Globetrotting Tigers: May 25 – Our Last Day in the Mountains

Some flowers we had to adorn the cabin

Steve and Susan quietly departed for Missouri about 4:30pm; I doubt they could see the rising waters in Fall River at that hour. Thunderstorms last night produced some big time flooding outside of most creek, stream, and riverbanks. Debbie and I are quite lucky because after breakfast at “Nicky’s” we drove into the park to the Cub Lake Trailhead and enjoyed the scenic path, boulders, and birds! Yes, birds! What am I going to do with my wife; she is becoming a fulltime birder. At every sound she had her camera in position and moved about the pine trees steadily and quietly. It was fun to watch and I must admit the birds were singing this morning. I suppose that is why they call them songbirds! We were lucky because just as we were leaving the skies opened up with more rain to dampen those still on the trail.

David crossing the bridge on the trail

Because of the forecast for even more rain tomorrow, we changed our hotel reservation in Kansas, called Linda to alert her that we would pick up Chewy at 4:00pm, packed our bags, the car, rested in our cabin enjoying the intermittent raindrops and prepared for departure. We leave at 3:45pm.

Chewy is delighted to see us, but it is obvious he has made new doggy friends, particularly with “Scout,” Linda’s dog. His tail is a bit matted, in fact very matted! He gives out hug after hug and kiss after kiss on Hwy 36 as we make our way to Lyons, Colorado. The devastation from the September ’13 flood is so obvious it is heartbreaking. Entire houses are covered with rock and mud and boulders have been pushed along like they were as heavy as a feather. Where there once was beautiful pine trees and rustic homes there is a dessert like scene with boulders randomly scattered here and there. As one would expect the worst damage occurred when the canyon narrowed and the water came to a bend in the river; there we witnessed the greatest devastation.

Flooding is beginning

Dark clouds seemed to loom behind us, and later we discovered that the rains from them caused more flooding in the mountains. Our decision to leave early was very smart. Out of Lyons we took Hwy 66 to I-25 to E470, the Toll Road connecting with I-70 considerable west of Denver. We arrive in Ellis, Kansas in about 6.5 hours tired and exhausted but happy to be on our way home.

Debbie will post pictures from the Cub Lake Trail and a few others that have not been previously shared. Suffice it to say here that we made it to Columbia the next day without any unexpected interruptions; albeit the Memorial Day traffic picked up considerably between Kansas City and Columbia – some crazy drivers for sure.

Overflowing river banks

It was a wonderful time in the mountains; perhaps the best ever. Having our friends Steve and Susan with us made it particularly enjoyable. The whiteout on Trail Ridge Road will undoubtedly be remembered forever; our mentors Zweig and Even teaching us to be birders will forever affect our travels; the hundreds of Elk, deer, big horn sheep; a marmot here and there; meals that would wet any appetite; and the ubiquitous presence of beautiful birds, will stay with us for a very long time.

I hope you have enjoyed the story; all the mistakes, misspellings, poor syntax, and other errors are mine alone. But you know, in the big scheme of things, those are very small matters. Have a quality day.