Rocky Mountain National Park - MyShadowProductions #138

Hello to Summer (the season) and everyone reading this Post !!

Sunday, June 25, 2023, was a great day to escape Denver and head to Rocky Mountain National Park for a visit with Mother Nature.

Yes, I sat on the “stool” for a while on the way down, looking at Nymph Lake, the view and “meditating”. I even whistled once but no echo :). Fair warning, against my protocol and better judgement I took a dreaded selfie. Maybe you will see it in the movie/video linked later in the Post? MyShadow only makes a slight/shy appearance on this journey.

I went on the CDOT BUSTANG bus from Union Station to Rocky Mountain National Park. There are a few stops/ pickup points along the way, including the Estes Park Visitors Center if Estes Park is your choice for the day. Click Here for all the details, costs (very inexpensive) on the BUSTANG service. I highly recommend, especially since it eliminates the need for the Timed Entry ticket!

I purchased the one day Park Individual Visitor Pass ($15) online but they didn’t  check for it, but I am sure the Karma was used :)

The BUSTANG bus unloads at the Park and Ride within the Bear Lake Corridor and it is possible to hike from there or take the Bear Lake Shuttle to several Trailheads or the Moraine Park Shuttle. At first it is a little confusing but I found that reading as much info as possible ahead of time allowed me to see a clear route as I arrived at the Park and decided on a hike.

I hiked to Mills Lake in September 2019, click here for my JOURNO Post about that day.

I chose the Bear Lake Shuttle and then the Emerald Lake Trail (about 4 miles round trip). This Trail passes Nympth Lake and Dream Lake on the way to Emerald Lake and several waterfalls and amazing views. There is still some snow in areas above 9,000 ft elevation which is cool, adds color and detail to the trail and mountains. The Trail can be a little crowded at times but worth the hassle as it is easy to separate from the “people” and explore a little.

The weather was great, beautiful BLUE skies, a few WHITE clouds, comfortable temperatures (45 to 60) a light breeze, so grateful. Not part of the weather, just a result of past weather, the GREENS and Greys and Whites and ……. were so crisp and clear and the sounds of the streams and waterfalls, some visible and some in the distance just so healthy (I just don’t understand EarPods, to each their own I guess).

CLICK HERE for my movie/video created from my photos. I apologize if it is a little too long, just couldn’t leave out any of the views :)

I took the 7:00 am (another at 8 am) bus from Denver and arrived at the Park and Ride lot before 9:30 am. I left the Park on the 3:15 pm bus (another at 4:15 pm) and was back in Denver at my apartment around 6:30 pm :)

Here are a few of my photos that show a little of Mother Nature’s BEAUTY!!

Imagine being a drop of water in the world’s atmosphere, falling as snow, sleet or rain onto a mountain top, becoming part of a snowfield or glacier, at some point melting and joining with other drops, joining a trickle, a stream, passing through a lake, a waterfall, avoid being consumed (drank) by animals, evaporating, joining a river, dodging rafters and boulders and …….. ??? 

OR, falling on a parking lot and becoming part of a muddy puddle or flowing through a sewer or …….. ??? 

I guess we only get to choose some things ???

Have a great day wherever you are !!

(Just an idea, but in the future I would like to get a few photos from each viewer/future viewers(hopefully) that show something about their “world”, their “view” from a favorite window/seat/road/path, etc. make sense? With the photos I would create a movie/video to just mind travel for a few minutes.) Thoughts??

Redwood City & San Francisco - MyShadowProductions #137

Hello again !!

Recently I visited Redwood City, CA and San Francisco, had a great time visiting, walking, eating, exploring and watching 9 innings of a CUB WIN (I really don’t follow MLB much but I will say the new time clock between batters and between pitches seems to be a great idea).

Oh, and the Garlic Fries (“invented” @ old Candlestick Park) were enjoyable as well !!

Wunderlich County Park was a great place for a short hike in a “young redwood forest”. Just one of many, many, many areas West of Interstate 280 from San Bruno to the north and Santa Cruz to the south.

It was also interesting to experience the BART train and the CalTrain and the Muni tram getting to Oracle Park for the game on Saturday (sorry, I didn’t get photos).

Squeezed in a visit of the 35th floor at One Embarcadero Center in the San Francisco Financial District. A lot of windows and a lot of spectacular views :)

CLICK HERE for my movie/video created from my photos in Redwood City and San Francisco.

Sunday was a different day and a chance to experience a car trip up Interstate 280 into “the city” to visit Golden Gate Park and the San Francisco Botanical Garden.

Click here for my movie/video created from my photos there.

Monday I returned to Denver but not without some “challenges”.

The flight boarded on time (11:15am) and was at the runway when the pilot said he was “pulling over” and shutting the engines down??? Not a mechanical issue but the Denver Airport had just issued a “Ground Stop” because of thunderstorms. Then the decision was made to return to the gate/terminal where we eventually de-planed and waited for the Denver Airport to reopen.

Finally/thankfully we boarded again and left around 5:35pm pacific time and arrived in Denver Airport about 8:45pm mountain time. I proceeded to the “Train to the City” and that was smooth as usual. Normally I can catch a short bus to get me within a 5 minute walk to my apartment. Normal didn’t work that night. I waited 15 minutes past the scheduled bus arrival and no bus, and noticed no other buses arrived at the underground bus terminal. I overheard a security guy say that they were trying to figure out what to do. (What to do about what??) I then realized that the buses were all messed up because a lot of streets were blocked because “fans” were flooding/blocking some streets because the Nuggets had won the NBA Championship, oh boy!!

That meant I would get some exercise and walk (35 minutes) to my apartment :) It was a “nice/edgy” walk up 17th (avoided 16th St mall) and made it with no more issues :)

How’s that for making a short story long?? It could have been longer but I left out parts I couldn’t explain :)

This is totally unrelated but do you remember mom’s chair that I painted about 4 years ago??

The paint has held up very well and the chair gets more comfortable every day :)

Well, I guess it’s time to publish this Post :)

Happy start of Summer !!