THIS AND THAT: Lory State Park

Today is Colorado Day, this year celebrating of 133 years of statehood. One of the traditions of the day is that admission fees to state parks are waived, so we decided it was time to visit a nearby state park, Lory, which has long been on our list of places to investigate. Lory SP is located on the northwest side of Horsetooth Resevoir, and the park entrance is just outside Bellvue. We pass a sign telling us we are 5 miles from Lory whenever we drive up to visit G + M in Bellvue, so we are often reminded of its presence and the fact that we hadn't made it there yet.

So, today was the day, and we had an enjoyable time visiting a very pretty part of Colorado. Lory has a real feeling of being in the foothills, lots of hogbacks, meadows and on the western edge, the very first hills that become (eventually) the Rockies. There is a single unpaved road that runs the length of the park, parallel to Horsetooth, but most of the park is accessed by 12 hiking trails of various lengths and difficulty (most also accomodate bikes and horses), covering a wide variety of terrain. The road provides access to the trailheads, as well as a number of nice picnic areas.

We had planned to spend a couple of hours hiking, but after awhile storm clouds started rolling in and cut our hiking plans short. We could hear thunder and see flashes of lightning in the distance by the time we got back to the car, so we drove around to several different parking areas and pull offs and made do with sightseeing from the car while the storms blew over us. Too much danger from lightning to risk being out in those conditions. After an hour or so we decided the storms would probably continue into the evening, so we headed for home. It was a very enjoyable day.

the storm clouds roll in

The shortest trail in Lory is the Waterfall trail, 1/10th of a mile each way, located just past the park entrance and visitor's center. Most years the waterfall only runs in the spring, but because we have had so much rain this year, it was still going strong when we hiked up today. A very easy, pretty walk, mostly terraced steps and sturdy wooden bridges. We saw a ruby throated hummingbird and a tiny toad near the falls, and some bugs that could walk on water (and who generated giant shadows which made them very visible) in some of the pools below the falls.

Joe at the falls

and, your intrepid blogger

typical view from the road, meadow and hogbacks

coves and inlets of Horsetooth make up the park's eastern boundary--and make for some very scenic views!

I brought my camera hoping to find some flowers to photograph, and I wasn't disappointed. The vegetation was unbelievably lush for early August due to such a wet spring and summer and I managed to find quite a few flowers, interestingly, most were yellow or pink.