2017 Art Plans Begin Now

It's the end of the year, and I hope everyone is having or has had a wonderful holiday season. Whichever holiday(s) you celebrate. The end of the year for me means catching up on bookkeeping and preparing to do my sales tax, but it also means the new show season is about to start.

My booth from one show in 2016.

I typically start shows no earlier than April and it looks as though I will be doing that again this year. That doesn't mean I can sit around until April. I have to get my applications sent in. I am hoping to do a few new shows this year, some bigger ones that are going to require a bit more work in terms of travel and planning. Those applications are going to start coming due in February. And since I am not going to be around to send out applications in April or May due to my hike, any applications I get that are due then will have to be completed and sent back upon their arrival in my inbox or mailbox.

I'm hoping to get into a second Renaissance Faire this year.

Before I get into the summer show season I will be having a sale for Valentine's Day on my Facebook page again this year. This year, however, instead of having only pottery, I will be including some of my other items. I have yet to make the pottery, that will be the next big thing on my list, but I have several beaded sun catchers made with plans to make more, and I'm working on a few Kritters to include as well.

A couple of the sun catchers I have done.

I know Christmas just happened and with presents just bought and opened, buying more gifts is pretty far down on everyone's list of things to do. As a maker of items that take a while to complete, I have to think months in advance and then hope I get everything done that I plan to do. So I will be reminding everyone again on my Facebook page when we get closer to my sale and Valentine's Day

An in progress bunny, it always looks like Frankenstein's
 lab when I'm assembling Kritters.

Trail Food Worries

My food for my Colorado trip.

About a week ago I started having a panic or nervous moment regarding my planned hike of the Ice Age Trail. I haven't discussed this plan with anyone recently. I didn't tell anyone I was getting nervous. The thing is though, I realized I was not nervous about the hiking, the distance, the sleeping by myself in the middle of the woods (although that last one does give me a little bit of trepidation), I was nervous about food.

A tuna salad pita sandwich.

Food? Yes, food.

Ramen: easy, lightweight, and quick.

You see I haven't found many lightweight, easy to prepare meals that I actually like. Which means I would end up eating tuna salad in pita every lunchtime and Ramen soup every evening. Boring and I think after two months I would be dreading my meals. After a week I would probably start dreading my meals. I have been taste testing those prepackaged rice sides to find the ones I like, out of about 6 I've tried, I like 2 varieties so far. The other ones were so gross to me that I had to stop eating, add some stronger flavor that I did like or force the last few bites down. Not exactly how I want to have dinner on the trail.

Chili, banana chips and fruit leather before dehydrating.

After dehydrating. I found I am not a fan of banana chips, and the chili
did not rehydrate well and have no flavor left when I tried it.

I will have tomato cheese tortellini, I really enjoyed that when my friend in Colorado tried it. (Read about that adventure here.) And since I love cheese tortellini, I probably could eat that for a week and still be ok with it at the end of the week. This week though, my mom surprised me by buying the recipe book I was considering for myself, Lipsmackin' Vegetarian Backpackin': Lightweight Trail-tested Vegetarian Recipes for Backcountry Trips. It's a collection of recipes you make at home, dehydrate and then can cook up on the trail. I don't mind getting all prepackaged food, but I would like to avoid some of the preservatives and other additives that are in those types of food.

Many recipes in here I definitely want to try!

Having just paged through the cookbook a little I've noticed there are some recipes I won't use because they require extra things to make them on the trail, like olive oil for one. I won't be carrying olive oil. Many, maybe most of the recipes require nothing more than boiling water. That is what I want, although my last attempt at rehydrating, did not go well. I have to make some of these meals, dehydrate them, then rehydrate and see how they taste. I may end up taking some spices and things with me to help the flavor of my rehydrated meals.

Carrots, corn and peas for veggie soup.

Fruit leather and beans for my veggie soup.

I do have this desire to have fresh fruit and vegetables on the trail. I know that if you are trying to go lightweight, you would never bring fresh anything. It is always dried or dehydrated, lightweight, no water weight. But I craved things when I was in Colorado, and lucky for me I did bring some little clementines. Easy to peel and so yummy in the morning. But I'm thinking some carrots and clementines, and I want to grow my own sprouts for something green to add to my meals. Plus whenever I go through a town I'll probably end up buying individual bananas or apples and eating them as soon as I'm out of the store.

My attempt at precooking my veggie soup to try and get the veggies to soften up.
Was not good, more than half of this got tossed.

