Green Mountain Summit via the Ranger Trail: 5.45 miles

 Time: 4 hours (strained ankle, 2 bumb knees)

Hubby and I did a hike up to Green Mountain Summit today. We knew it was going to be a good day! We arrived at the trail head and there was 1 spot waiting just for us! Yeah us!!

We headed up to Boulder around 8am and hit the trail by 9! We stucked on up and up and up!!!  It listed the hike as strenuous, and dang if they weren’t right! I managed to do something to my ankle yesterday and it made the going a might slower than I would have liked! The summit was great! Tons of butterflies!

The funny part was that there was a quicker route to the summit! We met up with some people that had come from a different direction! They also suggested lengthening it to include Bear Summit. Maybe next time!

On the way back down we encountered a rain storm. It cooled things off nicely!

All in all it was a good hike – besides my strained ankle, acting up knee and hubbies knee! Are we getting old or what?

Weekend of chores and fun!

Saturday it was a bit cooler in Denver! 70’s! So I got a bug up my butt to clean, clean clean! And besides that it appears our maids are now MIA – I’m claiming deported, hubby doesn’t agree!

We also went FreeCycle and Craig’s List happy! Clearing out some stuff!

The whole first floor is mostly de-cluttered! We ordered smaller dog beds so we can reclaim some of our precious and gorgeous floor space! The upstairs office closet has been re-organized and most things are once again accessible! Hubby keeps claiming we need a storage unit – I claim we need to give up some stuff!

Saturday night we did a quick sweep of the country side to do our errands! Costco for soda and cascade (I tried the Melaluca stuff – no way, no how, it doesn’t’ even come close to my cascade – so much for being green there!), Home Depot for Lag Bolts for my/our new shelves in the garage and for some string and eyehooks to get the xmas tree to hang from the roof, and finally Target for groceries – and much to my dismay they were not accepting their own coupons due to counterfeiting that day – Grrrrrrr! So I made the poor little cashier take back a whole bunch of stuff that I only got cause of the dang coupons!

After our shopping adventures we watched Cloverfield. I got nauseous! I warn anyone that can’t do the motion rides to drug up prior to watching this film! I made it thru about 5 minutes and then listened to rest! Thank goodness I can see the TV while cooking! Whenever the camera would even out for a smidge I’d catch some scenes, or hubby would rewind once in a while and show me something interesting!

Sunday we awoke and did a mini hike! It was supposed to be a 1.1 hike to the top of an 8500 foot mountain. The book was wrong, it was more like a .8 mile hike…  Barely got our heart rates up! Sigh! But it was really pretty and I might recommend it for a sunset hike!

We got home in time for a late breakfast and then off to the garage to hang shelves and the Christmas tree! We, well probably me measured wrong so we had to go pillage a 2X4 from the trash out front left over from the construction of our fine homes! Basically a 4 foot shelf that hangs on brackets is really a 4 foot 1 inch long shelf! Our wall section was exactly 4 foot. Sigh!

We also got he Christmas tree strung up from the roof on eye hooks! Kinda ghetto looking, but out of the way! I tried to take pictures, but the camera battery died and I can’t find the other one I had on the hike with me…

Full weekend!

Camping in the dunes!

I convinced hubby to spend the weekend at the Grand Sand Dunes National Park – south of  Pueblo.  It was a really amazing time! To see these giant piles of sand gently sitting in front of Giant Mountains is just awe inspiring!

We got a pretty good start on Friday – 2pm – but still not early enough to get a site within the park. But there was the Oasis Campground – 133 sites – so we had a place to camp!

Our first sight was an amazing view, but hubby didn’t like the amount of bugs so we move along! We found another location – about as far from the rest room as possible!

We enjoyed a beer and a great campfire! Hot links, chips and salsa, and s’mores! Yeah!

The next morning we got up early. Hubby’s allergies were killing him! So we made the dunes by 7:30am!!  We headed up!! It was amazing! It was harder than heck to walk on!!

