South Gap Lake

Saturday we took the girls on yet another hike.  This time we headed 45 miles northwest to our old stomping grounds in Laramie.  It has been fun to wander through that town nine years after living there.  Some things have changed a lot and others are just as they were.  Brings back so many good memories of our days as struggling students with our two little girlies under 5 years old.  We made our way up the Snowy Range to the Sugarloaf Recreation Area.  On our way we spotted this guy just taking it easy under the tree.  It was hard to get a good photo because he blended in with the shade and the tree:)

 Serious group of hikers all set to go.  It was a beautiful day, however, we were reminded of how cool that Laramie wind can feel.  Mind you we were also at about 10,000 feet....whew!! We were feeling a bit light headed at times:)

 We kept seeing these little critters....Pika.  Although I am a bit freaked out by rodents, they are kind of cute little things.  They look like a cross between a mouse and a bunny because they have the ears but no long tail.

 The girls kept asking me to take their picture at various spots.  Emm got really excited about the "huge white rock" ahead that she wanted her picture on...until she discovered it was actually snow:(  Oh well, huge pile of snow in August= pretty exciting too!!

 No...we still don't have a dog, although it sure looks like we do.  We took a snack break and up wandered this German Shepard. We had passed his group on the trail earlier.  I guess he ran ahead when he heard it was snack time.  He just hung out with us until his party caught up. Thankfully he was very tame and friendly:)

 There is a spot on the trail that you have to climb uphill through these rocks. Makes it interesting when you are hiking with a 6 year old [notice we are in the back;]  Actually Emmrey told me she likes to "figure out which rock to step on next"... kinda like a puzzle.

 We made it to the top and it was quite the view.  Really the entire hike was pretty breathtaking. 

 Most of the hillsides are covered in beautiful wild flowers.  I couldn't resist a picture of my little ladies among them:)

 We headed back down the mountain to a dispersed camping area for a hot dog roast.  Of course we had to throw in some marshmallows too.

 It was all fun and games, until "someone" stepped in a ooey-gooey roasted marshmallow that "someone" had dropped by their chair. That "someone" was not so happy and blamed the rest of us for her their mishap;)  Good thing it was an extra pair of shoes and flip flops ...so they were easy to clean.