Globetrotting Tigers: May 23 – The Memorial Day Weekend Begins

The day started with a bird walk at the Cub Lake Trailhead

Rising early, Steve, Susan, and I head for the #1 eating establishment in Estes (The Donut Haus) and continue on to the Cub Lake Trailhead for the Ranger bird program. Debbie stays back to work on her grant and be there to participate in a scheduled skyped conference call with her research team.

We buy far too many donuts but wow, are they good! The morning is spectacular; clear blue skies, temperature working its way through the 50’s (but the intensity of the sun makes it feel like the 70’s). Our group numbers about 15 and after introductions we set out along the Cub Lake Trail. I immediately commit to bringing Debbie here, the beauty and serenity is breathtaking. If you don’t have a spiritual experience coming here, then you should not come to the mountains.

The birds are ubiquitous. Steve and Susan are in heaven, and the volunteer guide is a professional photographer, primarily of birds, and besides his knowledge of birds his demeanor and presentation of self is very pleasing and pleasant. His name is Richard Hahn and his website can be found at: AlpenglowImages.info, and on Facebook, www.facebook.com/hahn23. He also has a blogspot that can be found at:HahnDigitalArts.com.

My resting perch

I asked Steve to list all the birds we encounter along the trail and in the end his list is impressive:

Ruby crowned kinglet

Chipping sparrow

Green tailed towhee

Robin

Townsend solitaire

Broad tailed hummingbird

House wren

Barn swallow

Dusty flycatcher or cordelaine

Violet green swallow

Yellow-rumped warbler

Osprey

Sphinx moth

Song sparrow

Chipping sparrow

Ring-necked duck

Mallards

Canada geese

Brown headed cowbird

Western flycatcher

Tree swallow

Grackle

Crow

Magpie

To this list members of the animal kingdom can be added: a marmot, ground squirrels, chipmunks, elk (parents and babies), a herd of big horn sheep and an occasional human or two. And to everyone’s surprise, including our guide, near the beginning of the hike the solitude was suddenly dispatched by the bugling of a bull Elk. A surprise because that is rarely heard in the spring; the Fall is the time for mating and bugling. A few jokes were passed around about the aroused Elk. I can’t think of a thing that wasn’t special on this outing. In short, what a great morning for enjoying nature and its creatures!

Debbie stayed home to work

At one point the trail became a bit steep for me so I told the others to go on while I waited in a crop of boulders 50 feet or so above the path. In fact, I did more Feeling like a kid again; I climbed up along a rocky ridge and found a perfect perch. Two boulders made an excellent chair from which to view the valley. I took some “selfie” pictures, and after 10 minutes or so, was surprised to find that birds came to me. Being a novice it was impossible by any measure to know their names, but I could make out at least four different languages. The absolute quiet was only interrupted by their chirping and by an occasional plane flying overhead. During the quiet times, refreshing my soul, I did a good deal of meditating.

David resting at Lilly Lake

Following lunch on our cabin patio, we visited “Lilly Lake” about 7 miles south of Estes on Highway 7; located just inside the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park and across from the road to the Baldpate Inn is a delightful lake to walk around. I was beginning to get a bit loopy from an instant relief morphine tablet for a sore back, and began to see two lakes, not one. Steve, watching me walk along the path with my hiking poles decided to give me an Indian name, “Two Sticks.” Well, I certainly needed them, and realizing that I was mispronouncing words I decided to let Steve drive.

Snow higher than the car!

Well, Steve was a very good driver, but I should never have sat in the passenger seat after adding my regular dose of morphine to the instant one. We decided to have him drive us up the recently opened (at 10:15am this morning) Trail Ridge Road, the highest road in North America at more than 12,000 feet. Everything would have been normal, in fact like a “Sunday Drive,” but the clouds were gathering and it began to rain. Before we knew it we were driving beside snow along the side of the road, the shaved ice was often higher than our car. A bit anxious on morphine I began to give unappreciated directions and advice. Visibility near the top, inside a thick cloud, was less than 50 feet, very scary with at one point a 2,000 foot drop off the side of the road. Comments like, “watch out,” “slow down,” “look out,” “you’re on the center line,” “do you really need your wipers,” and on and on and on, were not well received but thankfully a bit hilarious. Finally Steve told everyone, “We need to get David a toy steering wheel with gadgets, a horn, and more.” Nevertheless, after making a U-turn at the 12,000+ mark, we were all relieved when we made it below the cloud. It was indeed a memorable experience.

Hang on!

Thick Fog

Returning downtown we enjoyed relaxing with Starbucks coffee on the Riverwalk before enjoying a delightful dinner back at Momma Rosa’s. The highlight of the evening, however, was re-discovering the Great Horned Owls sitting on their rock perch behind and high above the public library. A momma owl and two babies were so stunning and rare to be seen in public, a large crowd gathered below. Steve and Susan shared their binoculars with strangers, even a Kansas Jayhawk, and all were thrilled to see these beautiful birds. Steve was able to get excellent pictures. Just when we think we can never see something more spectacular in Estes and the National Park, three unbelievable owls surprise us. What a day!