Hiking Rabbit Ears

When we were first plotting our course through Colorado, we knew we wanted to spend some time in the mountains. But we also know to be cautious about some mountain passes. Our diesel motor home has been trustworthy in getting us up, and down, passes all over this continent now. But we would put it to the test this trip. We are camped at the top of Rabbit Ears Pass at 9,300 foot elevation, and we thought that was a curious name. So one cool morning, we drove the short distance from our campground to the trail head to see the ears for ourselves.

It's beginning to look like fall here, with the mountain plants turning to red in the meadow. From here we can get our first good view of the two knobs on the top of mountain behind Denisa. Those two knobs are better known as Rabbit Ears.

With fall in the air, we were surprised to still see wildflowers blooming in this higher meadow. We think this might be the final wildflower picture of the year. But we should also point out the hat that Mark is wearing today. Mindful that there could be hunters in the area, he left his favorite brown cap at home and opted for this bright white cap. We won this cap at the Missoula, Montana Roots Festival. Today he is advertising for the Missoula Osprey baseball team.

We spotted the interesting sign pictured below at the beginning of the hike. We discovered that this trail will be busy tomorrow with people on the "Run Rabbit Run." Two different routes will take crazy-fit runners on a crazy course through these mountains. They can choose the 50- or 100-mile course with incredible elevation changes. Both courses include the Rabbit Ears trail that we are hiking today, so we see the blue ribbons tied to trees that help the runners stay on course. The ribbons have reflectors on them, as some will be running it during the night.

That lengthy race description makes our seven mile hike today seem pretty easy. But the last half mile to the ears at the peak is steep, and didn't seem so easy at the time. We finally made it to the top, where Mark is standing with just the blue sky above him. If you look closely, you can also see the new white snow in the shadow of the rock on the right. This summer we have hiked in a lot of last winter's snow, but this is our first hike in this winter's snow.

Mark scrambled ahead to get closer to one of the ears for the picture below.

But of course, he wouldn't be satisfied to stay at the base of the ear. He scrambled further to get to the slender point that actually looks more like a rabbit ear. The other ear is casting a cartoon-like shadow. We can't decide if that shadow looks like a pointy-nosed man laying on his back, or a giant hand with one finger raised. Either way, Mark is in a precarious part of the shadow. He is about to be eaten or pinched by that shadow.

So he climbs even further up onto the narrow ear. It did make a great picture with just him and the ear in the middle of all that blue sky. But the wind was blowing 40 miles per hour up there, and it made Denisa a little nervous just to take the picture. That's when IT happened . . .

 A particularly big gust of wind blew right through the ears and took Mark's cap with it. Denisa was just snapping a picture when Mark reacted to try to catch that white cap before it blew miles away. It looks like the Missoula Osprey cap has taken flight!

Mark scrambled down between the ears in a spot where few people have stood. From there he took a panorama shot that included both of the rabbit ears--one in the shadow and one in the sunlight.

We played at the summit of the mountain, taking pictures of the rocks and the scenery. You have to really hunt to see Denisa in her red hoodie among all that red rock at the top.

She's easier to see in the picture below. She's lit up in the sunshine, sitting at the bottom of this ear.

She loves the colorful lichen that is trying to cover these red rocks at the summit.

It was seriously cold at the summit with that 40 mph wind whipping across that new-fallen snow. So we took one more lichen-covered rock picture toward the valley below. That's where we would be hiking soon.

We saw a blue ribbon tied to the bush at the summit, and think about the crazy runners that will be here tomorrow as part of their way to a 50- or 100-mile run through these mountains.

As we hiked down the trail, we looked up for another view of the rabbit ears. The shadow cast by the other ear has changed now. Do you see the shadow cowboy standing on Rabbit Ear now?

It was a great hike to the top of Rabbit Ears today, and we think we'll always remember the name of this pass even though we had never heard of it before this trip. It was a great place to wander God's wonders today!