{"id":7442,"date":"2026-06-22T17:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T23:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grunschev.com\/wordpress\/?p=7442"},"modified":"2026-06-22T17:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T23:08:09","slug":"summer-reruns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/grunschev.com\/wordpress\/2026\/06\/summer-reruns\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Reruns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Way back when, all the new TV shows would be broadcast in the fall, and when summer rolled around, nothing new was ever on – it was all reruns. In the world of television, summer reruns aren’t a thing anymore. My compulsion to hike to lakes I’ve not been to before is as strong as ever, but sometimes convenience is a stronger factor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

June 10 – Forest Lakes – Picnic with Bullwinkle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For years, my traditional first hike of the year was Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Familiarity breeds contempt, and while I don’t feel contempt for Emerald Lake, the appeal has lessened somewhat. The last handful of years, I’ve been starting my hiking season with a trip to Forest Lakes in James Peak Wilderness. The lower Forest Lake, specifically. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wasn’t going to write anything about this trip. It’s a rather run-of-the-mill forest hike with no grand vistas (or vistas of any kind, really), and the views from the shores of the lakes are not exactly spectacular. I keep doing this hike in late May or early June because, due to the snow, it’s a different hike every time. But, generally not noteworthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, we had a very dry winter with the mountain snowpack much reduced from normal. And I was doing this hike a week or two later than normal. Still, I was surprised that I didn’t encounter any snow at all on the trail. That made it easy to find a spot for my picnic. I found a nice slab of rock near the outlet. Because the area around the outlet is fairly marshy, I was on a bit of a peninsula. <\/p>\n\n\n\n