A Quick Trip to Enchantment Land

With our friends the Handwerks having recently moved "next door", we've been looking for a chance to go visit them in New Mexico, and were able to do just that this past weekend.

There was the usual and enjoyable hanging out and catching up, but we were also treated to two special outings... one was to the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, where we hiked thru some *amazing* terrain.  The wind- and rain-sculpted rock formations along the trail were stunning, and it was our first time walking through a slot canyon.

The second was to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.  The Handwerks have a very good vantage point from their home, but we decided to see some of the balloons up-close so drove down to the launch site area during the one "mass ascension" and were surrounded not by some, but by many balloons.  We couldn't count them all, but our very rough estimate is that there were about 150 balloons aloft. 

Here's a slideshow of pix from the all-too-brief trip.

Did Some More Leaf-Peeping Today

I headed West a just a tad this morning, and did a short-ish (5 miles) hike around a place called Caribou Ranch to see the fall colors as they are nearing their peak at the higher elevations.  This link tells you a little bit about it's mining history (if you click on the "History" tab; this link tells you a little bit about it's music history.)

As in other posts, this is a post where pictures will replace words.  Enjoy...

Fall is in the Air

With dustings of snow in the higher elevations now and then, and the aspens reaching their peak fall color, we've unofficially entered Autumn out here.  So, I took some time this morning to do some hiking and leaf peeping.  Some pix from the walk in the woods can be found here.

Busing, Bike Racing, Backpacks, Bear, Burgers and Beer... A Very Good Day to be a Boulderite

Today was Boulder's day to play host for the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, a 7-day stage race that makes its way through a good swath of Colorado. There's been a lot of excitement and anticipation in this town for a while (especially since the town wasn't part of the race last year), and with the finish line atop the locally famous Flagstaff Mountain, the buzz was growing as this weekend approached.

So this morning, we packed up a couple backpacks with gear necessary to make it through the day...  water, camp chairs, sunscreen, sidewalk chalk, homemade posters, bubbles, snacks, a cowbell, etc.  You know... bike-race-watching stuff.  With said backpacks on backs, we walked down to the nearest bus stop and caught the public bus that goes downtown and made our way to our first viewing point for the race.  It wasn't terribly crowded where we were -- people were just one-deep along the side of the road -- but it offered good viewing and was a quite convenient starting point to get to viewing point #2. 

Once the race cleared viewing point #1, we, accompanied by some similarly minded friends, began our quest to get up on Flagstaff and find a place well up on the hill to see the suffer-fest that was due in about 3 hours time.  The first part of this quest involved taking a hiking trail to get to the road itself.  What the trail lacked in length (0.9 miles) it made up for in elevation gain (about 560 feet, or an average grade of around 11%.)  Those figures notwithstanding, the atmosphere on the trail was jovial.  Once we reached the road, we took a break to eat some lunch and take in the mass of fellow spectators making their way up the road on bike or foot.  (The road was closed to auto traffic the previous night sometime.)  We joined them in short order, and began our own ascent of Flagstaff Road. 

We were only about 0.5 mile from the bottom of the climb (via road) at this point, and about 3.5 miles worth of pavement sat between us and the finish.  We knew we had a too late of a start to get ourselves a spot along the finishing section, but if we could find a place in the upper half of the climb, we'd be happy.  Amidst bikes, cyclists, and all manner of pedestrians in all manner of costumes, we followed the road to a switchback about 1.5 miles from the finish, and "made camp" there.  Unlike our first viewing point, we could easily tell this wasn't going to be a "one deep" stretch of road... there was still about 90 minutes until the first racers arrived, and there were plenty of people already on the shoulder of the road, and plenty still making their way up.

In the meantime, we unpacked our backpacks and began utilizing some of the implements we brought along... Chloe and I chalked the road a little bit (it wasn't easy to do with people constantly streaming by), Chloe and her friends Evan, Olivia and Mandy blew bubbles and handed out extra bottles to other kids who passed by, and warmed-up the cow bell by ringing it for those who chose to ascend by bike.

It was amazing how quickly time flew, for it seemed in no time we began hearing the helicopter (it provides the aerial coverage of the front of the race) and seeing the very first race-related vehicles that are up the road a bit from the racers making sure the course is clear and providing updates on the race situation via a PA system.  More cars and motorcycles -- some race officials, some state law enforcement -- continued to build the crescendo. 

