A lunch trip to Dowdy Lake and a hike

A very good week was had by all, what with a picnic lunch up at Dowdy Lake to start things off and a day or so later a nice hike up the trail at Dadd Gulch. The weather has been good, but we do have serious haze over the land. No smoky smell but blue skies are non-existent right now. A view along the way, pretty, but prettier with a blue sky.

Along the way we also had to stop for these beauties, (I love any horses!). It was a fairly big herd of maybe a dozen+, including 3 foals. Some taking advantage of the shade from the trees, and some grazing. I always go to the fence line and "cluck", and use sweet, baby talk to try to engage them for their photoshoot, lol. It was pretty hot, so I only got a few raised heads and glances.

A few of the "shade seekers", including 2 of the foals.

Of the other group, I did get the attention of a foal who came up to visit with me at the fence. Poor thing was somewhat fly-bitten. I always hate that for the critters that live outdoors.

I gave a small head scratch but that's about the size of it.
Check out how hazy it is, you can barely see the mountains.

Dowdy Lakes is north of us, near Red Feather Lakes, not far as the crow flies but the winding dirt road slows things down. It's a popular campground and day use fee area ($9). It's a fairly large area with lots of picnic tables along the shoreline. A favorite of the picnicking crowd and people fishing. Also, always lots of kayakers and paddleboarders around.

We picked our spot and tucked into our grilled chicken sandwiches while checking out the lake and watching the ground squirrels (?). There were plenty of them around, some looking a lot like chipmunks and some larger and more like prairie dogs (?).

The Boss looks out onto the scene - so, so hazy 😢

Down at the other end of the lake/reservoir.

Most of the wildflowers these days tend to be either purples or yellows. I don't mind but I am sorry I missed out on wild columbines I've seen before up at Dadd Gulch. 

One of our favorite trails is Dadd Gulch. It's close by, mostly in the shade for the majority of it, there are wildflowers, and streams to be forded and cool rock formations. Plus you are in a gulch with canyon walls on both sides.

At least I didn't miss out on the Black-eyed Susan's.

A view of the gulch walls up above. The creeks didn't have a lot of water running, a mild winter with less of a snow pack perhaps.

Looking up from the trail at Dadd Gulch

Not much else going on except good living, and good eating. I made yet another batch of the blonde brownies, with lots of coconut, pecans, butterscotch chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips. I cut the 9x13 pan into tiny pieces; somewhere around 64 is what I think I got out of it. The pieces are tiny because these brownies have 1½ sticks of butter in them!

Unfortunately I forgot to take any pics. That's all I've got for you but thanks for dropping by for a visit.