Today I slept in - all the way until 8:00! John was awake by 5:30. Last night the stars were so beautiful and the night so dark that we could see the milky way.
We did laundry and took showers, then took off. First stop was the town of Hahn’s Peak. This is a tiny town and looks like it hasn’t changed in a hundred years. There is a cool little one room school house, complete with old desks and a bell. There is a museum (which we didn’t get to see because it was closed) with a jail in the back where some famous outlaw was held. There was a small cabin where one of the founders lived. It was neat.
We then went to Pearl Lake and hiked to the dam. This is a beautiful lake with tons of wildflowers growing along the trail. There were so many varieties! I wanted to make a bouquet of them, but being that it was a state park, we couldn’t pick them. Lupine, sunflowers, bluebells, clover, Indian paintbrush, primrose and other flowers that I couldn’t name were there.
Next we took a tour of the area where John used to live, parked, and took the hike that he used to take his dog on. I planned to go ahead and make my bouquet there. There were not as many flowers here because it’s a higher altitude and they were going to bloom later. I did make a pretty bouquet though, and tied it with a piece of grass. It was very cheerful. I tried to put it in a cup in the car, and promptly began to sneeze. I was allergic to one or more of the flowers I guess! I had to toss it.
We had lunch at the Clark Store. This is a place where you drop your kids off for the school bus since the bus won’t go any further. It is a cool little store. There is a post office, a place to buy ice cream, a liquor store, a convenience store, and a little restaurant. We had Cobb salads and ate at a little booth next to a window with a view of Sand Mountain.
Next, we decided to drive up to the trail heads at Mount Zircle. We hiked just a short way up Gold Creek trail (about a half mile) since we are doing Devil’s Causeway tomorrow and I’m trying to take care of my feet. I was taking lots of pictures and enjoying the sights, and hiking slowly, as usual. We made it up to the bridge and enjoyed Gold Creek for a while and turned around. About half way down the trail, a dog came bounding toward John. John remarked that it looked exactly like his dog, Skipper. He looked at the collar, and it looked a lot like Skipper’s collar. He turned around and sure enough, his ex wife was walking down the trail! What a coincidence! We stopped and talked with her a while. It was a pleasant conversation.
We headed into Steamboat, and went to the grocery store to get ready for the next few days. Then we picked up Sean and went to an early dinner, followed by the Rodeo! Dinner was at a very nice restaurant, the Ore House. John hadn’t been to a rodeo, and I think he enjoyed it, although rodeos are slower than baseball even. Sean seemed to have fun too. Sean said that I was sharing my culture with John. What made up for the boys having to go to the rodeo with me was the Coldstone ice cream afterward.
Tomorrow, we hike the Devil’s Causeway in the Flat Tops!
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