And then, all fun and craziness broke loose as we saw the first cyclist approaching, trying to protect his breakaway status. He was swarmed by the crowd, and given near-deafening encouragement and support.  The same held true for the next few short minutes, as those who were chasing him down for the stage win, and those contending to win the overall race, made their way through the gauntlet of spectators screaming, blowing their horns and ringing their cow bells. Racers trickled up the mountain for the next 15 minutes or so, each one getting a fine "Welcome to Flagstaff" salute. We began our descent after the "Broom Wagon" came by, and enjoyed the still-festival-like atmosphere all the way back to the trail we used to reach the road on our ascent. 

As if the day wasn't "Boulder" enough, during our way down the dirt trail, we saw a rather large bear on an adjacent hillside (about 75 yards away) and then once in town, met up with some more friends for a post-race burger and beer at one of our favorite watering holes.

All in all, not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

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For a video clip of some of the action on Flagstaff, follow this link.
 - The clip is in 2 sections:  the first is us shortly after we reached Flagstaff Road from the dirt trail, and walking towards Viewing Point #2; the second section is of the first racers coming by.
 - On the topic of the racers, the first one you see is of eventual stage winner Rory Sutherland; the third racer is Jens Voigt.  Later you'll see Andreas Kloden, and a little after him is Levi Leipheimer breaking away from Tejay van Garderen (in yellow jersey) and Christian Vande Velde (shortly after they go by, you'll hear Chloe correctly state she saw Tejay, and I incorrectly dismissing her.)

We didn't take a lot of photos today, but here are some.

Mt. Audubon (revisited)

It's been nearly 4 years since I hike Mt. Audubon (the first go was written up here.)  And as that post mentions, Peg and I didn't have time to make it to the top. 

So, with Peg away on travel and Chloe in all-day camp, I thought it was a good time to strap on the boots and camelbak and give it another go.  The route description from the previous post still hold... great views once above treeline.  But since I got to the upper reaches and summit this time, I do have a greater appreciation for the hike... it is pretty steep at the top, and it does require some scrambling.  But, at least in my opinion, the views from up top make that last section well worth the effort.

Here are pix from today's hike.

Just because it was sunny, calm and mid-60s in Boulder...

... doesn't mean the same conditions exist just 40 minutes away (but 5,000 feet higher.)


A friend of mine and I snuck in a quick hike today up near Brainard Lake.  We were expecting things to be a little cooler than here in Boulder, but we weren't expecting it to be over 20 degrees cooler (and much windier) and most of the trail to be snow covered.  Thankfully, someone "broke trail" for us and packed down the snow some, for if they hadn't there easily would have been times where we would have been walking through 6 inches of snow. 

Here are some pix.

Grand and Green Hiking

First the "Grand" portion, and a write-up from guest poster Peggy:

Many of you may know that Kurt got me a 4-day backpacking trip through REI to the Grand Canyon as a Christmas gift. It was either an incredible gesture of love or a flagrant attempt to rub me out and collect the insurance money...I haven't quite decided. Anywho, I trained hard and it was the experience of a lifetime! I hiked 20.8 miles in desert heat with a 32-lbs. pack on my back that contained everything I needed to survive for three days in the remote backcountry. Our guides were great and though I was the only chick on the trip, I am happy to report that I hung with the guys the whole way and did NOT cry...not even once. I now feel like Wonder Woman and am pretty sure that I could overturn parked cars with my bare hands. It was SUCH a confidence booster. Enjoy the pix: http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=741236488c4aea75&sid=8AYsnLlozZN2Gq Peggy

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View of the Indian Peaks and Continental Divide

And now the Green portion (by yours truly)...

Perhaps inspired by Peg's trip, or by PBS' current showing of Ken Burns' documentary on the National Parks, or just addressing need to put on the trail shoes, I got away for a couple of hours this morning for a local hike to Green Mountain (elev. 8,144 ft.) here in Boulder. It was a perfect day for hike, too... sunny, clear-blue skies, and temperature right around 50. Save for the occasional woodpecker, chipmunk or squirrel, there wasn't much wildlife to speak of. The views, though, were awesome, and came with relatively little effort.

