Tuesday 18th

Tuesday June 18th

Alpine seemed to be in a depression following the fire in the mountains in 2011.  The beautiful ponderosa pine and aspen forests are black trunks now.  Even at Hannagan's Meadow, the trees are all but gone.  Firefighters had used the lodge and the meadow as their base camp. We had lunch in the lodge and enjoyed looking at what was left of the forest.  Most of the forest roads, Daddy had taken me down, were “pass at own risk of falling trees.”

The Snail at Luna Lake

Luna Lake

My new friend came visiting early each morning.  "Little Begger"

 Breakfast is served.

Later that afternoon we returned to the Hannagan Meadow area to check for wildlife.  Not to be disappointed ~ there they were ~ one cow and six big bull elk were making their way up the side of the mountain.  What a thrill! Of course I was driving and had a tough time getting a decent shot.  I have it in my mind!!!  Awesome!

There were 6 big bulls.

Paulettes "Ranger Ray" on a charred tree trunk.

Back to the lake and another good night sleep. This concludes 2 days of dry camping.  We are getting pretty good at this when the weather is cold at night.