When we woke this morning the skies were overcast but nothing was falling from the sky. We both had a restful night and the air conditioning was very appreciated. I was first up and got the coffee brewing and did all the bath house chores. After a lazy breakfast Carol and I hiked the trails here at Pikes Peak. Now I know you must be thinking that Pikes Peak is in Colorado but apparently Zebulon Pike was here before he went further west. He decided that this spot, a high bluff overlooking the Mississippi, would be the perfect place for a fort and it was declared 'Pike's Peak'.
Of course the fort was later moved to the other side of the river. And even later he found that place in Colorado, the well known Pike's Peak. The trails and views of the river are spectacular. The hike to Bridal Veil Falls was very rewarding as the falls are indeed delicate and in a lovely setting. After hiking a few miles we returned to camp, had lunch and headed about 8 miles upriver to Effigy Mounds National Monument.
The hike there was awesome as well, and the mounds were beyond belief. The mounds were built by native cultures that have long ago move on and passed from history. We hiked almost three miles at Effigy Mounds and viewed several sites. I wish I had flown my drone here as the view of the mounds from above must be spectacular. At the little bear mound, a tree had fallen in the storm last night across the head of the mound. We reported this to the ranger when we returned to the visitor center and they seemed genuinely appreciative.
We drove back along the river road to our camp at Pikes Peak. Just after we arrived a neighbor pulled into the site next to us. We tidied up the trailer a bit more, cut up some shelf liner that Carol had brought and lined the bottom of everything things won't slide round and scratch the wood. It looked like it could begin to rain so we retreated into the trailer and for the next twenty minutes we watched a hard rain fall outside through our picture window. We had the vent open and a nice breeze was being pulled through the cabin by the ceiling fan. What a nicely designed thing this little trailer is. As it rained Carol put her head on a pillow and I sat at the table and started to try to catch up with the blog on my computer. Nice!
We had a small celebration with a bottle of Prosecco that our friend Kathy gave us to christen the trailer. Afterwards Carol and I fixed a good supper and chatted a bit with the neighbors. They were from Iowa and were here for the trout fishing. He was an undertaker and she worked in health care, and they both really liked to talk. Just at dusk we walked back down to the overlook of the Mississippi and it was an amazing sight. Looking East across the Mississippi River into Wisconsin and the Wisconsin River, we could see ground fog creeping along the valleys and the billowing high clouds were still catching the rays from the setting sun. Carol and I chatted a while with a photographer that was there with his camera on a tripod trying to capture the scene. A nice ending for a wonderful day. We turned in after our walk, watched a bit of a show on the iPad and then went to sleep for the night. Another good night's sleep.
