Yesterday, Peter, Doug and Heidi stood on the highest peak in Colorado.
What a joy! They are preparing for their ascent of Long's Peak in August.
Such ambition. This is the 3rd 14,000+ peak that Peter has done since moving to Colorado.
We moved here almost exactly one year ago. On this day a year ago we were driving our truck full to our new home and waiting to close on our new home.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Tree Planting at our new home
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Sunday in June
Peter awoke early this morning.....3AM to be exact with plans to leave the house by 4AM. Today is the day that he and Doug (along with 2 other friends) will be taking an all day hike/climb to Mt. Bierstadt. Mt. Bierstadt's elevation is 14,060' It is in the Mount Evans Willderness area and 2 miles west of Mt. Evans (a popular tourist area where one can travel by vehicle to almost the top.)
Mt. Bierstadt can be seen when taking Guanella Pass from Georgetown along Interstate 70.
This hike/climb is preparation for their August trip to the top of Long's Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. Peter has wanted to do this for some time and it is good that he is getting the opportunity to do it along with Doug and Heidi.
So this morning he left for his day long hike. The weather in Fort Collins is delightful. In the mid 70's with the sun shining. He packed his winter clothing and has plans to use snow shoes if necessary. What a difference a few thousand feet make weatherwise.
Needless to say, I stayed home and opted to go for a long walk in the nice weather. I headed west along a gravel road and quickly realized that I had forgotten my water. Not a good idea with the temps and the warm breezes blowing. Every time a car passed, I had to turn my head to avoid a mouthful of grit. No singing on this walk. Content enough to listen to my I-Pod and "Car Talk". Tom and Ray are good walking companions and make the journey go easier.
Today is a day to catch up on household things to do, plan for our June and July trip and generally relax. Peter will be home late this evening with sore muscles, many pictures and stories to share.
Mt. Bierstadt can be seen when taking Guanella Pass from Georgetown along Interstate 70.
This hike/climb is preparation for their August trip to the top of Long's Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. Peter has wanted to do this for some time and it is good that he is getting the opportunity to do it along with Doug and Heidi.
So this morning he left for his day long hike. The weather in Fort Collins is delightful. In the mid 70's with the sun shining. He packed his winter clothing and has plans to use snow shoes if necessary. What a difference a few thousand feet make weatherwise.
Needless to say, I stayed home and opted to go for a long walk in the nice weather. I headed west along a gravel road and quickly realized that I had forgotten my water. Not a good idea with the temps and the warm breezes blowing. Every time a car passed, I had to turn my head to avoid a mouthful of grit. No singing on this walk. Content enough to listen to my I-Pod and "Car Talk". Tom and Ray are good walking companions and make the journey go easier.
Today is a day to catch up on household things to do, plan for our June and July trip and generally relax. Peter will be home late this evening with sore muscles, many pictures and stories to share.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Prospect Ponds Hike
Today we headed to Prospect Ponds for a hike/geocaching adventure. The area is about 10 minutes South of our home. It is a natural area that is popular to hikers/walkers/bikers/dogs.
We took advantage of the cooler weather in the morning to head out. By the time we were done, it was getting very warm and we were glad to head home to cool off.
The first part of our day took us on an easy hike around the ponds. We found the cache easily, signed the log and headed back to get our next cache. The next one was about 1.5 miles from the first so we chose to drive part of the way. We parked at the CSU Environmental Learning Center.
Leaving the parking lot, we walked across a swinging bridge. Of course Peter had to be the funny man and shake the bridge as I was going over. Hmmmmm! Children! Do they ever grow up?! Let's hope not.
We followed the trail to get to the next multi cache at the south end of the Center. Along the way we came across fields of phlox being munched on by deer. Deer that were so used to humans, that they stood still (for a bit) to have their pictures taken. We continued on. Arrived at the coordinates and began our search. We had to get through some high grasses and swat a couple of dozen mosquitoes, but Peter's eagle eyes spotted the clue! It gave us coordinates to the 2nd part of the cache. We again went off trail for a bit and headed toward the La Poudre River. The water was high and flowing rapidly. Spring thaws have brought a lot of water down from the mountains. We found the cache, signed the log and returned to the parking area. There was one more in the area, but we chose to leave that one for another time. We went home to clean up and get some bug lotion for our bites. Another great day enjoying the great outdoors. What a joy it is to live in an area where all of this beauty is nearby and just waiting to be found!
We took advantage of the cooler weather in the morning to head out. By the time we were done, it was getting very warm and we were glad to head home to cool off.
The first part of our day took us on an easy hike around the ponds. We found the cache easily, signed the log and headed back to get our next cache. The next one was about 1.5 miles from the first so we chose to drive part of the way. We parked at the CSU Environmental Learning Center.
Leaving the parking lot, we walked across a swinging bridge. Of course Peter had to be the funny man and shake the bridge as I was going over. Hmmmmm! Children! Do they ever grow up?! Let's hope not.
