Lincoln Gulch Campground

My family has been going to this campground near Aspen, Colorado at least every couple of years for as long as I can remember. It is the best campground we've ever seen! There are only 8 fairly rustic campsites in the whole place and they share a guys' and a girls' port-o-potty for doing your business (the campground water pump no longer works so you have to go to another campground a few miles down the road to fill your water jugs). Each site has a gravel driveway, picnic table and a fire ring.



We bought a 2-man tent on sale a few years ago and first used it at this campground:



Part of our campsite (the previous tenants were kind enough to leave us the table covering):



We had the best steaks on the grill:



What makes this place so great is all the cool rocks and rivers there.







On the south side of the campground is one river with a steep mountain on the other side of it. My sister, Karen, and I spontaneously climbed that mountain once--what an adventure!--and were pleasantly surprised to see from the top a 360 degree view of snowy mountains in the distance (we had no idea they were there!).



On the north side of the campground is another the river that has many small waterfalls and beyond that are the cliffs.





The east side has many huge rocks which are perfect for star gazing on. We call one of them the "whale" rock because it is large and rounded like a whale. It's easy to walk up.



We also watch the moon rise between some other mountains from this rock. This year the moon rose late and was the brightest I have ever seen it in my entire life. It was so stunning! It really lit the ground up like a floodlight! I could hardly tear my eyes away.



The west side has a river (the south river flows here and joins with the north river) and a short hike beyond that are The Grottos (rocks majorly carved by water over time).

After crossing the river on the west and wandering through some bushes, you can either hike the canyon or take the high easy path. I actually took the high road this time and took pictures of the canyon group down below.





Canyon hikers:



Tim with son, Daniel, taking picture of the rest of his family in the canyon below:



Janet helps Michael cross the last little stream before reaching The Grottos:



There is a cave that usually has lots of ice it in. This year it had already melted. Here are some climbing down to the entrance to the cave:







Chelsea and Greg in cave:



John climbed down into the cave from above (path for the really adventurous only!):



Greg and Chelsea exited the cave a different way...by climbing up this narrow chute (the narrow part is in the shade so you can't really see it):



Craig was off somewhere else with Minga so he couldn't join me for this picture:





Anna resting and snacking in the cave with her Grandmom:



Anna leading her grandparents out of the cave:



Waterfalls (the grand finale of the day trip):







Lindsay takes her sons further down the waterfall for a closer look:





Snack time at the top of the waterfall:





Hiking back to the campsite on steep but smooth rocks that are easy to traverse:

Minga in Colorado

Minga came with us to Colorado and she had a blast. She loved running in the fields and forest by my brother's house. She also loved roaming around with his neighbors' dogs and playing with their toys. She seemed to have fallen in love with an older "man" (a Golden Retriever named Cody)...they were inseparable outdoors.





Minga and Cody sharing a stick:





Minga slept in the back seat of the Jeep nearly the whole ride there and back (about 13 hours each way with stops) as well as during the drives between Breckenridge and Aspen. She had half of the back seat all to herself (we packed the other half high and tight with our luggage). She enjoyed many various sleeping positions, including this one where she rested partway on the ice chest:



She braved the cold river water at the Lincoln Gulch campground in order to fetch sticks:



She climbed on the big rocks at The Grottos near the Lincoln Gulch campground (she had no trouble with her footing while racing up and down the steep rocks):

Colorado Scenic Pics

I have been working over the past few days to get my Colorado pictures ready to post (narrowing them down and shrinking the photos to fit best on my blog). I am happy to announce that many are ready and will be going up in groups to make things more manageable. After the Colorado pics are up, some Florida ones will be soon on their way so keep checking!

My favorite flower, the Colorado Columbine:



I love how they can grow amongst the rocks:



My brother's 4-story house which backs up to the National Forest and is surrounded by wildflowers:



Mountains near Leadville:



Indian Paintbrush flowers:





Other wildflowers:

At Lincoln Gulch campground near Aspen:



The rest of these were taken off of a Jeep trail near the Lincoln Gulch campground...it was a fantastic place to hike and take pictures--so gorgeous!:







Chelsea (brother Greg's girlfriend), Tim (bro-in-law), Craig, Janet (sister) :