Out of all the things I could be worried about and I focus on food. I guess it is the only thing I really have left to do for my hike. I have all my gear, I have the map (still need to download and get the updates for the map, but I'll do that in the spring), and I have a general start and finish date. I am still going to email the chapter coordinators and there are a couple more items that might make my hike more pleasant, but aren't really necessary items. So now I'm simply trying to convince myself that I will finish the hike, and I'm hoping it is a life changing and enlightening experience for me.

Apple chips, I love apple chips, but after a few days as my fruit choice I crave
something else, and something fresh.

Responsibilities and Choices

Adulting is hard. Making decisions completely for myself and my life. Car insurance, loans, health insurance. Trying to figure out what to do with my life. What can I do today to make tomorrow or next week, next month or next year better, happier, more productive, and more successful? What can I do with my business to make that better, happier, more productive, and more successful?

Crocheted monkey

When I get one thing figured out, it's a relief. For some reason everything that needs doing happens all at once and I can't focus on one for fear of forgetting another. Even if I make checklists of all the little and some not so little things, I still have to decide which are more important, more pressing and need to be solved right now. Some things take time to work out. Some things take time to complete.

Beaded Suncatcher

I've started working on secondary art, things that you may not think of when you think of Katlyn Koester Designs work. I started out trying any medium put in front of me. Paints, pencils, beads, yarn, fabric, basketry, jewelry. I collected many sets of tools and supplies to work in any medium, and over the years most of those tools and supplies have been relegated to the closet, under the bed or the basement. At some point I decided that pottery was the way to go for me. I don't know why or when exactly, only that it all started with my first pot when I was 12.

Moon phases watercolor

In high school I took every art class I could fit in my schedule. Painting, drawing, sculpture, jewelry and pottery, but mostly pottery. In college I tolerated the other classes because they were required for my art degree. Except for photography, I loved photography, being in the dark room all by myself for hours at a time appealed greatly to me. But it was always pottery. I wonder if pottery had no longer been a choice, what would I have focused on? Or if I hadn't gone to college would I have focused on something else entirely?

Night and Day watercolor

16 years doing pottery almost solely, and I've found myself frustrated with it. I began crocheting again a couple years ago to sell instead of only for myself and now I've pulled out my watercolors and beads and I'm thinking about selling those things too. I'm enjoying them both, but inspiration for painting comes and goes. The beading is more fun assembling, and less creative to me. I suppose I could make it more creative and unique to me, but right now it is assembly work.

Mountains watercolor

I wonder if I had focused on one of these other things early on, would I be happier with my choice than I currently am with pottery, or would I have reached the same emotional roadblock? I also wonder if college was the right way for me to go. Could I have gotten a similar education by going to intensive classes like those offered at Penland, Arrowmont, and Haystack Schools? Would that path have been more beneficial with less money spent? Or would I still have stalled out? And now that I'm wondering this, should I try to take another of those classes to boost my pottery making or would I benefit more by taking a class focused on another medium?

So many questions and I don't have the answers. I hope I figure some of them out before I have to start my next season of shows.

Change Jar = Slop Bucket

We have snow now. We had snow about a week ago too, it all melted when warmer than usual temperatures brought rain instead of more snow for a couple days, but yesterday brought 1-2 inches. I love snow. I love the way everything turns clean when it snows. Things become indistinct hills and mounds, plants gets frosted, and I love being the first one to get out and leave my footprints behind. This has nothing to do with what I was planning on writing today, only that I had to drive to town this morning and with the fresh snow it all looks so peaceful and it was when I was driving that this blog post came into my head. I always wonder why my Creative Genius doesn't speak up when I can stop what I'm doing and immediately write or create. Doesn't seem very smart for a "genius," does it?

My change from today, small amount as I only had one place to go.

Anyway I started thinking about how when I go shopping, I tend to use cash. It's easier for me to be aware of how much money I'm spending if I can see it going away rather than creating a balance on my credit card or depleting my checking account. Having used cash today I was left with a small handful of coins, the money that was returned to me as my change and a nickle and a penny I found while shopping. Random nickle sitting on a shelf among the product and someone missed the penny in the coin return on the self checkout I used. Sweet! I get excited whenever I find lost change. I always pick it up and add it to my change jar because a penny saved is a penny earned kind of thing. I figure a penny found is a penny earned.

My old change jar.

