Dave here... I decided it would be fun to do a quick solo backpack trip to somewhere new in the high country. I decided on a 21 mile loop in the Rawah wilderness area, about 50 miles WNW of Fort Collins. I packed up my gear and photo stuff and headed for the West Branch trailhead to begin the trip. 
The weather was dark and funky on the morning drive up there, so I was wondering what the conditions would be like... The weather forecast was a very common 30% chance of showers, so nothing really out of the ordinary. However, when I arrived at the trailhead at 8:30am, it was raining lightly with no real sign of improvement. I mulled around the trailhead for about an hour with no improvement in the weather and I finally figured I would just go for it, I had everything I needed to deal with sketchy weather... 
Well, over the course of the day's 12 mile hike, the weather went from sketchy to downright wet! Hiking with a full pack in the rain for hours is like fun, but different... By the time I reached one of the upper Rawah lakes where I would camp, I was pretty darn wet.
Luckily, I got about a 30 minute reprieve from the rain while I set up my tent under some pines at about 10,800' - a nice place to sit and hang out if it wasn't raining... After setting up my tent, I immediately got inside my sleeping bag trying to warm up and dry out. It continued to rain for most of the night. I only took a few photos on that dreary first day - they should be pretty obvious. I did see a momma moose and her calf on the rainy hike, but no photo due to the pouring rain...
I awoke, thankfully, to clear skies in the morning. Instead of an early start in order to catch the best light up on the high pass, I needed to dry out a bunch of gear before I could take off for the day. I enjoyed warming up and drying out under the sunny morning skies.
After a while I packed up and began the rest of the hike, up and over a pass, through some valleys, then eventually back to the car. I snapped a few more pics this day and the camera was happy to be out of the rain. The loop was pretty and there were many nice wildflower displays, although the flowers were a bit after their prime for sure. 
I also saw a cool bird that Callie and I have been unable to identify... (Dave's Jay?? :-) Near the end of the hike, I had a big surprise... only about 1/2 mile from the trail head I saw what looked at first to be a large dog waiting under a tree in the shade for it's companion. After I got a little closer, I could see the critter licking it's paw, kind of cat like... and as I got a little closer I could see that it was indeed a cat - A BIG CAT! 
Yes, a full grown mountain lion was sitting in the trail, taking a 'bath'. Wow! He didn't notice me at first, but then he turned his head towards me to take a look. We met eyes and I slowly took a few steps backward as I lowered my eyes a little and tried to get my camera out for a picture. At this point I was about 75' from "kitty"... Before I could get the camera out, the big cat decided I was of no interest and bounded into the trees on the side of the trail. Very cool to watch! I have never seen a mountain lion in the wild before, so this was quite a treat, especially since it didn't seem like a dangerous encounter. 
All in all a fun little trip with a very cool ending!
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