Seeing the different dunes, and edges, and wave patterns wasjust simply amazing!! We saw a couple little creatures – just crazy that theycan survive in this environment!

We trudged up and up and up the dunes! I was determined to make the summit, hubby was less than thrilled! At one point we took a break to get our breath under control so that something besides our heartbeat could be heard! At that point I said I’d give it 1 more hour and then we could bag it – that was 8am! We made the summit at 8:55! Whew! True to my word!

There were amazing views from the top, all around the sand dunes and mountains and the river! A really great place!

We got down in just over 30 minutes. I was lots of fun “running” down the fronts of the dunes! My left shoe filled with a ton of sand, by the time I hit the bottom my left side was 1 inch taller than my right!  Hubby gave up on the whole shoe boon doggle and went barefoot!  Some of the sand was a bit hot for hubby’s feet, so he would run quicker and then dig in to find the cooler sand!  J

After our jaunt to the top we headed back to the camp site for “lunch” and a nice nap!

It was HOT! We have discovered that we need a “cover” for our tent!!

That afternoon we headed back to the “river” to cool off! Having been there at 7:30am we never imagined that it would be “packed”. We had to park pretty far away and carry our stuff in! We were amazed by the amount of stuff that was on the river! Popups, coolers, chairs, toys, tubes, and more! It was like Lake Havasu in California! Ghetto Fabulous!

   This is what it looked like at 8am:

We chilled in the water, with the breeze for an hour or so! It was really refreshing!

We attempted a hike to an overlook to check out the dunes from afar, but the bugs were biting and the rain was threatening!

We spent our last evening chilling by the fire, drinkingsome wine and eating burgers!

One of our camping neighbors stopped by to chat. And the best line of the evening was:

"If you live in boulder and are not a triathlon you are shunned" 

I'm still laughing about that line!

If you get a chance – take in the sights at the dunes!

I heard a strange sound this morning. I was cruising the internet, in my cabin in the woods with no cell service when I heard a sound. At first I wasn’t really sure I had heard this sound, but then I heard it again. It was a gobble. I parted the curtains and there it was… The biggest dang turkey you have ever seen! This thing was probably almost up to my shoulder in height, if it kept it’s head up tall! It was huge! As I was attempting to get the camera he let out another gobble and the “herd” arrived. A total of 5 giant turkeys! They were cruising the front lawn for goodies. These guys moved fast too!  At one point one of them hoped up onto the BMW 7 series of the neighboring cabin – the owners were less than thrilled about that. I was chuckling! I tried to get hubby to wake up and see the giant fellas but sleeping was of more interest to him at the time!

Later, hubby and I headed off to explore the Big Sur area this morning! I had seen on this site, that this was a must do hike! The Ewoldsen Trail. 4.5 miles. No sweat for us mile high hikers! Had to work off some of that fried calamari from the past couple days!
 

We headed south and stopped at a couple vista points to enjoy the coast! I love how it just drops off and the cool breeze come up!

We found the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and headed in! We started with a quick jaunt to the McWay falls. Such a great location. Definitely a beautiful spot!

Then it was off to our hike! And it was a hike. They were not kidding when they listed it as strenuous!  I’m sure hubby was less than thrilled as we kept going up, and up, and up and up! We went thru a multitude of climate in our hike! Lush redwoods, wild flowers (lots of bees – ick), dry desert, oak groves…  It was very neat! We finally found the top and then had to go up a smidge more for the look out! It was really amazing to be even higher about highway 1 and the coast!

It was a pretty good loop, although the second half brought us by 2 pretty big bee’s nests! ARG! They just love those dead and rotting trees!

Hubby kept telling me to remember that the bees were just doing their job! They each had a job to do (ala Bee Movie)

I was less than amused!

We finally finished our 4.5 mile hike and stopped by the Big Sur River Inn for the burrito bar! You pick your parts and they produce this giant, heavy, tube of goodness! I went with carnitas, white rice, Monterey jack cheese, black beans, guacamole and jalapenos!