People are aware of what a change jar is right? You go shopping, end up with a pocketful or purse full of coins and it's heavy, and noisy, and it isn't very often that you pay with coins. So what do you do with it? Well, I empty out my purse after almost every shopping trip to keep my purse lighter and I put the coins in a change jar, except my "jar" is actually a vase. I used to use a jar, a very nice jar, but I ran out of space and needed something bigger. I don't take my jar to the bank and cash it in, if I cash it in, I will spend it, and that jar has been gaining change for several years now. It's like a savings account that only gains interest when you add to it. So I add to it often. I know that this money is the result of me actually spending money, but it feels like I am saving because I won't spend it as long as it stays a 10 pound container of bulky change.

My new change vase that I've been adding to for several years.

And then I realized I do something very similar in my pottery studio. And I'm sure many potters will relate to this. You throw a pot, some clay ends up in your splash pan, some in your throwing water. Then you trim the pot, again clay ends up in your splash pan. This "leftover" clay, the trimmings and slop are like the coins. You keep adding it to a bucket, or container and eventually you have enough to recycle the clay. Which is like cashing in your change jar. It becomes "free" clay that you can use again to make something. You used some (bills) and had leftovers (coins) and it builds up. I use this clay much more often than I use my coins, but imagine if I threw out my trimmings. I've heard of potters doing this too because they can't see the value in saving the scraps and using time and energy to reclaim the clay. I bought my clay, I already have money in it, so to me it is just like throwing out the coins at the end of a shopping trip. It may only be pennies each time you toss a handful in the trash, but after a couple handfuls you have a couple dollars, or if it is clay, enough to make a nice mug. And I won't throw out money or potential pots, which as a professional potter, equals income.

My slop bucket, which becomes "free" clay when I reclaim it.

Eventually I'll cash in my change and use that money for an adventure, or to buy necessities, or whatever it is that I need at that time. But until then I will continue to add my coins and maybe I'll have a nice surprise when I do finally cash it in. And I'll keep looking for the lost coins wherever I go.

Keeping Secrets

Have you ever heard that when you have a goal you shouldn't tell anyone? That by telling someone of your goal or dream, the urgency or importance of that goal disappears and you are less likely to achieve your goal? Have you ever noticed this? I have.

I wanted to have a farm, I told people, the importance of this has diminished with time, but I wonder how much of it was because I did tell people of my dream. I may still garden on a big scale if I ever get my own place, but I don't think it will be a farm.

I wanted to write and illustrate a children's book. I actually had some pictures painted and sketches of the other pages. Then I told people what I was doing, and I haven't worked on it since then, almost 2, maybe 3 years ago.

My backpack and all my gear has been collected!

I did tell everyone about my goal of hiking the Ice Age Trail. That one I am determined to do. I've bought all the necessary gear. I got maps, I've done some practice hikes (this is the link to the last post about my practice hike and trip in Colorado, links to part one and two are in the post), I'm hoping I can make it work. I hope I don't give up on it over the winter. I hope it won't have been too long between my initial interest and when I finally get to go that I begin to lose interest. This happens to me a lot as well. (Here is some of my prep and here.)

SO maybe from now on, I won't share my goals with anyone until I have made definite progress on them or have even completed them. Everyone should have goals and dreams, everyone should be taking steps to complete those goals or to reach their dreams. I find myself following and reading all of Elizabeth Gilbert's posts on Facebook, (author of Eat, Pray, Love) and she has lots of really great and important insight into following your dreams and accomplishing your goals. The most recent one was about how all the successful women she has met and the ones a friend interviewed, said that they listened to the voice in their head. The voice that told them that they had to do the scary things, the (seemingly) impossible things, the things that had absolutely nothing to do with what they were currently doing or planning for their lives. Those voices knew what had to be done.

I felt the need to paint, so I've pulled out my paints again.

I hear that voice in my head, I call it my "Creative Genius," another thing I heard from Elizabeth Gilbert. I don't like that voice all the time. I ignore it because what it is telling me I have to do is so off the track of what I think my life should be, that I can't understand why I should do those things. Some of what it says is scary beyond my current level of tolerance. Some of it makes no sense. The Ice Age Trail trip, I suddenly knew I needed to do that, it has no obvious connection to anything I want in my life except to be able to say I did something this grand and difficult on my own. Maybe my Creative Genius knows best and is forcing me out of my comfort zone to shake something loose, or maybe some cosmic being knows that if I take this trip something amazing will happen in my "real" life. The life where I am a contributing member of society.

