Bike, Hike, and Climb

It was another good weekend in Boulder. On Saturday, we biked 17 miles to the Hall Ranch in Lyons. We hiked 9 or 10 miles and then biked all the way back. The ride back is rough -- basically all the elevation gain (over 400') occurs over 3 miles.

Today we climbed a route on the First Flatironette. Lots of fun!

At the top of the climb there were huecos which had collected rainwater. Surprisingly there was something swimming around in there!

Bird Update

The damn bird is still flying into the window. Who needs an alarm clock, or a clock at all for that matter, when the bird wakes you up at 5:30am and flies into the window at dinner time.

Morning robin

Yesterday afternoon there was a nice robin cheeping outside our window. This is the robin:

This morning at 6am there was an aggressive robin thwocking into our window. This is the robin:



The robin apparently isn't afraid of the big owls that live across the street, so it's no surprise that it isn't afraid of the 8.5 x 11 owl I printed out and taped to the outside of the window either.

Teller Lake trail run

We were going to bike to Chautauqua today to run the Mesa trail, but once we got on our bikes and started heading West we noticed it was misting in the mountains. So instead we drove East and ran the trails around Teller Lake. Despite the advancing clouds it never rained, lucky us!

Boulder day

We stayed local today. First we headed out on our bikes to Wonderland Lake. We saw the hang glider from last week, but this time he was actually up in the air. After parking our bikes at the trailhead we hiked the Kiln loop trail. The kiln was kinda neat, there were some strange black and white rocks along the way, and we got to see a hummingbird very close up.

Next we biked down to the library and then the farmers' market for lunch. While downtown I got my new free Newton Running shoes. It's a neat store -- they let you take the shoes outside to test drive.

From there we headed home. I biked to the Bolder Boulder store to pick up my race packet. Back at home I tried out my new shoes on a 1-mile run. They'll take a little getting used to but I think I like them.

Later in the evening Laurel and I headed out for a walk and ended up at the Ethiopian restaurant for dinner. Good food. It was a bit chilly walking home.

New shoes!

Laurel and I went to a panel discussion at Alta Physical Therapy on the merits of barefoot or minimalistic running vs. shod running. There was a raffle and I won a new pair of sneaks! Need to go down to Newton Running to get fitted sometime.

M+D vacation, part 2

My parents returned from Colorado Springs last Tuesday evening. Wednesday was rainy, so it was a quiet rest day for them. We had dinner at Turley's (many gluten free options!). Thursday they went to Cheyenne to see the buffaloes and got soaked by a heavy rainstorm. That evening, Laurel went to a talk about swimming and triathlons. The three of us went to Neptune for a short movie about some climber who apparently didn't die when aid climbing in the Italian Dolomites. My parents stayed in Boulder on Friday, checking out Pearl Street and a new exhibit at the Boulder History Museum.

Saturday morning I went on the first long run I've done in a while (7.5 miles). Then the four of us headed downtown: We got bacon cupcakes at Tee & Cakes, had breakfast at Lucille's, and then walked the farmer's market. In the afternoon we did a hike around Wonderland Lake. That evening we heard Carmina Burana performed by the Boulder Philharmonic. It was fantastic, what an experience!

For Sunday, Dad and I had a big hike planned. We left the house at 7am and hiked Bear Peak. We were lucky to have great hiking weather the whole day, and only a few fresh inches of snow at the top. Mom and Laurel hiked the Eagle and Sage trails and then did a little shopping at Celestial, Pekoe, and Savory and Spice.

Monday I took my parents to NCAR, where Dad and I had started our hike the previous day. We followed the trail a bit to show Mom what we had hiked. After that we had lunch at The Med and walked around the Sturtz and Copeland greenhouses. Mom assembled a beautiful bouquet for us and I got some information about our "Christmas tree" (a Norfolk Pine we've had for years).

Tuesday was my parents last day in town and the first day that the weather was really nice. We went for a walk around the neighborhood and checked out the planes at the local Boulder airport before they took off for the big airport in Denver.

Weekend visitors

Mark (a friend from UConn) flew in Friday, a few days early for his GIS conference in Ft. Collins next week. We took him on a hike up to the top of the First Flatiron and then got dinner at Himalaya's. My parents are also visiting next week, so we lent Mark our Echo and some hiking gear for the weekend and made a few suggestions about where to go in RMNP.

When my parents arrived on Saturday they brought rain -- first we've seen around here since September! It didn't last long so after lunch we walked the Cottonwood Trail. We met a local farmer with a stand on Jay Rd. and got some fresh produce. It was sunnier in the afternoon.

Sunday we headed for the hills! We took the scenic route to Idaho Springs for a little shopping, lunch at Beau Jo's, and a gold mine tour. We drove up to Berthoud Pass for pictures and got to see some back country skiers making turns down a nearby slope. Then we got ice cream in Winter Park. On the way home we drove through Rollinsville and took Magnolia back to Boulder. Not a 4x4 road but it is mostly dirt, and very steep!

My parents took a side trip to Colorado Springs on Monday and Tuesday. They walked around Garden of the Gods, took the Cog Railway to the top of Pikes Peak, and visited the Cliff Dwellings. Back in Boulder, I went for a hike with Mark on Monday, where we saw tons of ladybugs!

Anne U. White trail-run

Today Laurel and I rode our bikes 45 minutes to the Anne U. White trailhead and did our first trail-run of the season (not counting Cottonwood, which is flat). We're going to be doing a lot of this in the coming months to prepare for the Pikes Peak Ascent -- a half marathon up a 14er with 7800' elevation gain. Fortunate for us we're just running up the mountain; for the full marathon, runners turn around at the top and run all the way back down too.

Compared to Pikes Peak's Barr Trail, our run today was more moderate in elevation gain -- around 500' gained over 1.6 miles going up -- but still quite strenuous! The winding, narrow trail requires 10-20 stream crossing each way. Most crossings have a few rocks to hop along. Doing this at speed without getting wet can be a challenge. Parts of the trail were still snowy too.

Longs Peak trail

We did some hiking and snowshoeing Saturday, starting from the Longs Peak trailhead. Weather was beautiful -- definitely starting to transition from Winter to Summer. Hopefully when there's less snow we can try running this trail.

Our new ride

This week in Boulder...

Daytime Owl.

Bloomin' orchid.

Laurel's new bike.

Bike ride to Niwot

Last weekend when we drove back from a dealership in Longmont we passed the tiny town of Niwot. Today we decided today to bike there and walk around the downtown area. Fun day until I hit a curb the wrong way and went over the handlebars.


View Niwot loop in a larger map or in gmap pedometer

Brainard Cabin and Audubon

Sunday afternoon we drove up to the Brainard Lake winter trailhead, luckily found a parking spot, and snowshoed a few miles out to the CMC cabin. We got there before the weekend day-host had left, so the cabin was already opened up with fires going.

We chilled out that evening and got an early start Monday morning to hike and snowshoe up Mt. Audubon.

It was supposed to be warm on Monday -- the temperature was 30 when we started out at 6:30 AM -- but two things kept us from feeling warm. First, we kept gaining elevation, which drops the temperature. Second, the wind got stronger as we got closer to and then above the treeline.

In the beginning there were tracks to follow from a snowshoer the day before. Once those veered off in the wrong direction, there was enough fresh snow that you couldn't tell there was a trail other than by the wider spacing between trees. We followed it as well as we could but eventually lost the trail and were on our own.

We continued up above treeline and eventually found the trail again. Above treeline there were pretty constant gusts of 30-40 MPH winds. It was a blue-sky day so we kept on going up. The sastrugi were beautiful along the way.

A few hundred vertical feet of the summit we turned around to ensure we would get back in time. The winds had really slowed us down. On the way down we were careful to stay away from the steeper slopes to avoid any possible avalanche danger. Back to the cabin to pick up a few things we left, then hiked out the road to the trailhead.

Spring in Colorado

Happy Spring! It has been a great week in Colorado despite the mixture of spring and winter weather. Last Saturday it was sunny and 50, so we were able to ride our bikes to the car dealerships in town. We got into many cars and test drove some. No decision yet, but we got a lot of research done! Saturday evening Tim and Jill came over, then we went to Ann and Sean's St. Patrick's Day party.

