The third day was a huge day. We headed out to explore some trails made by the gold miners in the area.
Andrew took a side trail to explore and had a caribou explode on him. Good thing it was only a caribou. They are kind of like the white-tail deer in TN, you get right up beside them on the trail and they explode with fear and take off running.
Andrew looking back to see if we all saw that.
We saw a sign about a lake that we thought we would check out. Not long after that we ran into a family out for a drive that had been back here before so we asked them about the lake and they said they have never found it. They said the trail/road eventually gets to rough for their vehicle and they can't go any further.
Where the vehicles stop, the four-wheelers proceed.
Up and up we went...
...to an incredible alpine area.
The trail continued down in the valley to a mining area and a lake which might have been the lake from the sign.
We stopped for a bit to check out the creek, the plants, the birds, and the snow.
Happy dog!
We spotted a trail leading up to a peak that was calling our names.
A couple of weeks ago this trail would have probably not been passable due to this snow patch.
For the most part all the trails have been in great condition.
Almost there.
What a find!!!
After looking at maps later, we found this spot was named Lucky Hill and it is just over 5,000 ft. high.
360 views to blow your mind!
This dog has some stories to tell.
The bowl at the base of the mountains is where we just came from. You can see the trails behind us.
Scoping out the many routes to be explored from here.
I think that might be the lake down below...Roosevelt Lake I think.
We shared the view with these ptarmigan chicks at the top.
We added a few rocks to the stack before leaving.
Going down the steep trail.
G&L on the ridge. Leslie flapping her wings.
Now they are both coming at us flapping their wings!
Looking back at Lucky Hill. From the top we spotted a trail that would loop us back around to where the truck was parked (drove it a ways up the trail so we'd have food and water supplies for the day and a place for Boss if he got tired of riding the four-wheeler, which he did).
Back down in the other valley watching a caribou run from us.
After the ride to Lucky Hill, we started the trail out Grogg Creek.
It followed the creek for quite a while crossing the channel several times.
Then the trail left the creek bed and headed for the hills.
It crossed a hill and dropped back into a drainage. This part of the trail got a little hairy, tilted with lose rock. It's hard to tell from the pictures but it was kinda scary.
We didn't go to much further. The trail wasn't as heavily worn in and it was already past dinner time.
At the end of the day we sit around camp discussing the day's highlights and enjoying the evening light with a campfire and good food!