My second painting this week, I have more ideas!

I'm working on finding my happy. I lost it for a while, you can read about that here. And right now that seems to mean doing whatever I feel like doing, even if I have no plans for what I'm doing. Like the paintings. Right now I am enjoying simply making them, I have no plans or goals for them. And if I did, at this point I wouldn't tell you. [smiley face] I finished making some items that would be great Christmas gifts for kids and babies, the quilted books are fun to make and having completed them, finally, gives me a little sense of accomplishment. Just like every time I finish one of my crocheted Kritters, that makes me smile too.

Quilted fabric color books.

So this secret I'll tell you: I'm going to start trying to listen to the voice in my head. The one that tells me to do the scary, the impossible, the ridiculous. I'm going to see what happens. Maybe I will find my happy even before I hit the trail next spring. It won't be easy doing the scary, and I'm sure I'll want to continue to ignore the voice, but where has that gotten me so far?

One of my crocheted Kritters.

Moody and not sure what next

I've been quiet for awhile again. I've tried writing a couple of times, but each time it has turned into a series of complaints that I shouldn't complain about on my blog. And it isn't something that complaining about will do anything to alter the result.

I've been in a mood. I don't know how to get out of it, usually when things start to go right, even a little bit, I find myself feeling better. Things haven't gone really right for me in a while. I keep hoping for a better tomorrow or week or month. I keep trying to be happy and see the good I do have, but I'm having trouble with that recently.

When I get like this, nothing I do seems to help. I can pretend for a little while and enjoy myself a bit, but as soon as real life gets into my head again I'm right back where I started. Things I most love to do, foods I most love to eat, and the people I most love in the world only help briefly or not at all. Situations that aren't a big deal, annoy me to no end and things that should only be minor annoyances become the downfall of a possible improvement in my day and mood. And don't even get me started on what happens when I also happen to be PMS-ing.

So if in the last month or so, (and quite possibly in the coming month), I have seemed not my self, short, annoyed or frustrated with you, I'm sorry, I'm not really that upset with you. It is the accumulation of thousands of mild annoyances and a couple big ones that have knocked me into a grumpy, moody, near constant state of "I don't know what to do anymore."

And I'm not looking for advice or comfort or condolences, I may bite your head off if you try to do any of those things and I'm really not in the proper mood to listen to any help or accept any no matter how reasonable or understanding you may be, I'm simply wiring this all out in the hopes that I can better deal with everything, and maybe you will understand, but maybe just don't try to help me figure out what's wrong or try to fix it... Not yet. I may figure out where my happy went on my own. Maybe not, but right now I'd like to just be. Even writing this all out has helped, a little.

Marble Hunt Turned Introspect

I went on a little adventure yesterday. Only lasted about 7.5 hours. I drove up to the U.P. in search of a marble. Unfortunately I didn't find it. I spent three hours driving up there, an hour looking under the roots of every tree hanging off the side of a ravine on these little waterfalls for a glimpse of a bright orange marble, and couldn't find it. The person who hid it couldn't remember exactly where it was hidden and had only taken two pictures, so there was no reference point for me to determine if I was even close to it.

At the top of the falls. Looked very fairy land.

I went up and down the falls, both on the river and on the trail above, at least three times. I got to the top of the falls and then headed back down, checking and rechecking the tree roots. Not quite the same experience as my first find. The area was beautiful though. After searching and when my legs started to shake from going up and down so many times I admitted defeat. I don't know if I just missed the marble, or if it was washed away from a storm or muggled. (Found by someone who doesn't know about the World's Biggest Marble Hunt.) I did find a crumpled cheddar chip bag stuffed into a little hole under one tree that looked like it could have been the tree I was searching for.

Lake Superior

After giving up I drove a little way back home, found this piece of shore and sat down to watch the water while having lunch. The sun was warm, but with the breeze coming off the lake I got a little chilly. Then I drove the three hours home. 

I don't know what these marbles mean to me. Is it the thrill of the hunt? The thrill of the find? Is it the sense of accomplishment of finding one? A sense I'm afraid I often lack in my daily life. Whatever it is, I find myself wishing there were more marbles being "lost" closer to home. I also wish that I could start making marbles and then being the one who hides them. Another one of my attempts at figuring out what really makes me happy. I've had many attempts to find something I really truly enjoy over and over. Something that I love so much it doesn't matter if I ever make a living doing it, I can be happy just to have that one thing.

