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