Nothing to do, but Admire the View

We watched the sunrise.  We ate breakfast, drank coffee, and just sat while admiring the view.  We hear cows mooing and sheep baaing. Al and I are both morning people.  As a matter of fact, when we lived in Las Vegas, Nevada, my favorite time of day on the strip was 5:30 – 6:00 in the morning as the sun was rising.  And why would I be on the Strip that early?  Let’s just say “college football and checking spreads”.  The rest of that story will just have to wait.

Ah, back to the beauty of Steamboat Lake and the Colorado Rockies.  Steamboat Lake State Park is located 26 miles north of the town of Steamboat Springs and sits at an elevation of 8000 feet above sea level.  There’s 198 camp sites and the park is open year-round, but full-facilities are only available late May to mid October.  It gets cold around here and Steamboat receives plenty of snow each winter….over 300 inches.

This 1,055 acre man-made lake is a haven for water sports and anglers.  Steamboat Lake is well known for sizable rainbow trout.  Visitors can rent a watercraft from the marina; canoes, kayaks, ski boats, and fishing boats.  There are plenty of hiking trails in the area, and are surrounded by meadows of wildflowers.

The Dutch Hill Campground offers campsites with electric, campsites without electric, and Camper Cabins for those lacking their own equipment.  We opt to camp at the Bridge Island Loop, which is on a peninsula and surrounded by water.  We take a small bridge over a creek to access the land.  This is a less popular camping loop since there’s no electric.  Fine by us, we have a generator and plenty of battery operated lights.  Right now there’s only two other campers in this area.  However, the weekend will fill up.  Thus, we’ll leave prior to then.  Right now, we’ll enjoy our own private slice of paradise.

The weather is gorgeous today….sunny and 72 degrees.  It’s the third week in August.  Al and I take a couple of short hikes today.  We meet and visit with the couple hosting at the campground and they share some information on the area.  We enjoy lunch at camp at the picnic table and later in the evening a wonderful campfire.

Wildlife in the area consists of sandhill cranes, waterfowl, elk, deer, bear, coyote, fox, beaver, chipmunks and other small mammals.  The trash containers have a special locking mechanism, making it “bear proof”.

Oh, what shall we do tomorrow?