Sunday the weather was more winter-like. We had planned to head up to Estes Park to hike up Estes Cone (11,000), but we got a late start and 2/3 of the way there, Dan realized he forgot his boots. The day was not a total waste, as we stopped at the Foothill Trailhead and did some trailing running in the light snow.

The rest of the week was absolutely beautiful. On Tuesday, we went for a 2-hour mountain bike ride on the Eagle trail after work. Thursday we rode to Sanitas and did some bouldering.

Then, in true Colorado form, we got a foot of snow Friday. School wasn't canceled because the roads weren't too bad -- they were so warm from the rest of the week, it was just slushy. The powder accumulated everywhere else -- including the slopes at Eldora. The little Echo couldn't make it up the icy canyon road, so we took the bus and skied the awesome conditions all afternoon. I love spring skiing! It's so much warmer!

Today and tomorrow it's supposed to be in the fifties and sixties again. Now, if we could only get one more snow storm, since we both have one punch left on our ski passes!

Pike's Peak

Yesterday we did our fourth CMC trip (it's been a while...). We registered for the trip for a couple of reasons. First, we thought it would be fun. Second, we've never been on the east side of Pike's Peak, and third, we're hoping to run up this particular trail in the Pike's Peak Ascent Half Marathon in August.

So, we got up super early (5am!) and met the rest of the group just outside of Colorado Springs. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day and by 8am we were stashing away layers at the trailhead. The Barr trail begins in historic Manitou Springs and climbs a total of 13 miles to the peak. Our objective today, though, was the infamous Barr Camp halfway up the mountain. We started at 6,800 and climbed to the camp at 10,200. There were beautiful views of Colorado Springs and the peak along the way. We were passed by dozens of trail runners on the bottom few miles of the icy/slushy trail.

At lunch time we made it to the camp. There are year-round caretakers, Teresa and Neal, who live in the main cabin and cook spaghetti dinners for their guests. There are also lean-to shelters and tent sites. Teresa and Neal were very hospitable and offered us hot drinks, a warm fire, and bird seed. The birds up there will actually eat out of your hands. It's something else!

We got back to the cars uneventfully, yet very tired after hiking 13 miles. We all went out to eat at Rosie's Diner in Monument afterward.

Colorado Fun

So, aside from all these great snowshoeing trips we've been taking, we have also enjoyed some other winter activities. Over the last few weeks, we have both managed to get to Eldora to take skiing lessons, on separate occasions. Because there aren't a lot of adults taking group lessons during the week, Dan and I both managed to get a two hour private lesson. Very coo!

Also on separate occasions, we have both managed to ride our bikes to Chautauqua, hike Green Mountain, and bike home. I went today and had a ton of fun. I think I broke my ascent record--today I got from the Amphitheatre parking lot to the summit in 1:23.

Last Sunday we got a good 8 inches of snow. I skied out the front door and up the Cottonwood Trail. It was a gorgeous afternoon with awesome snow!

Quandary in winter

Long day. Weather better than expected. Made it to plateau at 13,000' before turning around due to very high winds that literally knocked us to the ground.

Check out pics.


View Quandary 20-Feb-2010 in a larger map

Weather for today

Point Forecast: 4 Miles ENE Kokomo CO
39.4°N 106.1°W (Elev. 13674 ft)

Today: Snow. High near 12. Wind chill values as low as -16. Breezy, with a west southwest wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.

Quandary, here we come!

Lookout Mtn Again

We did it! I can't believe it, but we did it! We parked at Wild Basin again, but this time we followed the Sandbeach Lake trail west for about 3 miles rather than heading north towards Meeker Park. We hiked and then snowshoed for about two and a quarter hours before heading off trail. There was a ton of snow -- up to two feet in parts. Despite the rough going, we got a lot of navigation practice here.

We followed a ridge and then headed north towards a gully. We headed up the gully (at times seeing the creek under the snow) following a northeasterly bearing, before circling around the back of Lookout Mountain. After 3½ hours off trail (plus 2¼ on trail) we finally got to the summit. There wasn't time to hang out long, as we were already at our turn back time. Fortunately, heading back downhill was much easier and much faster. We made it back to the car less than 2½ hours after leaving the summit.

