don't think the yellows in this section were quite as profuse as they were last time, but still spectacular!

Looking way back down to Lake Mary

Haha, I like Teddy's face in this picture:

We ate our little breakfast at the bottom end of Lake Catherine. Didn't go up to the overlook this year, but Daisy and I are concocting a plan to do this hike again on her birthday and go all the way from one canyon to the other! We'd have to have Sam drop us off and pick us up. We'll see if we manage it.

Lake Catherine is the prettiest of the lakes, I think!

Here's Clementine, looking a little suspicious. (While we are living in the past, shall we just recall what Goldie looked like in this backpack a few years ago? She was a few months past age one here, I think: