Another Day of Hiking

Sunrise wasn’t so nice this morning, there were high clouds and

not much color.

We thought we’d take another hike, not a real long one but maybe a little longer than the one yesterday. https://www.nps.gov/jotr/planyourvisit/hiking.htm

We consulted the hiking map and figured out a trail, actually a combo of a couple of trails.

This time, we packed up lots of water and snacks of hummus with raw veggies and trail mix. We then took off to the West Loop trail. We would start on the West Loop then cut over and back down to the campground in time for a late lunch.

The West Loop trail is labeled as moderately strenuous. Like straight up and straight down hills strenuous. No stairs, just loose dirt, so loose one can slide using hiking boots for skis.

We got to the cut-off and thought that the West Loop wasn’t so bad so far, we’d just stay on it even though it was a 5-mile hike. It was after the cutoff that the strenuous started in earnest.

But even though it is a tougher hike than the day before, it was amazingly beautiful, many types of plants in some of the passes. We saw so many different types of flowers blooming from cactus to shrubs. This time, I’d taken my tripod so hopefully photos will turn out, but it was a photographers dream!

We got back to the RV tired, sore and hungry. After a short rest, we could hardly walk, our calves were so sore. But wine and dinner made it better.