The summit of Lookout Mountain

Lookout Mountain and Horsetooth

Fate was against us today. Our plan was to summit Lookout Mountain and Horsetooth by snowshoe. While we were up on the saddle we wanted to explore Meeker ridge a bit, then descend off trail and head back to the trailhead. But, as the saying goes, first, catch your hare.

How did things not go according to plan?

1. We got a late start this morning since I was up late last night.
2. We got our car stuck in a ditch on County Rd 113N a hundred yards from the trailhead.
3. Two hours into our trip, Laurel says, "Did I give the camera back to you?"
4. As we were retracing our steps to find the camera, Laurel says, "What happened to your other snowshoe?"

After a nice man in the neighborhood towed us out of our first crisis, we decided to park at the Sandbeach Lake TH instead and adjust our route accordingly. We lost and found the camera, and I found my missing snowshoe -- it had come right off my foot as we were hiking and I didn't even notice for 50 feet! We were spooked the rest of the day that items would start crawling out of our packs when we weren't looking.

We didn't get to summit anything today, but we got some good navigation practice and exercise (see our route). We also finally figured out that the tracks we have seen on recent hikes are indeed snowshoe hare -- we hadn't realized previously that their large hind feet land forward of their front feet as they hop, creating that characteristic pattern.

IPW and ROMO map

This map shows every hiking, snowshoe, and skiing trip we have made to the Indian Peaks Wilderness, Arapaho/Roosevelt National Forests, or Rocky Mountain National Park.

Had to do this to figure out where to go this weekend :)


View IPW + ROMO in a larger map

Hurricane Niwot

Dan and I had an adventure today. The weather forecast was gorgeous so we headed into the mountains. Dan plotted out a very cool loop between Ward and Nederland. We parked at the Sourdough trailhead near the CU Research Center. We were the only car in the lot at 9:30 -- a great sign! We snowshoed on the trail for about an hour and a half, then followed a valley towards the summit. About two hours later we finally obtained the summit of Niwot Mountain. It was very cool up there because the clouds kept blowing in different directions so every two minutes the view was different.

To pick up the trail again, we needed to traverse the ridge for over a mile. On a warm summer day, this would have been a very simple feat. Today, however, it was a bit more difficult. The wind was blowing constantly at about 20mph. There were sustained gusts up to 50 or 60 mph. This kind of headwind made things very difficult. Finally, we began our descent into the trees because we couldn't find the trail on the saddle. After 20 minutes heading due south, we finally intersected the trail. We followed this road for another hour or two, and then walked along the road to the car. Eight hours and 11.25 miles later we made it back! In this time, we only saw three other people--and that was only the last hour of the trip. A great (long) day.

TROWEL : CONCRETE :: snowboard : ____

Eldora needs more snow. Some slopes were scraped so bare it was like skiing on smooth concrete. The challenge became finding runs with enough cover. I had a good time staying off to the sides and skiing through the trees. Laurel had less luck. One benefit of such conditions: I had an opportunity to learn how to self-arrest with a ski-pole.

After skiing we went to Ann and Sean's for a delicious dinner.

Biking to the teahouse

Laurel, Donna, and I biked down the Boulder Creek path to Eben G. Fine park, then back to the teahouse for brunch. We saw prairie dogs on the way.


View Teahouse bikeride in a larger map

Snowshoeing with Donna

Today we went up to Brainard Lake. It was Donna's first time on snow shoes and I think she had some fun. We snowshoed up to the CMC Cabin and then back to the car. It was a beautiful, sunny winter day and boy, did the hot chocolate at the cabin taste good!

Powder day at Winter Park and Mary Jane

We skied with Donna and JJ again, this time at Winter Park. After doing a somewhat icy run on the Winter Park mountain, we decided to aim for the Parsenn's Bowl. We had to take a few chair lifts to get over there, but it was worth it -- there was deep fresh powder above treeline that was amazing to ski through. Pretty much everywhere we skied the rest of the day (in the bowl and on the Mary Jane mountain) had better cover than that first run.

JJ and I spent a lot of time in the trees. The powder there was up to our knees in places and when we fell the snow seemed to swallow us whole.

After another great day skiing we headed back to Boulder. Dinner at the Sink then dessert at Glacier Ice Cream.

First Flatiron snow hike

We hiked to the top of the First Flatiron with Donna and JJ. The trail was predominantly packed snow but a few spots were icier. This was a tough hike given the conditions and they did great! It was snowing by the time we summited so there was no view of the Indian Peaks.

