Yesterday being the Fourth of July, it seemed like a good time to take my daughter hiking up to American Lakes, which are two lakes located above treeline, at the crest of Cameron Pass, about 70 miles and a two-hour drive up the very beautiful Poudre Canyon. Unfortunately, it started to rain on the ride up, not that you can let a thing like that bother you.

The trail's around four miles one way, starting at almost 10,000 ft and climbing to a little over 11,000 ft. All of which means it's an easy hike. The photo shows where we were headed. It also shows the overcast sky...


OK. It started to rain, and we turned around and headed back. Call us wussies. Rain. Thunder. and Lightening didn't seem like ideal conditions for hiking above treeline. Of course, the photos don't show all of that.


With nothing else to do, we drove through North Park – a high-elevation (>8,000 ft) plateau surrounded by mountains. Unbelievably, people have ranched up there since the 1880s. That's one of the original ranch houses in the photo. The other photo shows the Michigan River meandering across the plateau.


We ended up in the big town of Walden, the county seat of Jackson County – and in fact, it's the only town in Jackson County, which boasts a total population of 1500 people. "There's no music scene here", my daughter said. I think she's right. Even so, there's a yoga studio... I can only imagine what the classes are like. The photos are of us in front of the county courthouse.


Very sadly, the forests of Jackson County are heavily infested with the Mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae, a species of bark beetle), which has killed hundreds of thousands of acres of trees. Blame it on climate change. Changes in annual precipitation combined with slightly higher annual temperatures have weakened the trees, which makes them more sensitive to beetle feeding, which kills them. It hasn't hit the east side of Cameron Pass yet, but it's said to be on its way.


On our way back down Poudre Canyon, we stopped for supper at the Mishawaka Amphitheatre, a fantastic place for a show. Located in the middle of nowhere (45 minutes from town), it attracts bikers, hippies and gays. I told my daughter we fall into the hippie category. There wasn't a show scheduled for the Fourth. But Indigo Girls will be there tonight and Parliament Funkadelic next Saturday. The restaurant is cantilevered over the river.


Not to make a big deal out of it, but the Mish Burger made me sick to my stomach for the next five hours... Happy Birthday, United States of America!