Cub Lake Hike

I was itching to go to the mountains last weekend and was lucky enough to steal away for a day hike all by myself.  It was just what I needed!  The weather was gorgeous.  It turned out to be the big Elk Fest weekend, but it wasn't too crowded, and there were tons of elk.

Cloudscapes

Last spring I spent a few nights at the YMCA in Estes Park.  The sunrise over the mountains was beautiful, mainly because of the extraordinary clouds.  They are so dreamy!

apache plume

We have a really great little experimental gardens in town.  We discovered it last summer, but sort of forgot about it.  A few weeks ago, I headed back over for a look, and realized that it's a great place to take nature photos.  How did I forget about it?

It's full of plants that are native to the area and require very little water once established.  I love the unique varieties grown here.  This one is called apache plume.  It's a feathery looking shrub.  Love the texture on this plant!