Colorado Adventure Recap Part 3

Horseshoe Bluff in Dubuque where I had a hike and found a marble.

At the end of our hike (read about Part 1 and Part 2) we had several food cravings. That night while I caught up with a friend from high school, we had fries and burgers (vegetarian burgers), and Cheetos. It was a very nice end to my Colorado experience. I headed out the next morning with my leftover food to sustain me. Remember I had more food than I needed? I am still trying to finish things off, with the help of my parents again.

Dubuque is somewhere behind me in this picture.

I managed to get all the way through Nebraska and into Iowa on that first day of homeward travel. I still slept at a rest area, but I thought I might be more comfortable if I slept on the back seat. Unfortunately the back seat does not lay flat and I slept curled up the whole night, even when I finally admitted defeat and slid to the floor because of my gear and the seats being up there still wasn't enough room for me to stretch my legs out.

In the valley of the bluff after I climbed down a rock face to get off the bluff.

Before I left home I had joined a group on Facebook for the World's Biggest Marble Hunt. Contemporary glass artists are making marbles and people are "losing" them all over the world. You have to be a member of the group to participate. Once a marble is posted "lost" with clues how to find it, then whomever figures out the clues and finds it, gets to keep it or re-lose it as they wish. There have been few lost marbles in Wisconsin, but many in Colorado, I had hoped to find one while I was in Colorado, but none were posted near to where we were. My dad grew up in Dubuque, Iowa and I was planning on coming back that way to see where he grew up. About a week from when I would be going through, someone "lost" a marble there. My last day in Colorado I figured out the clues and knew where to find the marble. The night at the rest area I asked if the marble was still in play and it was. I made a trip to the place it was hidden, had a great hike, and found a marble!

The marble I found in Dubuque.
(I had to set it on my mag light top to keep it from rolling away.)

Now I'm having this urge to learn how to make marbles. Glass has always fascinated me and I have tried some bead making, but I would love to learn how to blow glass and now how to make fancy marbles, either with flameworking or in a glass blowing studio.

Back in Wisconsin.

So I visited Dubuque. I ended up not actually stopping to see my dad's childhood home, or going into town to visit any galleries there. I wish I had. I wish I hadn't been in such a rush to get home. Something else I need to learn how to do, be spontaneous, take my time, enjoy where I am instead of trying to plan ahead. I also almost stopped in Mt. Horeb on my way by so I could see the trolls. But I didn't, and I wish I had. But it was a beautiful area, what I saw from my car.

The pottery I found in Fort Collins. I fell in love with these.

A potter in Loveland makes a series of pottery for the tourists.
I couldn't resist, that is Mount Meeker and Longs Peak. 

I made it to my brother and sister-in-law's house in the early afternoon, just as my SIL was coming back from a walk with my nephew. We hung out, talked, went grocery shopping and I spent the night. It was very nice getting to see them all. I left after lunch the next day. The whole trip home I felt like it was new, exciting. Everything made me smile until I started seeing signs for where I was heading. Then I felt my mood drop as I made my way north on Hwy 51. I felt it drop even more when I left to make my final trip home. I don't know why. I was so ready to be home, so ready to be back to my usual life, but as it got closer I couldn't figure out why I had been so anxious to get home.

Some cards I am going to frame. I fell in love with her patterns.

Now I'm ready to head out somewhere new. I want to get out of my routine again. I want new experiences, I want to see new things, try new things. I want to find marbles in unexpected places. Literally and figuratively.

Some of my new Kritters.

I have spent the last week crocheting. I want to get a good stock of my crocheted Kritters together for the open studio I am planning to have later this month, and I think I have a pretty good start on those. I have a show on Saturday and I knew I had enough pottery for that, so I decided to crochet instead of going out to work on pottery. I will get back to pottery, and cleaning up the studio before too long, but for the next couple days I am going to focus on more Kritters.

Thanks for enjoying my trip to Colorado with me. If you haven't been, I suggest you go, but take your time. There is a lot to see and enjoy!

Colorado Adventure Recap Part 2

Ready to head out from Lory.

So we got dropped off at Lory State Park on Saturday morning. (Read about the first part of my trip here.) After waiting for the ranger station to open, because the camping permits were missing, we headed out to begin our hike.

The view from our break.

The park is well used by hikers, bikers, horseback riders, trail runners, and who we guessed were ROTC from one of the local colleges doing some training. We spent much of the day passing, but mostly being passed by others who could go much faster than us with our 40 pound packs on. We took a break only about an hour after setting out because it was hot, we were in the direct sun and we were going uphill. We had a very nice view of the park down to the reservoir from where we were.

