Thursday, July 17, 2014 TOMMY TAKES A HIKE!

Wednesday was a re-stocking day.  We drove north to Montrose for groceries and a haircut for Jimmy.  It was HOT there.  Amazing how fifty to sixty miles can make so much difference in the temperature. 

Thursday, was a day of recognition for Tommy.  He has been wanting to go on a mountain hike every since he has been here.  Our good friends, Charles & Jane were up for it as well.  Jimmy & I started out, but soon realized that we were not up to the challenge.  The three of them made it to the summit and back, a little weary, but no worse for the wear.   Welll, Charles did say it was a b#@ch!

The hiking trail they chose was off U.S. Basin, so we first stopped at this old mining site so Tommy could explore:

 Here's a round outhouse that has been knocked over:

The views from this site are awesome:

 Okay, now let's talk about that hike.  The "hump" on the top left of this picture is the goal:

 

Here they go:

 Trying to determine which animal trail is the best way to go;

Easier for me to see with my long lens:

 Look carefully: the trio is in the center of the picture:

See those little lines on the top of the hump?

That's Tommy, Charles, & Jane:

 Zoomed view:

 

While they labored, I roamed around & took pictures of flowers:

 

 

 

Here are Jane's pictures taken from the trail:

 Charles & Tommy making their way thru the talus:

 

 

Their view looking down:

At the top, they can see part of Silverton:

 Charles holding a jar that contained 3 quarters and a fishing cork.

They added 3 more quarters:

 Signing the log and adding their rock to the stack; the last people to sign in was 08/13/13:

 

 

From the top:

 Almost back.  Tommy knew lunch was waiting:

 

This has really been a trip of "firsts" for Tommy.  He has seen his first snow; had his first chicken fried steak; seen his first moose; drove a car for the first time; climbed to the top of a mountain for the first time; and last night we took him night-clubbing in downtown Silverton to hear our friend, Mike sing & play guitar at Montanya's Distillers. 

And this picture is from a couple of days ago.  I failed to post this one from Clear Lake of one of my favorite little critters.  Love the little Pica's "seashell" ears: