Third Time's

the charm. Or not. We'll see. Took off for another hike today. At Vedauwoo. Another popular nearby spot. Mainly for it's many large rock formations, that lots of people climb. Not me. If it takes cables and ropes and such, I pass. If I can climb it myself with just my hands and feet and it's not too crazy steep, then it's ok. Gotta protect the camera equipment!

The most surprising thing - the swarms of mosquitoes! They are normally a very rare sight in this climate/area. But not this year! They were THICK! Fortunately, I had brought a small bug spray with. And it didn't take me long to break it out!

Here's one of many rock formations. And that little white spot on it is somebody climbing the vertical rock face. Just like I said! I actually shot this from climbing on top of another nearby rock formation, but it's very easy to get on top of. Long as you aren't afraid of heights or walking near the edge!
Found this jumpy guy at a little stream along the trail. He can blow bubbles! I think this is the first frog I've seen out here. Maybe this is also part of the very wet year we're having.

A small waterfall area along the trail. There's a big loop hiking trail around this whole area that is also heavily used. It has quite a variety of scenery from rocks to meadows and ponds to aspens, pines and lots more rocks.
Just like Pole Mountain (which is very closeby), there are wildflowers everywhere this year. Here's a little natural bouquet of some large flowers!

Goodbye, blue sky. So, the day was pretty nice. Fairly warm, little humid. Got cloudier as the day went on, of course. As I was heading back to the car, started thundering. And started sprinkling lightly soon after. I'm really getting good at this going hiking in the rain thing. At least this time I was in the car before the heavier rain started. The obvious message: Don't hike in the rain? NO! Get a better rain coat? YES!