The view from our lunch site.

We stopped for lunch on a rock outcropping in the early afternoon and had another great view on the "Outlook Trail," so called because of all the great views along the whole trail. I had my first of three tuna salad pitas. Great meal, but I need more alternatives, three days of tuna in a row was a bit much. This was the day that I got frustrated. We had been going all day, I wasn't used to the constant climbing, or the heat, all I wanted was to be at the campsite. And I really had no idea how much further we had to go. Sharon asked me on about the 5th switchback up the side of the mountain how I was doing and all I could respond was, "really hot." So we sat down had a snack, I had to wait to cool off before I could eat anything, and then we waited while 6 or 7 mountain bikers went by. According to the map there were only supposed to be about 8 switchbacks, we ended up doing at least 10 or 12. The map wasn't very detailed. 

Sunrise at our first campsite.

We didn't see much of a sunset that night, but supper was good. I had Ramen, Sharon had cheese tortellini which I am going to make one of my meals for my long hike. Sunrise the next morning was worth the hike. We got packed up and headed out with a shortened hike planned. We cut out a few miles, plus the day was cooler with a bit of cloud cover. We made it into Horsetooth Mountain Park and to our campsite with time to spare. I did not have any meltdowns this day. 

Almost to Horsetooth Mountain Park.

Supper was a failure for me. Luckily I packed enough food that even though I didn't eat more than half of the soup-like meal, I still had enough to eat. One of my extra breakfast bars came to the rescue.The dehydrated veggies only halfway re-hydrated so I had some crunchy peas, leathery beans, and weird carrots. Plus the soup base, a veggie bouillon cube, had a really strange chemical flavor. There were several hikers still on the trail as darkness fell. It didn't appear any of them had headlamps or light of any kind.

Trying to preheat my supper.

Sunrise was again wonderful. Our sunsets were less than spectacular. This morning Sharon made some pineapple upside down cake for breakfast. Very sweet, very filling and very good. We had to backtrack a little on the trail before we could head up to Horsetooth Mountain, we got some great views again. Every time we came over a rise or into a valley, the views just opened up and you could see all the way back down to town.

Sunrise at our second campsite.

Our third day of hiking was short also. We got to Horsetooth, but didn't climb it, and headed down to our site. Both of us took baths/showers on the downhill side of our site away from the trail. Had a good view of Fort Collins from there. We wandered in our meadow watching the stars that night. We were supposed to be able to see the Orionid meteorites in the early morning and luckily for us we each got to see one before going to bed. I was woken up at around 3:30 or so by the wind, and when I crawled out to see the sky, we had complete cloud cover and no chance of seeing any more meteorites.

Sunset over Rocky Mountain National Park from our third campsite.

The last day of hiking only took us an hour as we went basically downhill for 3 miles. The easiest 3 miles of the whole hike thanks to the downhill, the reduced food weight, and the knowledge that we would be getting real showers once we got home. We talked to several people over the course of our hike: one biker apologized for his caterwauling, he was listening to his mp3 player; a couple with a foreign accent asked us about our plans for camping and whether we were worried about the potential for wildlife, we weren't, not really, but I couldn't help glancing up at the rocks every now and then expecting to see a mountain lion like in Homeward Bound; one lady trail running with her dog discussed our plans to go back downhill and come back up to our campsite, wondering if we were training for something; and a brother and sister from New York had something in common with me, it was all of our first times in higher elevation.

The clouds started rolling in around sunset and it appeared to be precipitating in RMNP.
The two peaks in the background behind us are Meeker (on the left) and Longs, my reference points for the RMNP.

The sunrise was less colorful than the first two, but when the clouds broke and the hills toward Rocky Mountain lit up, that was wonderful. I kept expecting to see Sam and Frodo, there was a very Lord of the Rings kind of feel several times over the course of our hike. On our way down we again saw Stellars Jays, mule deer, and magpies. I kept hoping to get a good picture of the birds, but as soon as I worked my camera out they had taken off again. We got to my van and as we were loading gear in, it started to sprinkle. And on the drive home, it rained enough I had to turn on my windshield wipers. I had to tease Sharon, she kept telling me it wasn't going to rain, and lucky for us it waited until we were back in the car, but it did rain!

This is almost the end of my Colorado trip, I have a little more to share about the drive home. Next time!