Today we are heading to Estes Park! Along the way, though, we are going to check out James Peak. It was also featured in the book. In the print there was a frozen lake at the foot of the mountain. but there were tons of lakes around James Peak. So we were not sure which one it was. We hiked up a trail to St. Mary’s Glacier which was at the base of the mountain. After a short distance, we stepped out of the woods and there was a lake at the top!!! AMAZING! The lake was made by the melting water from the glacier.
Lake in background
The water was FREEZING cold! We walked all around looking at the lake. It was really beautiful! Our dad thought that we had found the spot – this lake was the lake in the photo! We took a few pictures and headed over to a flat rock for lunch. We saw two dogs racing for a stick that was thrown in the water, they kept doing it over and over. It was pretty funny! We asked someone how to get to the summit – they said to walk across the glacier and then up on a steep slope.
On the glacier!
We decided to do that. Our mom did NOT want to go, so she stayed behind. We carefully crossed the glacier and headed up the rocky slope.
Rocky slope
When we reached an area of small scraggly trees, we had to cross over a steep ledge. My dad told us to not look down, so I didn’t. (Even though I don’t get that chill!) My dad went first and I followed. My brother did not move – he had looked down. URGH! We did not continue because he looked down and got scared.
The cliff
Disappointed, I headed over to where he was and we walked back down. My mom was happy when we came down. We walked back down looking at the great views. We took a different route back down to the parking lot. We still had a long drive to Estes Park. We got there after a few hours, ate supper, went to bed and PASSED OUT.