Barely visible but there,
Mts. Evans & Bierstadt

Mt. Audubon

Fall's colors beginning to show

Ladybugs









Chillaxing

Longs Peak

Of Mountains and Moose (and more)

Due to a fortuitous reconnecting via Facebook, Peggy and I had guests this weekend. Jen and Mike (Peggy and Jen were high school classmates) visited us from Western PA, and wanting to be the good hosts, we planned some Colorado-style activities. The one went better than anyone could have planned... a nice, little, only-slightly-uphill 5.5 mile (roundtrip) hike to Lake Isabelle. Here are some pictures from the hike. (There is more text after the pictures.)





































































(Pictures, left to right, top to bottom: Peggy and I on the shores of Lake Isabelle; Jen and Peggy on the shores of Lake Isabelle; Chloe hamming it up; a small cascade and some wildflowers along the trail; a look back at Chloe, Peggy, Jen and Mike, and the great background; a bull moose along Long Lake (x3))

The moose sighting was awesome! We were about 25 yards away from it and it couldn't have cared less that we were there... it was just munching away on some shrubs and grasses. We couldn't stick around to watch it too long because there was some thunder, lightning and rain making its way to our location pretty rapidly. (Sidenote: we apparently stuck around a little too long anyway... shortly after leaving the moose, the wind and rain reached us and we had about a 15 minute hike in the rain.)

We eventually got back to the car, took off our wet wind and rain gear, and began to leave the parking lot. As I drove off, Peggy yelled, "Back up! Back up! Back up!" And as I did, two more bull moose could be seen... these were a little further away (so no pix), but they, too, were out grabbing a mid-afternoon snack.

We were all delighted in the three moose sightings (one doesn't see them everyday, so seeing 1 is great... 3 is absolutely spectacular!) and as we continued driving away, Peg said, "Boy... about the only thing we need to see now is a bear."

No one knows what she had for breakfast that morning, but Peggy's powers of prognostication were off the charts for about 7 miles before reaching home, we caught a brief glimpse of a black bear up on a hillside.

3 Days and 4 Peaks

I just finished up a "Daddy's Weekend Away" in the mountains where I did some hiking and biking on and up some of Colorado's highest mountains. The goal for each day involved a peak (or two) that was a "14er" – that is, a peak that is 14,000' above sea level or higher.

Below are brief recaps for each day.

Friday - Today's objective: hike up to Grays and Torreys Peaks.
I wanted to get an early jump today because 1) I knew the hiking trail I was going to was about 1.5 hours away, 2) I knew the altitude would take some getting used to and 3) there's almost always a threat of afternoon storms in the mountains, and it's not in one's best interest to be milling around an exposed summit above 14,000' if lightning is shooting around.

So, I left Boulder around 6:30a and made my may southwest, into the mountains. My goal was to be on the trail by 8:00a, and I was in good shape to meet that until I encountered the last 3 miles of "roadway" that lead to the trailhead. It's a forest service road, and if I averaged 10 mph on it, I'd be amazed. Less than a half mile into it I encountered a wash out section that made me glad the Explorer had both a decent ground clearance and 4-wheel drive. Anywho, several minutes, thumps and ca-chunks later and I was at the parking area for the trailhead.

And, despite it being a Friday, I was not alone. The obvious parking spaces were all taken, so I followed the lead of others that arrived before me and got creative. After getting my boots on, trekking poles set, and other trail and elevation necessities in order, I set off from the trailhead at 8:30a (elevation 11,260').

The first section of the trail was relatively smooth and easy going. It was in a shallow valley, and paralleled a creek to the left and went along the base of Kelso Mountain (13,169') on the right. Almost from the beginning, though, Grays and Torreys were directly in front of me and seldom out of sight. This made for easy orienteering, but also led to constant thoughts of "I'm going up there?!?!" Eventually, the creek became further away, and the ascent became slightly steeper, and definitely more rocky. A short while after this, a guy came past me on his way to the summit... and he was jogging. I experienced jealously and admiration at the same time.

As I approached the switchbacks that led up to Grays, I began to see and hear the aftermath of the crowded parking lot – large groups of people both coming down the trail and visible on the summit, and the occasional "Yahoo!" from those reaching it. It was funny for the 1st couple of times, but because I was hoping for a more quiet and serene day, eventually it grew tiresome shortly thereafter. After about 2h 10m and 3,100' of elevation gain, I reached Grays Peak (14,270'), the 9th highest peak in Colorado, and the highest peak on the Continental Divide in the US. The summit was still pretty crowded when I arrived, so after snapping some photos, getting a bite to eat, signing the summit log book and putting a bandaid on a blister that was forming on my left heel, I continued on my way to reach Torreys.

