Scenes from Living the High Life, Part Two

Thanks to a tip from Jerry the line cook, Wiley and I set off from the Avalanche Warning sign, at about 10,600 feet above sea level, directly through a beautiful montane forest rich in the heady scents of pine, juniper and flowers.



The forest opened up into meadows and semi-tundra at about 11,400 feet. That's the Continental Divide in the background, and AdventureDog in the foreground:







The further up we went (the trail was entirely uphill, not too steep but relentless), the more trees we saw like this one. Struck by lightning? Diseased? Just worn down to a nub by the elements? Who knows, but I love the eerie shape of it.

Another shot from the trail... today, when thanking Jerry for the tip, I learned that he skis down that ridge (in background) in winter. Awesome cook, sweet guy, gorgeous hair, but clearly not quite right in the head.

Here's another shot of the cirque (background) that Jerry calls his winter playground. In the foreground, you can see an old, unused aqueduct that used to bring the water from the mountains down to the plains. If you've got a good eye, you can see the aqueduct continuing along the bottom of the cirque, roughly in the middle of the photo (at that distance it looks almost like tire tracks from a car):

And finally, a close-up of some flowers beside a rushing stream. Awwwww: