More Photos from Steamboat Springs
On Monday, we biked the bike path by the Yampa River for the first time. I only took a few photos that day – most of them were at the Botanical Gardens, which you can access from the bike path. Then, on Tuesday, we went to Fish Creek Falls, which is only a few miles outside of town. It was beautiful up there. The falls themselves were lovely. They are 283 feet high, and even though the water in Fish Creek was low as it always is in the autumn, they still made a very impressive sight and sound. I understand that they are quite a sight during the spring runoff. We hiked down to the bridge and the lower viewpoint, and then hiked back up the the upper overlook. Either way, they were beautiful.
We first encountered Fish Creek while biking along the bike path where the creek joins the Yampa RIver. It is sparklingly clear.
The pond in the Botanical Gardens. Most of the photos from here were of autumn flowers. It was a beautiful spot.
A rocky outcropping on the path to Fish Creek Falls
Fish Creek Falls, from the bridge at the bottom. I would love to see these in the spring, with a winter’s worth of melt water crashing down the cliff face.
More of the falls. I wish the camera could show the scale of things better. The size of the trees at the top, rather than the ones farther down, shows how tall they are, though.
This rock is right by the bridge below the Falls – you can see how the churning waters have worn away at the rock.
Pat on the bridge looking up at the falls.
The water in Fish Creek was so very clear
This tree on a trail on the far side of the falls has spread out its root and is holding on to the mountainside for dear life. This trail went another five miles up to Long Lake. Unfortunately, I didn’t think my feet were quite up to five miles there and then five miles back, especially as it was mid-afternoon already.
Autumn in the aspen grove. There were also plenty of evergreens – pine, spruce, fir and cedar, the mountain ash with its bright red berries, and some species of oak tree.
This was taken from an overlook on the way to the upper view of the Falls.
Looking down the hill at the turning trees
The falls from the upper overlook. You could still hear them roaring quite clearly.
More of the falls from above
Turning aspen on the crown of this hill, and the blue sky above
Some fellow hikers pointed out this little fellow, a green snake, running for cover up a small slope. He ducked under a root shortly after this.
Looking down at the trees again
The day was warm and sunny and perfect for the trip to Fish Creek Falls.
-She Wolf (c) 2008
The Wandering Path 