Alligator does not taste like chicken

We have had alligator meat sitting in the freezer since the last time Adam visited. I decided it was time to cook it. Since everyone says alligator tastes like chicken, I thought maybe a BBQ "pulled gator" recipe would be good.

I think gator tastes more like bland chewy canned tuna. It made a weird BBQ dish. Especially weird putting it in a taco (I made it the same night Laurel made tacos). Maybe next time it would be better with some mayo as a "gator salad sandwich".

Skiing!

Donna and JJ came out to visit and we went skiing. They flew in very late Tuesday night and on Wednesday we started heading to the other side of the state. On the way to Glenwood Springs we went to Beau Jo's in Idaho Springs for lunch. Yum! We got to walk around downtown in Glenwood and stopped at Doc Holiday's for dinner.

On Thursday we drove to Snowmass and skied all day. It was chilly (high was 20) but we still had a lot of fun. We had dinner just off the slopes and then called it an early New Year's Eve so we could ski again bright and early.

Our early evening paid off because we practically had the slopes to ourselves Friday morning. It was warmer and the skies were a beautiful Colorado blue. We took a lift to the very top of the ski resort boundaries and Dan and I actually hiked to the top of the ski mountain. There were gorgeous views and I wanted to keep going... I think I could have convinced Dan to join me up an enticing ridge had we not been in ski boots! The rest of the day was great and then we headed back to Boulder.

Our pictures and JJ's pictures.

A Week in Florida

Sunday: We flew into Miami and it was cold! Well, cold for Florida anyway. It was probably 60 degrees and sunny. Mom and Dad picked us up and brought us straight to the Dania Beach before heading to their place for a tasty home cooked meal. Then we went over to Adam's for the night.

Monday: After a nice run over to the airport greenbelt park, Mom took us to a scary grocery store called Penn Dutch. In the afternoon we bundled up for a walk on the Hollywood Broadwalk. Another tasty home cooked meal followed!

Tuesday: After a morning rollerblading trip (L) and run (D), Mom and Dad drove us down to an area outside of Homestead called the Redlands. We stopped at many roadside farm-stands and tasted fresh picked strawberries, tomatoes and even got some boiled peanuts. Then we drove down to Everglades National Park and did some walking around. It was pretty and very cool to see the natural side of Florida. Adam cooked duck for dinner.

Wednesday: Beach day! It was finally warm enough to head to the beach. We hopped on our borrowed bikes and rode down to the Dania Beach. It was too windy for good sun-bathing, but it was nice walking along the water. We rode our bikes down to Hollywood, rode the whole Broadwalk and then rode to Mom and Dad's. We spent the afternoon hanging out at the pool. We got back to Adam's and watched Rogue -- a stupid movie about a 2-ton Australian crocodile that lives in a tree-cave and eats people. Then we went to watch Adam at his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practice.

Thursday: Adam took us for a boat ride in the Everglades. We saw tons of alligators on the canal banks. There were lots of birds, too. In the afternoon Mom and Dad came over and we made lots and lots of pierogies. Yum!

Friday: We ran in the morning with Adam, went to the beach twice, rollerbladed, and had a Christmas feast.

Saturday: Race day! Yes, we found a 5K in Fort Lauderdale. We all ran it and Dan and I got PRs. Well, I guess Adam did too, since it was his first race. Dan ran it in 22:30, Adam came in at 23:59 and I finished at 26:03 (it was a fun run and not officially timed). After lots of free munchies we crashed at Adam's for a bit before heading out to kayak 5 miles in West Lake Park. Then it was back to the beach for an evening walk.

Sunday: We met Mom and Dad on the beach for breakfast after rollerblading a bit. After eating we bladed some more and walked on the beach a bit. Then we headed back to Adam's to pack and say goodbye. Mom and Dad drove us down A1A to Miami where we walked around on Lincoln Street. It was like a huge Pearl Street with shops, cafes, restaurants and vendors everywhere. Very fun!

We had some time to kill at the airport, so Dan read about half of the Foreverglades text engraved in the floor of the J concourse.

Back to Denver and the cold.