Torreys is just north of Grays, about 0.7 mile away as the crow flies. And the trail, save for the occasional switchback, is pretty much of a straight shot between the two. Getting to Torreys, though, requires descending into the saddle that connects it with Grays, and then, of course, climbing the other side of the saddle to reach it. The saddle, though, is about 500 feet below each summit.

I began my short northerly trek by descending and immediately noticed it was getting quite windy on the ridge. Up until this point, I was getting away with wearing hiking pants, a short sleeve shirt and a baseball hat. Not anymore. On went the windbreaker, knit cap and long fingered gloves. As I put on my warmer clothes, I looked back towards Grays and noticed that few of the people were making their way over to Torreys, so hopes rose anew of a relatively isolated summit experience. It took 45 minutes to get there from Grays, but right round 11:45a, I reached Torreys Peak (14,267'), the 11th highest peak in Colorado, and made my entry in the log book.

Thankfully, the summit was less crowded and I was able to find a piece of rock to sit on that wasn't right next to someone else. Unfortunately, the aforementioned wind made things considerably colder. That, and knowing that I still had to make it back down the trail, drive down that rough forest service road and try to find a place to camp for the night, prompted me to cut my stay short and begin my descent around 12 noon.

Thankfully, the return route didn't include revisiting Grays – near the bottom of the saddle there was a connector trail that would take me to the main trail that leads back to the parking area. It was a short trail, but what made it a bit more fun than other parts of the day's hike is that the first 50 yards or so were on a small snowfield. (I just enjoyed the thought and experience of walking through snow in August.)

On the lower portion of the descent, I noticed something I had missed on the way up: On the opposite side of the creek were several abandoned mine portals. Seeing them there made me wonder what kind of effort the speculators had to put forth to not only reach this area (probably) over 120 years ago and then be able to put a mine in, but what life was like for those that lived and worked around these mines. I mean, I thought the trek up that forest service road was pretty sucky at best even with today's modern conveyances, and even with a "modern" road there, it's still pretty isolated. I can't imagine what it was like 120+ years ago minus the conveniences of today and having even fewer people around.

I made it back to the car at 2:00p, slipped off the pack and hiking boots (ahhhhhh!) and made my way over to Idaho Springs to do a little prospecting myself. The quarry: a good place to sleep for the night that would be close to the start point for tomorrow's activity. Because it was another early start, I wasn't looking for any place special to place my tent; heck, I wasn't even planning on putting up my tent since it meant waking up even earlier to disassemble and repack it. All I wanted was a place with a toilet of some kind, some running water, and a place where I could "set up camp" in the back of my car. I stopped in the Ranger's Station in Idaho Springs and was told that the two campgrounds I was interested in were full, but that I could do "dispersed camping" in an area near the one campground. Having few other options, I took the Ranger's advice and map and headed that way. When I got there, it had what I needed... running water, a pit toilet and a parking lot. The one other thing I needed and wasn't able to get was perhaps what I needed the most: a good night's sleep.

Saturday - Today's objective: bike up Mt. Evans.
I wish I could say the 6:00a alarm on my watch came quick. But it didn't. I mean, how could it after such a long night?

Yes, last night was not good. Tossing and turning. Hot and cold. I honestly don't know how much sleep I got, but it by no means was anywhere near the recommended 8 hours. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd put it near non-contiguous-and-often-interrupted 4 hours of sleep. But there was a bike ride to do, so I quickly changed into my biking gear ("quickly" not because I was running late; rather it was in the upper 30s when I woke up) and ate a bagel with some peanut butter before making my way back to Idaho Spring to meet up with some friends at 7:00a to do the "classic" ride up to Mt. Evans.

The rendezvous point was a local school, but little did we know that today was the same day as a half-marathon between Georgetown and Idaho Springs, and the race organizers were using the school as a staging and registration area. So, a scramble was on to find parking, which we eventually did, but it delayed our "wheels rolling" time a bit. At about 20 minutes after 7, I and 7 others said goodbye to the 7,585 elevation and began our 27+ mile ride (about 26.5 of it climbing) to Mt. Evans, eventually using the highest paved road in North America.

The first 6.5 miles of the climb are pretty gradual and would have given me a false sense of security had I not done my research. For it is after this point and for the next several miles that a fair amount of elevation is gained...grades go from 3% range to the 5.5-6% range pretty quickly and stay there until the halfway point. It may not seem like a big jump, but keep in mind that the halfway point is at 10,600'.

