Because it was or last day in the Buena Vista area (and I hiked a lot yesterday) we decided to take it easy and go for a ride up the canyon. We drove up Route 162, between Mt. Antero and Mt. Princeton, both in the 14ers group. This is Chalk Lake, which is a picnic area that is usually sparsely occupied. The tailings directly in front of Jason are from the cuts from the original narrow gauge railroad that serviced the mines in the area. It is now the Narrow Gauge Trail connecting the Cascade Campground and the Colorado Trail.It rained and hailed very hard, with 40+ MPH winds coming down the canyon; the storm came quickly and blue sky came quickly. Ah, Colorado in the afternoon! The hail caught Jason and Cathy without hats and scared the bejeepers out of Jason.This is Chalk Creek, feeding Chalk Lake. Jason and I crossed a footbridge to get across on the trail around the lake.This is the stream as it leaves the lake, again we crossed a footbridge.Cathy is across the lake enjoying herself in the relative sunshine, but we saw the dark clouds approaching for a second round. Jason ran back to warn Cathy.Here is another photo of the lake. There were several fisher-persons who were catching the 10″ rainbows hand over fist. We gathered up our picnic and made it to the car just as all hell broke loose.We drove slowly up the road, noticing all of the 4-wheeler groups going down the hill. A little rain and they scramble. We stopped at a bridge to watch the exiting traffic and saw this grove of birch trees across the road.Our next stop was an unmapped beaver pond that I found a couple of years ago while traipsing through the brush. Nothing special, just a pretty photo opportunity.Jason and I posed pond-side. Cathy took this photo.Cathy and I posed pond-side. Jason took this photo!This road (Chalk Creek Drive, Rte 162) leads up to the abandoned mining town of St. Elmo, turning to dirt and gravel in a couple of miles.. The clouds dissipated, quickly taking the rain, wind and hail with them.We did make a final stop at this roadside set of cascades. It was bright sunlight so it was a little difficult to capture the water. I held the camera on a rock to steady it.Jason cooled his feet in the snowmelt.After the strenuous walk around the lake, to the beaver pond and down to the stream, Jason had to take a breather.
Tomorrow we pack up and head for Manitou Springs, which is at the foot of Pikes Peak. It will be a short drive and we will take another “easy” day.
Travelling with the Schinglers 