Exploring Shadow Canyon

We had an adventure today.  Our plan was to hike up Shadow Canyon, summit South Boulder and Bear Peaks, then return via different trails.  Part way up the Shadow Canyon trail, we saw an unmarked side trail.  It took us to a clearing with great views and from there we could see this great looking rock (we didn't know it at the time, but the rock was probably The Matron).  We decided to hike up the big hill to check it out.

The hill was steeper than it looked.  Once we got up it, there was a scree field preventing us from getting over to the big rock, so instead we continued up along the ridge thinking we could cut across above where the scree began.  The higher we got the more we realized it would be difficult to get to the base of the rock.  We scrapped that plan and instead decided to try to gain the south ridge of Boulder Mountain and traverse north to South Boulder Peak.

The snow was getting deeper and eventually the boulders were too big to navigate.  We dropped down into the trees -- not much easier since half of them were laying down.  We tried to parallel the ridge we had been following as best we could.

Eventually we made it to the south ridge of Boulder Mountain.  There was no trail in sight, and our "summit" didn't look anything like South Boulder Peak.  We spent a little time looking at our map (for the first time since leaving the trail) and realized we were too far south.  Making the mile trek north to get to our intended summit was going to be impossible due to steep cliffs.  Our only option was to retrace our steps back to the trail.  Fortunately the way down was easier going.

Looking at the topo at home tonight, it seems we gained 1000' feet after leaving trail.  To get to our intended summit, we would have needed to gain another 1000'.  Regardless, the view from 7570' was pretty good! Click a pic to see the rest.

Sandbeach Lake

Our original plan for the weekend was to snowshoe out to the Guinn Mountain Hut and overnight there Saturday. When we checked the weather though, the low was predicted to be very low and the wind very windy.

We skipped the hut and instead did a 9 mile snowshoe in the Wild Basin area of Rocky Mountain National Park. We followed the Sandbeach Lake trail to ... take a guess ... Sandbeach Lake. On our way up the trail we ran into three guys returning to the trailhead. They said they broke trail to Hunter's Creek and turned back there. Breaking trail beyond that point would be fun.

We had a late start (10 AM at the trailhead) and we had made a few detours along the way. First, a big rock not too far off trail. Second detour: Hole-in-the-Wall Campground. A bit before 1 PM we were still on our way up and wondering if we would even reach the point where the other party had turned around. Very soon after we found the Creek. There was a split-log bridge going over the frozen creek. Just in case the creek wasn't frozen enough to cross, we took the bridge.


Sure enough, there was the end of the broken trail. Beyond that point was fresh snow for us. We stopped for a bite to eat before continuing on.

Not two minutes after we stopped, a train of 12 CMC snowshoers approaches across that fresh snow we were eying. So much for breaking trail! As the last of the group was passing we hear someone say, "Is that Laurel and Dan?" It was Adam from WTS! We only had a minute to chat before he had to continue with the group.

By then it was 1:30 and we weren't sure if we'd make it to the Lake. Or if we did make it to the lake, if we'd make it back to the car before dark. We decided to give it a shot and turn around at 2 PM.


The trail from that point on was very steep. By 2 PM we were still climbing and were not yet at the lake. We took out the topo to try to figure out how much further it would be. The trail had just started to level out a bit. It didn't seem like there was much left to go so we continued. Sure enough, about 5 minutes later we were at the lake.

It's called Sandbeach Lake because there is a sand beach, and there is a lake. Honest. There was also ice and blowing snow. With nothing to block the wind we didn't want to stay long.

It only took us half as long to get back to Hunter's Creek, so we were feeling pretty good about getting back before dark. Sure enough, with no detours and most of the way downhill, we made the trip back in only two hours.

Skiing out the front door

It snowed again last night, so of course my skis were begging to get out. Despite the 15-degree temperature I pulled out my boots, poles, and skis and headed out the door. I skied the Cottonwood Trail. Click for pics!

Colder Boulder

We were invited to run the Colder Boulder on CU's campus today because we had qualifying times from the Bolder Boulder in May. Dan and I ran in the same wave and he kicked butt! Despite the 20-degree temps and the icy course, Dan ran 23:17. I rolled in a few minutes later with 27:13 (four seconds slower than the Turkey Trot). Yay Dan! Official results here.