Having never done this climb before, and wanting to catch up (socially) with some guys as well as get to meet some new ones, I was being conservative in my efforts. I reached the entrance fee station (yes, I had to pay to have this experience) in about 1h 20m, and had about another 14 miles to go. The sign here said the temperature currently at the summit was 32 degrees, with the wind chill around 24. I knew that at the pace I was going, I probably still had about another 90 or so minutes of riding to do, and in that time the summit temperature would likely rise. I also knew that while the road wouldn't get much steeper between here and the summit, the amount of oxygen available to breathe would be going down gradually.

At around mile 16 and elevation 11,500', I find myself above treeline and biking by myself. Thankfully, it was a sunny morning, but being above treeline now made me susceptible to some cool morning breezes which meant frequently adjusting my windbreaker vest and/or arm warmers to help either cool me down or warm me up, depending on what was needed. Except for a brief marmot sighting, the next 5-6 miles were spent watching my pace as well as the mountains and lakes around me.

A brief downhill stretch came at around mile 22, as I dipped down into the Summit Lake area. Indeed, this non-climbing section felt good and was a great time to stretch the back and legs a bit, but it wasn't completely without its own little "perks." For, in this area, the road is contoured by frost heaves. In a car, I wouldn't have paid them much attention. But on road bike (read: narrow tires and no suspension), I definitely did, and had to make a couple quick turns and take some jarring bumps to make it through.

Five miles, 1,300' of elevation gain, a couple of mountain goats and 12 switchbacks after the Summit Lake area – and about 3h 10m after leaving Idaho Springs – I found myself at 14,130' above sea level, the top of the Mt. Evans road. To be sure, I was a little winded (there's approximately half as much oxygen at this altitude than there is at sea level) but not completely wiped out. But my legs were stiff, due, in large part, to the hiking I did yesterday.

I was the second of my group to make it there, so I waited around a little while for others to arrive. Thankfully, the air temperature seemed to have gone up some since we saw the reading at the fee station, but it didn't go up so much as to make a prolonged stay up there in nothing more than partly sweaty cycling clothes an attractive proposition. So after about 40 minutes of waiting and seeing most of the group I started out with reach the summit, I zipped up my vest, put on another pair or long-fingered gloves, eeked my right leg over the top tube, got back in the saddle and began what I expected to be a rather cool descent. And I was correct in that expectation. For the first 5 miles, my legs were shaking and my teeth were chattering a little bit. I actually looked forward to what was now a light uphill section around Summit Lake so I could warm myself a bit through exertion.

As if being chilled wasn't fun enough, all along the upper section of the road were seams about every 30 meters. Again, in a car I'd pay little notice, but on a road bike, you feel everything. In fact, when we regrouped at the entrance fee station, I learned that the one guy in our group broke a rear spoke on the way down, in large part due to the pounding his wheel took on those seams. The road surface after the entrance station was much better: less jarring, and below treeline, meaning the air felt a little warmer and I was able shed some clothing for the rest of the ride.

We all regrouped in Idaho Springs, and those that could, stayed in town a little bit to grab a late lunch of pizza and a celebratory beer. Once that was over, I again had to begin a search for a place to make camp for the night, except for tonight I did plan on using the tent. So back to the Ranger's Station I went, and inquired about 2 campsites near where I was going tomorrow. Again, I was told they were full, but there were plenty of dispersed camping sites in the area and that I could probably be able to use one of those. So, I jumped in the car and made my way up Guanella Pass road. Thankfully, I was able to find a campsite below but near treeline, not crazy far off the road, and just about 1 mile from where I wanted to start tomorrow's activity. So I made camp, ate a small dinner (with a side of Excedrin), did some reading and turned off the lantern in hopes of a better night's sleep. It was going to be another early start tomorrow.

Sunday - Today's objective: hike up to Mt. Bierstadt.
I wouldn't call last night an ideal night's sleep, but it was better by far than the previous night's.

I new on a nice weekend day the trail I was taking was going to be busy and I wanted to beat the rush. So I got up at 5:45a, changed into some warm clothes (the temps dipped a little below freezing last night), broke camp, loaded the car and made my way (with the heater on) to the trailhead. The lot was pretty empty, but I was by no means the first one on the trail. After "gearing up," I set off on my hike to the summit of Mt. Bierstadt at 6:50a (trailhead elevation: 11,660 feet).

Unlike Friday's hike, today's hike started with a slight downhill-to-flat section. My legs welcomed this very much for they were still a little stiff from the previous two days' activities. The sun was up, but because I was on the West side of the peak, I was in the mountain's shadow for the first mile or so, keeping things on the chilly side.

