I wish I’d brought my USB memory key. Then I could upload pictures for you right now, but as it is you’ll have to wait for me to get back tomorrow afternoon.

Yesterday Sandra and I hiked to the first and second tier of falls in Primrose Cirque (the half-bowl canyon thing that the Aspen Grove Family Camp sits in the base of.) The first falls are visible from camp, and you can grab a 60x spotting scope and get a really good look at them from the comfort of a lawn chair. The 2nd falls are hidden just above them in a little grotto, and are much more magical in appearance.

While looking through the scope I spotted a group of hikers coming down the mountain. We met them later as we hiked, and I told them I’d seen them — pointing out the blue sweat-pants with the white stripe, and the fact that they all had hiking staves. The kid with the sweats was a little spooked, but got over it.

Anyway, we hiked all morning with a couple of other grown-ups, and took lots of pictures which you can’t have because I didn’t want to spend the extra hour last Saturday running to the office to grab my USB key. On the way down we ran into Link’s age-group who were on their way up for a picnic. Fortunately they were not far enough into their hike for Link to beg to come back down with us. That’s happened before, back when I was the counselor with the crowd of 5-6 year-olds, and we ambushed a hapless pair of parents on our way up.

The morning of the hike was hot. By mid-afternoon clouds had rolled in. By evening it was drizzling. I snapped a photo of the cirque shrouded in mist on my way back to the cabin. During the night there was heavy rain, thunder, lightning, and the wondrous sleep I associate with that kind of weather.

This morning there was slush on the porch-rail, and snow only a few hundred feet above us. I went to the same spot where I’d shot the misty mountains, and got a shot of those same mountains dusted with new snow. I’ll post the photos later. The breakfast we had was perfect for the weather, and vice-versa: scrambled eggs with biscuits and gravy. I told the chef (John Thill) that he was going to have a hard time topping this one. The staff will expect this sort of serendipity in the meal planning every week.

Today all the kids are doing indoor games, because it’s cold and wet outside. The new Aspen Lodge here in the center of camp is just what I wish we’d had back when I worked here, and we had very, very FEW places to play with kids indoors on those two or three days during the 10-week summer when it rained hard enough to keep us inside.

This afternoon is supposed to be “Water Frolics,” a set of swimming-pool games. I have every intention of giving those a wide miss if they’re held at all.

–Howard