Yummy!

We then stopped by our cabin for a nap! 2.5 hours later…  we awoke around 5pm!

Since there was still day light we headed over to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park to see the falls! It was a cute hike and a cute falls!

We both had a smidge of work to do so thankfully the wifi has been keeping us supplied!

It’s early to bed and tomorrow we do 17 mile drive before we fly home!

Wedding in the woods!

My friend laura (she's the one that created the "Cheese" that hangs in my house) is getting married up in Big Sur this coming weekend.

Great excuse for a new dress!  I chose this one:

The fun part is it is a teeny tiny gathering. And it’s inthe woods…  So now I needed the perfectshoes for the dress.

Hmmm…  So nothing with a heel,

something that didn’t let dirt get on my feet,

something was that super cute!

Something that can be "hiked" in

 I ended up with these little numbers!

All it all it should be a really great weekend! We got our tickets via frequent flier miles, so we arrive Friday and home Monday. So we have a little extra time to find some hiking trails and enjoy the scenery!

I got us a cute cabin in the woods – with wifi! So it should be a really great time!

But I had to show off the dress and the shoes!

A Day in Motion

I started the day at the gym! It was great – not too manypeople made it in so early.

All the machines were open and the girly weightsthat I use were mostly unused! Yeah!

Next it was a walk at Cherry Creek Resevoir with J and her new baby.

Ihad never been and it was a great! Mostly near the water, great breeze, allpaved!

I had a quick nap, and a new out fit and out the door for anotherwalk with one of my work buddies L!

We walked around Cheesman Park(twice) and then had drinks at Irish Snub

Cute place, out door patio on Colfax, and happy hour 7 days a week! Woohoo! 

Then L and I walked to check on her Garden (one of thosecommunity things), and it was a lot further than I thought!

It was really farin fact! It was really neat though! All her little sprouts were super cute!(then we had to walk back – ugh!)

Met another set of friend for drinks after than and then home! My dogs are barkin! And I felt icky from all the sunblock, sweat, and dirt!

I feel like I have been in motion all day long.

Do you know where your sitz bones are? Or technically the ischial tuberosity?

Today was our first bike ride of the season! It was a fabulous day! Original plan was a 5 mile hike at 7000 feet, but hubby wasn’t feeling good (according to WedMD he either has a urinary tract infection, hepatitis, kidney failure, fat cells or thyroid cancer). So we decided to stick at the 5000 level and do a 9 mile bike ride on level ground!

We arrive at the Barr Lake State Park, pay our $6 dollar entrance fee and then notice the sigh…

“Bikers: You will get a flat tire. Be Prepared unless you have puncture proof tires or the “goo” don’t ride."

Sigh…

We didn’t have any of that.

So we asked the nice lady where the closest location to get some “goo” was.

She said Walmart. Ugh. Middle of not where is bad enough but going into a scary Walmart…  It was all I envisioned and more. Had the teenager with the black eye, the hoochie with her belly shirt – but she was wearing a bra, but the back was too low to cover the strap, the obligatory no teeth crowd, and the losers that don’t know that aisles are used by more then just them and their family of 8. We found our “goo”. 2 kinds and skedaddle out of there!

We finally started our ride around 11am. It was really nice!The description in the book talked about something different, and it was!

You could see the snow on the mountains, the wide expanse of the lake, and tons of birds.

We did the loop counter clock wise, probably not the right way, but the way we chose!

We crossed the dam – tons of really really big fire ants! I pedaled my little heart out!

Next we rode next by the tracks – luckily no trains decided to come by!

At places it felt as if we were right at eye level with the water level – it was really neat!

We got off our bikes at around mile 8 to check out a board walk. It was all crooked and turned alot and ended at a gazebo! Great views! Getting back on the bikes was a might painful.

It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday! Not too crowded, not too far from home!

