Rockies, Lizard Head Pass, Little Molas Lake July 14, 2019

Sunday, July 14

51 degrees and sunny this morning with drifting white clouds.

 We hang out a bit at this beautiful site this morning, as Beth does some writing and Greg explores a bit, coming across this sign!  Maybe we should pan for gold at our site.
  We fix blueberry pancakes for breakfast, and then continue north toward Telluride, crossing Lizard Head pass and Trout Lake.  The Trek is struggling a bit on these steep climbs and we need to stop to let the engine cool down.

Telluride is another ski town and apparently is having some sort of Cycling event now - town is very busy. Lots of shops, galleries and restaurants.  We continue through town to the parking area for Bridal Veil Falls.  We can see it in the distance, as well as some smaller falls,  and a ranger tells us it is only a 1.6 mile hike to the base.  There is a road, but it is definitely not for the Trek, with deep ruts and switchbacks, though these mountain bikers don't seem to have a problem!

We head out and walk about a mile or so, all up hill,  but the altitude gets to Beth.  Hard breathing,  plus an ear issue (fluid behind the ear, which the altitude seems to aggravate). There are still patches of snow in the area.

This is as close as we get.  We are disappointed, but Greg doesn't want to go on alone, so we hike back to the parking area.  These daisies are bursting forth near the parking lot.  I understand the "fresh as a daisy" cliche.

We leave Telluride and continue north to Placerville, then 62 to Ridgeway and south to Ouray.  This whole area was mined for silver and other minerals and some old mining buildings remain.

Beautiful mountain scenery with water falls, lots of evergreens and aspen, and we stop again to allow the engine to cool.

 We decide to head for Little Molas Lake campsite which had been recommended.   Beautiful location by the lake.

It isn't very large - maybe 10 free sites - and we are lucky to grab the last one!  We get the impression most folks are here for multiple days - BLM and Forest Service allow 14 day stays.  It rains for a little while, then clears, leaving a gorgeous sky.

 The moon is 3/4 and bright, but lots of clouds soon hide it as well as most stars.