As I approached a pond in this section, I looked ahead of me and saw a large brown object making its way out of the willows and towards the pond. After a doubletake, I noticed it was a moose... it, too, was probably out early to beat the crowds. After passing by the moose and pond, and crossing over a nearby creek, the 3 mile ascent to Bierstadt began. By this time, the sun had risen a little bit more, allowing me to hike in fewer shaded areas and finally able to warm up some.

The entire hike was above treeline, providing excellent views of the Continental Divide to the West, especially of my Friday peaks, Grays and Torreys. Save for a couple turns on switchbacks, Bierstadt was almost always in view, as was the rock ridge formation to the North of it called The Sawtooth. The trail was, except for the last half mile or so, a consistent and manageable grade for a large portion of the ascent. During this last half mile, the trail was less discernible as it went up through an area filled with boulders... the rock cairns in this area were of great help. After gaining the ridge just below the summit, it was time to stow away the trekking poles and do some scrambling over boulders for the last 250' of elevation gain. It was also time to zip up the windbreaker and make sure the hat was on snug as the winds were whipping around.

Two hours and thirty minutes after leaving the trailhead, I reached the largely empty 14,060 foot summit of Bierstadt and signed the summit log book. I then headed towards the East side of the peak to get out of the wind, and was rewarded with not only warmth, but also great views of Abyss Lake and yesterday's peak, Mt. Evans. I took in some food and water, snapped some photos and, having had enough of the wind, began my way back to the car at 9:45a.

By this time, there were considerably more people on the trail, and I couldn't have been happier about my decision to get an early jump on the hike. It was a good hike back – scenic and uneventful – and took me a little under 2 hours to make it back to the car. Once there, I again took off my pack and boots (ahhhhh!) and sat on the rear bumper eating my lunch and just taking in the view of the hike I had just done.

For pictures, follow this link. (To see captions for the photos, follow that link, then click on "View Album" and then click on "Play Slideshow.")

Fathers Day, First Day of Summer, and Snow

What better way to spend Fathers Day and the first day of Summer* then afoot on a hiking trail... a trail that was largely covered in snow, nonetheless.

I was up at the Brainard Lake area again today, but today was joined by Chloe, Peggy and Chamberlain on a hike to Lake Isabelle. From the trailhead, the hike (one-way) was about 1.5 miles, but because of snow still blocking some access roads, we had to park about 1/2 mile away. (We asked a park attendant why the roads were closed and were told that, for some reason, the roads aren't plowed or shoveled. It's their hope that the roads will be clear by July 4th.)

Because we were still below treeline, the large majority of the trail was susceptible to shade; as such, there was still plenty of snow covering it. These aren't official figures, but it's my guess that approximately 80% of the trail was snow-covered, and the longest single-stretch of hiking on earthen ground was probably about 40 yards. In certain areas, we were probably walking on snow that was 7-8 feet deep. Thankfully, the snow was hardpacked, so we could walk across it with few problems.

While it made for an interesting hike and some beautiful scenes, the snow did make the going a little slower than usual, and we had to turn back earlier than hoped so Peg could catch a flight to San Diego. Because it's so close to our home (30 minutes away), we suspect we'll be back there sometime this summer to to the hike in full.

(Pictures, top to bottom: Peggy and Chloe standing on one of the many piles of snow covering the trail; Chloe trekking past a snowy meadow.)

* Today's the first full day of summer here in CO. Technically speaking, the summer solstice took place at 11:45p last night.

Seeing Sanitas

We all needed a break from moving and packing related activities, and decided to do a popular local hike that we had yet to do. So, after a leisurely morning, all 4 of us hopped in the car and drove 10 minutes to the trailhead for Mount Sanitas. (Yes, it's pretty awesome to have hikes that close!)

We set out with our usual routine: Peggy, Chloe and I going at a nice, easy pace, and Chamberlain running up and down the trail as if he were trying to put out a fire on his tail. Thankfully for him, the sun was not to be seen as a cloudy day was upon us; otherwise, we would have had one cooked beagle after only 30 minutes. The cloudy day kept things cool for us humans, too, but it also prevented us from catching the views the hike is known to provide.

Even though the trail is just 3.3 miles in length roundtrip, the trail is rated as moderate-to-difficult, largely because of 3 steep boulder-and-rock-strewn trail sections. In the span between the trailhead and summit (6863 ft.), we hiked about 1.75 miles and gained about 1300 feet of elevation.

