Sunday, September 12, 2010

Another Hiking Day

See all our photos on Flickr.

We came here to see the national park, so today we were off to do some more hiking. It was much warmer than the last time we hiked, so we left our winter clothes behind today.

Today we chose to start with the Cub Lake Trail. It began in a valley, then skirted a marshy meadow along the edge of the forest. The trail was relatively flat at first, but eventually began to climb up through the forest, getting steep enough near the end to require several switchbacks. We were glad to have our hiking poles. Once we reached Cub Lake we sat on a rock and had a snack while enjoying the serene setting.

Leaving Cub Lake, we headed even higher through the forest toward The Pool at the base of a waterfall on the Fern Lake Trail. This 6+ mile hike took us over 4 hours altogether because we stopped so often to take photos. I concentrated on close-ups of the many wildflowers, berries and other plants along the trail. The views were also magnificent. The highlight of the hike was one spot on the trail where we encountered a bunch of colorful butterflies. One even landed on Rick's vest!

We had thought we might try a second hike after this, but we were pretty well worn out after this hike so instead, we took a short break and then went back into town for dinner. This was at another rooftop restaurant, Chilito's, where we enjoyed authentic Mexican food and margaritas.

During dinner, we commented on what an ideal vacation destination this is. You have a nice little resort town with nice accommodations and plenty of shops and restaurants right outside of a beautiful wilderness area where you can hike and enjoy the serenity and solitude of the national park. The best of both worlds!

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