Cloud Peak Reservoir...And More Rain

When I last left off we had finally made it to Elk Lake.

We enjoyed some wine, strolled around the lake…

and did a little mountain goating.

And then the storm hit. A hail storm. In July.

We ended up eating our hobo dinners in the tent, screaming over the rain and hail beating down just to try to have a conversation.

By the time it was over, a good two inches of hail covered the ground.

The rain kept up for the rest of the night, letting up just long enough for us to grab everything we had left out in our hurry to get into the tent, and to hang our food away from the camp site in case there was a nosey bear around. We ended up going to bed at 7:30, which was not so bad considering we were exhausted from the marathon hike in.

The next day we got up and made our way to the Cloud Peak Reservoir.

It was a cloudy day that bordered on chilly, but the scenery was breathtaking.

We picnicked and fished and read for a while, then headed back to camp.

The first night we had a seen what we were sure was a moose across the lake, but we couldn’t really confirm it since we were so far away. But as we were heading back from the reservoir we caught site of a momma moose and baby moose just a hundred feet or so ahead of us. As soon as they saw us they darted back off into the woods, which at the time, although disappointing, was probably better considering the dogs didn’t see them.

A little bit later we were out on an evening walk…

A cairn to mark the trail through the rough terrain

and we saw them again! I was SOOO excited, AND I had my camera, although even my 300mm zoom didn’t quite reach as far as I had hoped it would.

Almost at the very second we saw them a ground squirrel chipped and Jim took off, thankfully in the opposite direction of the moose. The squirrel kept Jim and Jeannie occupied while we marveled at our new moose friends.

Eventually they saw us, grazed a few more minutes, then moseyed off.

Then the rain returned. We rested in the tent for a while, then sent up praises when the sun came back out just in time for dinner, and even blessed us with a beautiful rainbow that ended just over the lake.