We reached the summit just in time as Chloe's two and Chamberlain's four legs were loosing their oomph. Despite the cloud cover, we were able to get some views of the plains immediately East and North of Boulder; but any view West into the backrange was blocked.

During the descent, we came upon a sight seldom seen in this area: a person wearing a Flyers hat. We struck up a conversation with the guy wearing it, and found out he had previously lived in Yardley, PA!

We made it back to the car about 3 hours later, with some in our party more noticeably tired than some others. But it was a good tired, and one we hope to experience again soon and more often as a family.







(Pictures, top to bottom: Chloe on the way up to Mount Sanitas, with Boulder in the background; Chloe and Chamberlain taking a rest as we approach the summit; a northeast view of Chloe and I at the summit; Wonder Woman and her sidekick preventing certain doom for unwitting hikers; a sign detailing the history of the area [click to enlarge and read]; Chamberlain surveying his domain.)

Playtime for All!

Peggy's just 4 days into her "sabbatical" and to be honest with you, I've seen less of her now then when she was working from home. Today's adventure took her and Chamberlain hiking just North of Lyons, CO (which is about 13 miles north of Boulder). They did about 6 miles on mostly-snow-covered trails, not seeing a single soul all day, unless you count the 15 or so deer. (Interesting sidenote: the one trail they took is called Sleeping Lion Trail, and it got its name from a mountain lion that used to take a 45 minute nap there.) Unfortunately, the battery on the point and shoot petered out and she wasn't able to get pix of Mt. Meeker and Longs Peak. But she was able to get a picture of Chamberlain in the snow (right).

But, Peggy and Chamberlain weren't the only ones to have some outdoor fun today. Chloe and I were invited to join her friend Clay and his mom for some ice skating after school. It was the first time skating for both Chloe and Clay... each took their fair share of falls, the worst of which was less than 30 seconds before stepping off the ice to leave. But considering they've never tried to balance and propel themselves on two narrow slivers of steel, both did very well. Perhaps another Torvill and Dean in the making? Luckily, I recharged the battery on the point and shoot and was able to take some pix. (Right: Clay and Chloe waiting for the Zamboni to clear the ice.)

Another family hike

KnPnCnC took advantage of yet another unseasonably warm day (temp in the mid/upper 50s) and headed to NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research), which is located in southwest Boulder. The destination: Mallory Cave. The distance: 1.1 miles O/W. The elevation gain: 920 feet.

For a good part of the year (from April 1 to October 1) entrance into Mallory Cave is closed in order to protect the Townsend's big-eared bat, a species of bat that uses the cave as a breeding place. The first part of trail has an interpretative section, with signage along the way informing readers about local weather patterns. One little nugget we picked up from this section of trail was that West Boulder gets, on average, 20 more inches of snow per year than East Boulder. (If you're a weather nut and/or would like to pick up some other little nuggets on regional Boulder weather, visit this site.) Once past the interpretive section, it was pretty normal hiking... rocks, trees, the occasional view of Denver, and Chamberlain sniffing EVERYTHING. Eventually, we got to a place in the trail where dogs were allowed to be off-leash, and Chamberlain looked like a pup again (whitening face aside.)

The final approach to the final approach (you read that right) was unlike any other we've seen... the trail became a series of multiple short switchbacks, many of which were less than 20 feet in length, as it worked its way up between two huge slabs of pink sandstone. Once done with the switchbacks, we saw the final approach to the cave... a 50-foot vertical scramble up a sandstone slab.

Considering she had never done anything like this, Peggy and I were surprised with Chloe's enthusiasm for scrambling up it. This wasn't like her time in the rock gym where there were ropes and helmet... one misstep here could lead to a pretty good "ouchy." With Chamberlain along, we knew it wouldn't be in his best interest to attempt the scramble, so Peg stayed behind. (Even if he could manage the scramble, who knows what the boy would get himself into in a cave where bat guano might be aplenty.)

So up Chloe and I went, her first with me close behind, pointing out where to put hands and feet, and putting myself in position to act as a net if need be. Thankfully, that part of my service went unused. In fact, she did GREAT! Grabbing and pulling and pushing and squeezing her way up to the top, and not thinking much of it. As we got to the cave, we realized we left the flashlight with Peggy, but no matter as the bats were gone and it was basically one large chamber and not really much else to explore. Now it was time to explain to Chloe that there's another half to the challenge of visiting the cave: getting back down the steep 50-foot slab.

