It is an exceptionally hot summer in Denver this year. 

It made for an early, lengthy and languorous spring...but come triple-digit temps in June, the charm begins to wear off.

 One escapes to the mountains when possible!

 Summit County, here at about 8,000 feet above sea level, lies cradled between the Continental Divide and Vail Pass, the reservoir (aka Lake Dillon) is surrounded by peaks, making for cool water, good sailing, and numerous tiny islands ideal for kayaking. Also a great place to stop off en route to Vail when you need to cool off a couple of hot dogs in the high-mountain runoff.

 Even on the hottest days, the water tends to be chilly enough to numb the ankles, but in weather as hot as this, it's a welcome relief.

 Q cooling her heels at altitude.

 Before heading on over the next pass to Vail, we stopped in the small, picturesque town of Frisco (on the West side of the lake) for dinner at an old favorite haunt of ours, Bagali's.

Mike and I frequented Bagali's when it was still located in West Vail, back when we were first dating and still looking for a hideout where we could get to know eachother without engendering a great deal of gossip in the Vail Valley's small-town environment. Back then, Bagali's was basically a pizza joint with a casual ambiance and a really good homestyle pasta puttanesca. These days, under new management, it is a rather swanky restaurant in Frisco with a far more upscale (but still notworthy) menu and an elegant mountain ambiance.

Sitting down at Bagali's in 2012, one can enjoy a fine wine while listening to young athletes at the next table discussing the most recent extreme trail race over a superb meat-and-olive plate. It's a brave new world in the wild West.

What: Bagalis Restaurant, Frisco, CO
Where: 320 East Main St., Frisco, CO 80443

in le carrousel

Just returning from a beautiful weekend in the mountains, and what a wildflower year it is in the highcountry!

More soon...

 On the way to Estes Park, Co, just to the East of the Rocky Mountain National Park, there is a place called the chapel on the rock.

 I always used to think of it as the castle in the mist, because there is water around it which is often covered in a veil of fog making the whole scene look like some out of the tales of King Arthur.

 There always seemed to be weddings going on here, but apparently last year there was a fire at the Saint Malo retreat, with which the chapel is associated, and it has been closed indefinitely.

 Whatever the case, this was the first time that we were able to walk right up to the "castle in the mist".

There was no mist on this day, but there were certainly dramatic skies behind the peak of Mt. Evans in the distance.