It was the first full day of our vacation and Ben and David were getting ready for the hike as our water bottles were ready and Suzanne was applying sun screen to her lips but before we could hike we need to get get gas into our tank as Ben and Suzanne waited in the car and the locals charged their high prices. I admired the scenery while the gas was completing and then we drove into the park and stopped at the visitors center for guidance. Along the way to our hike we passed these remarkable mountain views and then were at the Taggart Lake Trail head with this view ahead and these maps of what lie ahead for Suzanne and Ben to ponder before we started marching while noticing fire damage as the march continued and Ben commented on the different stages of trees we were seeing with the mountain still in the distance when we go our first view of Beaver Creek and continued our scenic walk

until we came across this leaning tree which we could fix with the camera. and then saw woods that made Ben pause as I captured my first butterfly picture and the creek drew Ben's attention before Suzanne marched on and this grasshopper before we came to the sign guiding us up and down the hill to Taggart Lake where we met this large French group coming down and I admired the views as Suzanne and Ben came forth to join me

to enjoy the scenery as Taggart Lake first came into view

and our lake views really grew as we reached the lake and I observed the rocks through the clean water as we looked out at the lake from various view admired the tadpoles in the water while Ben took the bridge and after some scenery the bridge and views of Suzanne and Ben crossing the bridge and a closeup on Suzanne Ben climbed onto a large rock we were enjoying the scenery and the tadpoles when a beaver appeared and made his way into our orbit before going into the water

so that Suzanne could go back to enjoying the scenery

as we reached the walking decision that took us to Bradley Lake and acknowledged that we had been at Taggart Lake.

Next came our lunch break as Ben Suzanne and I (in this self portrait) had a rest After a few final tadpole pictures and a last view of Taggart Lake we marched on to Bradley Lake on a steep trail where we kept hearing from people about the bear at the Lake (beyond where we were going). This was our first view of the lake as we passed the signpost that would take us home and then went down to see the tadpoles here and view the lake and more tadpoles as Suzanne settled with her feet in the water and her possessions on the rock I admired this butterfly and Ben soaked his head in the water as the butterfly came back but a moment of darkness emerged as the butterfly flew by Suzanne's back and I went back to photographing it including this movie of a butterflies wings flapping. and one last still as Ben joined Suzanne in the water and there they sat

while I admired the lake and mountain and Ben gathered the folding towel and dried his feet as Suzanne finished her foot soak and we bade farewell to the Bradley Lake with a few final butterfly pictures and we began the walk back as Ben and Suzanne approached the sign that old us that we were making progress towards being there yet and we saw a stream bubbling to our side as we moved forward to a place where Ben could get near the stream and stick his head in and shake it dry. Further ahead we came across the horses with explicit instructions where Ben took this picture of the Don't feed the Animals sign and then I posed with the sign and then with a modification of the sign I liked better as Suzanne came down the trail to join us. Further down the trail we came across the waterfalls that the stream made

and Ben took these pictures of Suzanne and me in front of the falls and then this picture of me leaving the scene and of Suzanne and I leaving the scene. When we came to this sign we knew that right through this pass was our car and the end of the walk.

To celebrate we went to Dornan's where the chuck-wagon was closed but across the way, Ben had his snapple with this fact I had my Diet Dr Pepper and Suzanne had her Diet Snapple with this fact that took a while to come into view. After taking a picture of this sign that will be useful one day, we headed back to our condo and on to the swimming pool where I took this picture of the children swimming these pictures of Ben and this final picture of the children to illustrate the cell phone call I was making as we noticed time passing and decided it was time to think about heading into town for dinner. We were early for dinner and so walked around town and saw this fine T shirt and these amazing sculptures at the gallery owned by the man on the left with the sculptor of the piece on the right. Next we observed the antlers at the town square and the cowboy bar with its neon sign and the Cadillac restaurant and Jackson street scene before being back to the antlers on another corner of the town square and after the stage coach and the buffalo we read the menu and decided we were happy to be going to the Snake River Grill where they brought bread which made Suzanne Ben and me (in this self portrait) happy as we noticed that the initials of the place were also the initials of one of us and so I ordered this beer and Suzanne ordered this wine to go with the pizza that would celebrate this. Ben had iced tea and my thirst being what it was, I replaced my lager with a stout as it became time for a battery change when Ben's chicken Suzanne's trout and my (very excellent) carrot risotto arrived. After packing away some of Ben's dinner for another day we recorded but didn't partake of the dessert menu took a final picture of their monogram with Ben and decided to call it a day.