So, now in reverse order (and me still preserving the roles of hold pointer and net) down we went. In order to keep her close to the slab and leaning back, we spent a lot of time on the descent scooting along on our butts. Chloe commented at one point, "It's just like going down a slide!" I didn't feel it was right to tell her there weren't cushioning wood chips awaiting us at the bottom if we started sliding, though. Just like her performance ascending, she did a great job coming back down... finding places to put her hands and feet so she can lower herself down and control her own weight. It was a great achievement for our 5 year old (and a pretty proud moment for Peggy and I), and one that I put up there with her learning how to ride a bike. Chloe was so bolstered by her performance that once we got back down with Peggy and Chamberlain, it didn't take long for her to start giving pointers to other hikers contemplating making the scramble!

As we started making our way down the switchbacks, it became apparent that Chamberlain took the time waiting for Chloe and I to return to recharge his batteries. No sooner do we get past the first couple of switchbacks and he starts running around like a maniac. He goes charging down the trail to play with 2 Blue Heelers and had a display of energy the likes of which neither Peggy nor I have seen in a while.

By the time we got back to the car, Chamberlain's energy had waned, but Chloe's was pretty solid, for she knew the next stop was an ice cream shop. (Thanks Yardley friends... we finally got around to using the Glacier Homemade Ice Cream gift certificate!)

All in all, a great day in Boulder!


We didn't take a camera with us, but here are two pictures by others I found on the web of the final approach to the cave.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/image/17870669/detail.html
http://picasaweb.google.com/briangbrown/MalloryCave#4994113232388227090

11,897... 11,898... 11,899...

With some of her recent business travel having taken place on weekends, Peg felt it was high (no pun intended, as you will soon read) time take some comp time.

The activity of choice: hiking.

The location: the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area of the Roosevelt National Forest. (Where's that you ask? Short answer: about 35 minutes west of here.)

The lucky person who got to join her: me.

After getting Chloe on the bus, we jumped in the car and headed to the trailhead. As we approached it, we noticed a couple of things: 1) it was about 10 degrees warmer back at the house, 2) the road was closed about 0.5 mile before the trailhead, so our hike just became that much longer (times 2) and we may not have time to reach the summit of Mt. Audubon (13,221 ft.) and still get back in time to meet Chloe at the bus stop and 3) man, it sure was a beautiful area. Because 2/3 of the trail was to be above treeline, we weren't too concerned about reaching the summit because we knew we'd have views for most of the hike. And we couldn't have been more right.

Even when amongst the various evergreens, the views were great as we went through a couple of switchbacks. The trees not only became more sparse as we climbed, but as we continued on, we noticed they also became noticeably smaller and twisted. We learned from the hiking cue sheet that these latter characteristics are indicative of a krummholz formation. And indeed, as we approached the timberline, we felt more wind hitting us, but also more sunlight. Once in the alpine tundra, the views were everywhere... plains to the East, and mounts and peaks everywhere else.

After about 2.5 hours of uphill, we found ourselves at 11,900 feet and beginning to notice the effects of it, too. Rather than rush to do the final 1.25 miles/1,321 feet and risk missing Chloe getting off the bus, we felt it was a good place to take a break and eat our lunch before heading back down.

(Pictures, top to bottom: Brainard Lake and some of the Indian Peaks; some of the views as we headed back down; a pretty good place to have lunch; one happy hiker.)

1st Family Hike

With it being another sunny day here – a quite often occurrence as Boulder typically has 300+ days of sun per year – Peggy organized our first family hike. With lunches, dog treats and camera packed, we got in the car and headed to Bald Mountain (insert joke about me here), which is at 7,160 feet and just 5 miles outside of town. Soon after arriving, we found that it is a pretty popular place for families with younger children, as we saw several within steps of the parking lot. We parked on the East side of the mountain, but once we made our way around to the West side, we got a much better view of the Back Range. We could also see the very distinctive roof of Denver International Airport, which is about 38 miles away. It was a short hike (listed at 1.5 miles) but a great way to introduce Chloe to hiking.

Not wanting to head home, Peg consulted her guide to good hikes with children, and we made our up way up Boulder Creek Canyon to Boulder Falls. (Pictures, top to bottom: the warning sign that awaits you at the trailhead; Peggy, Chloe and Chamberlain breaking trail; view of the Back Range; Chloe by Boulder Falls; and Chloe in Picture Rock.)

Also, I added a picture of Chloe getting off the bus on her 1st day of school. Visit the "One Giant Step" post to see it.