We followed the trail to get to the next multi cache at the south end of the Center. Along the way we came across fields of phlox being munched on by deer. Deer that were so used to humans, that they stood still (for a bit) to have their pictures taken. We continued on. Arrived at the coordinates and began our search. We had to get through some high grasses and swat a couple of dozen mosquitoes, but Peter's eagle eyes spotted the clue! It gave us coordinates to the 2nd part of the cache. We again went off trail for a bit and headed toward the La Poudre River. The water was high and flowing rapidly. Spring thaws have brought a lot of water down from the mountains. We found the cache, signed the log and returned to the parking area. There was one more in the area, but we chose to leave that one for another time. We went home to clean up and get some bug lotion for our bites. Another great day enjoying the great outdoors. What a joy it is to live in an area where all of this beauty is nearby and just waiting to be found!
Friday, June 3, 2011
Youngs Gulch Trail
We left home this morning intent on finding at least 3 geocaches in the Poudre Canyon on the Youngs Gulch Trail. The first one was to be a multi cache with 3 parts and the 2nd and 3rd were traditional ones.
We drove to the trail head, parked, got out our walking sticks, packed up our backpacks and headed out on the trail by 9:30AM. We knew from descriptions written that we had to walk about 2 miles in and would have to cross a stream several times over. Seems to be a popular area as there were several cars in the parking lot already. Peter had hiked the complete route (8 miles round trip) a couple of days earlier to be the First to Find a new cache that was hidden on the trail.
As we came to the stream crossings, it was comforting to know that "someone" had thought ahead and placed large boulders in the water to use as stepping stones. Some were covered in water but for the most part they made the crossings easier. As I stood on one side of the stream I had to talk myself into crossing to the other side. Fear of falling is a big part of my hesitancy, but I made it.
Along the way we were blessed to find many new wildflowers blooming. Some we had not seen, but many that were known to us by name....Pasque Flower, Golden Banner, Larkspur, Shooting Stars, Colorado Columbine (first one to see this season) and the Star Flower. We're sure there were others, but too many to name. We came across many other hikers along the way with dogs of many varieties.
We only went off trail to find the clues for the caches and to grab a bite to eat. Then we pressed on to the next stop.
We were doing fine. I was counting the stream crossings and had made it to 12 without any problems. Then # 13 came along. Must have been getting tired, or it was just an unlucky number....anyhow I slipped. Landed on my left fingers and knees. Then somehow landed on my chest. Peter came to the rescue. Finger started to swell and was painful, but we had places to go....so we continued on our way! Before reaching the cache at the end of the trail, we counted a total of 18 crossings. Some more difficult than others. Later in the hike we came across another hiker who had a large "bite" taken out of his straw hat. Asked him what happened, and he said a pterodactyl swooped down and bit it off. Said he had to fight it off! We then wondered if that same pterodactyl was responsible for knocking me off the boulder in the 13th stream crossing. Amazing! So nice to have a worthy explanation of what happened and not think that it was just me being clumsy!
We did accomplish our task that we set out to do. Found all of the caches, had a wonderful hike in the wild, did not break anything and enjoyed each others company. What more could you want on a spring day in Colorado?
We drove to the trail head, parked, got out our walking sticks, packed up our backpacks and headed out on the trail by 9:30AM. We knew from descriptions written that we had to walk about 2 miles in and would have to cross a stream several times over. Seems to be a popular area as there were several cars in the parking lot already. Peter had hiked the complete route (8 miles round trip) a couple of days earlier to be the First to Find a new cache that was hidden on the trail.
As we came to the stream crossings, it was comforting to know that "someone" had thought ahead and placed large boulders in the water to use as stepping stones. Some were covered in water but for the most part they made the crossings easier. As I stood on one side of the stream I had to talk myself into crossing to the other side. Fear of falling is a big part of my hesitancy, but I made it.
Along the way we were blessed to find many new wildflowers blooming. Some we had not seen, but many that were known to us by name....Pasque Flower, Golden Banner, Larkspur, Shooting Stars, Colorado Columbine (first one to see this season) and the Star Flower. We're sure there were others, but too many to name. We came across many other hikers along the way with dogs of many varieties.
We only went off trail to find the clues for the caches and to grab a bite to eat. Then we pressed on to the next stop.
We were doing fine. I was counting the stream crossings and had made it to 12 without any problems. Then # 13 came along. Must have been getting tired, or it was just an unlucky number....anyhow I slipped. Landed on my left fingers and knees. Then somehow landed on my chest. Peter came to the rescue. Finger started to swell and was painful, but we had places to go....so we continued on our way! Before reaching the cache at the end of the trail, we counted a total of 18 crossings. Some more difficult than others. Later in the hike we came across another hiker who had a large "bite" taken out of his straw hat. Asked him what happened, and he said a pterodactyl swooped down and bit it off. Said he had to fight it off! We then wondered if that same pterodactyl was responsible for knocking me off the boulder in the 13th stream crossing. Amazing! So nice to have a worthy explanation of what happened and not think that it was just me being clumsy!
We did accomplish our task that we set out to do. Found all of the caches, had a wonderful hike in the wild, did not break anything and enjoyed each others company. What more could you want on a spring day in Colorado?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)