So far this evening I can feel my sitz bones if my pants slide over my butt the wrong way. Ooofa! I might have to take a ride tomorrow just to get my calluses in place for the summer to come! We did run to REI for the last 20 minutes of their annual sale with our dividend check in hand! We each got a new pair of biking shorts! Very stylish and wicking!

I also spent most of the evening cooking and prepping. I am having some friends over Monday night and I said do you want dinner or appetizers…  They said appetizers – that should be easier on you… Bah! I love to cook, so I have 6 things in the hopper for tomorrow. 2 of the dips are made, the frittata is cooling in the fridge, the other 2 have their dry ingredients measured and ready for mixing..  Recipes later in the week – along with the winners!

Cause hubby loves me, he agreed to get up relatively early on Sunday and do a hike I’ve been wanting to do for a couple months now!  A summit in a near by Deer Creek Canyon Park!  Plymouth Creek Trail – which eventually bring you to the summit of Plymouth Mountain!  We got started around 8:15 or 8:30 and it was already heating up! It was quite a bit of uphill, but not as strenuous as our fourteener!  Luckily much of this part of the hike was in the shade which brought the temps down pretty quick!

We saw a number of squirrels and birds and unfortunately quite a bit of the neighborhood that surround and are in this park. Bummer!  Some really kick butt houses, but not really what we were in the mood to see when hiking in nature!

We made the summit! Enjoyed the views of Denver and then headed down a different way! A longer way! Thanks again to my great hubby that lets me drag him on crazy hikes!  It was supposed to be a 2.8 one way hike – which would be around a 5.6 total hike…  With our extended loops we ended up at 7.5!  Luckily most was on the downhill part! But hey, we were exercising!

This was the first weekend Hubby had off of work in about 3 weeks…  And he got to spend it in the woods, in the rain, in a tent, but with me!

We had planned this weekend months ago with E and K!  They are our wilderness expert friends, and they put up with inexperience! 

I received my spread sheet from E, containing what we needed to bring, a column for me to enter each items wt, and which pack it should be packed into!  :)

It’s ok, I’m used to E and his spreadsheets! They actually come in pretty handy! I’ve re-used previous ones for other things I do!  But I am also the person who has a spreadsheet for grocery shopping – and it is per store!  One for the regular grocery store, one for super target!  Yes, I am aware that I am a dork!

Anyhow!  Hubby had to work till late – as usual (on this project) – on Friday.  So it was my duty to determine what we needed to bring, weigh it all, compression pack the sleeping bags, roll the sleeping pads, find the hiking clothes, etc etc etc

We headed into the wilderness with E and K  the next day.  It was “only” a 3.1 mile hike. In the Lost Creek Wilderness. With 25 poundson my back, and 35 on hubbies!

We followed the creek the whole time. It was nice to have the sound of water with you!

I was going a little slow. It was going to be a long hike. The humidity was unreal. Well unreal for Colorado standards! I was sweating more than I normally do at the gym. Sigh. Ick!  (I did buy myself a wicking shirt today when I returned the packs)

We finally made our destination – WigWam park – Beaver Dam. Tons of Beaver Dams! Very cool. And then…  It started to rain!  We quickly put up our tarps and huddled under awaiting the rain to cease. It stopped long enough for us to put up the tents. And then again right after dinner and KP duty. Figures! But at least I got to pee without getting my booty wet!

We slept in! Except for a 2am pee run, we slept till 8am! Woohoo!

We headed back out around 11am again. We made better time, my pack was packed differently so I was able to look up and around without smooshing my head on the pack.

It was a fun time, rain and all!  No blisters, nothing too sore. 

 This week I was in training with my client…  Long days! Still had to get some semblance of work done after the training!

Today their flights left at 5pm, so that meant a 2pm departure from the office, but we finished early so they departed around noon. I still had to get some additional work done, but was able to depart around 3, 3:30! Woohoo – party!

I headed to Target to get the finished touches for our backpacking trip this weekend!

Hubby has been working 16 hours days since before I got back from NY. We have not seen each other for more than ½ hour time slots in a long time!  L

So tonight was my turn to determine all our camping needs!  So I decided to fill up laundry baskets will each of our needed items. Let me tell you, it worked well!

I picked up our rental packs last night! We recently bought a new tent, since mine had been borrowed and returned dirty and bug eaten….  So we needed something that could head car camping as well as backpacking – I’ll give you an update when we return!

Last year we did a pretty easy 1 mile in backpacking trip with our friend E and K. This time it’s over 3…  Wish us luck!  I’ve pared down quite a bit, not more than a partial change of clothes for over night and the next day! We have the new filter!  We will be following a creek the whole way! Lunch is by far the heaviest part!  5 pounds!  Bagel sandwhiches, cheezits, and apples! 

See you soon, and look out for the bears!

We climbed our first fourteener - Mt Bierstadt!

We decided since we did so well on Mt Chief that we would go forth and also try a 14teener this summer! Why not, were tough!

While chatting with our friend Eric he mentioned that he would join us since his wife was busy that day!  (He did get in trouble for climbing a 14teener with her!) Good thing  we had him going since he informed us of the noon thunder storm threat as well as the 40-50 degree temps at the top! Thanks Eric!  He also made sure we were eating on the way up since we were expending energy we didn’t know!

The drive up was a little bizarre. The 12 mile route on the part paved, part giant hole road required quite a bit of hand eye coordination from the hubby!

We made it up and found about a million other people had decided to do the hike that day too! Ooofa!  We found some parking on a curb in the lot. Off to conquer the mountain we went! We were amazed at some of the cars that had made it up the road!

We started in a swampy meadow that has recently had woodenbridge built over it – thank goodness.

Then it was UP!  All up. Up up and more up.  My brisk gait turned into the song from SantaClaus Is Coming To Town – put one foot in front of the other!  I thought we might never make the top!  As we slowly made our way – I called it slow and steady – the clouds started rolling up the back of the mountain!  I didn’t find the altitude to be too much of a factor. I could still hear people talk over my hearbeating!  We made pretty good time to the top. Under 2 hours!

Once we hit the ridge line it was basically a rock scramble.  We made the top – finally –just as the darkest clouds appeared. We took a quick peak and then skedaddled off the top. That was a bummer- not getting to spend much time taking in the view. As we descended it started. Hail! Sharp stingy little buggers!  We were soaked in a matter of minutes and Eric was racing down ahead of us. He had no hood.

I started feeling some of the effects of the altitude at that point – loss of balance, and not the clearest of brains. But that could have been sheer exhaustion as well! It was a 3.7 mile hike with a 2200 foot elevation gain!  We started around 11700 and ended at 14600.

Hubby added a point of information for me that I found wonderful – if you feel any bit of static, drop your pole (it was metal with a wooden knob on top) and in fact you should hit the ground as well. Ah man! Thanks honey!

We trucked along step after step, legs not wanting to work. And both found the urge to pee unbearable. There was no tree line, the large rocks were long behind us. Eventually I just went behind a medium sized rock and hoped not too much of my sunny white patutie was hanging out for everyone to see. But at that point, it was showing my butt or christen my pants with something I would have to ride home in. Ewwww….

Hubby was able to wait a bit longer than I, but spent the entire time worrying he would fall down and lose the slight control he had over that situation! He was able to find a big rock a mile or so later to hide behind!

By the time we got back down to the meadow it was sunny and hot!  At that point the poor hubby started feeling the effects of that altitude. He was nauseous and was not moving too fast. We got to the car and got him into a seat. Eric and I had lunch – since it was too icky on the mountain to enjoy our picnic! I had some more water since I had emptied my camel back by ¾ of the way down! Then I got to drive the Audi down the dirt road!  We made it! No damage! Hubby got in a quick cat nap, woke up at  about 10 thousand feet (10 minutes later) and descending and felt a ton better! My headache was raging at the point!  It finally subsided around 6pm!

It was a great hike! Glad that we were able to do it! Definitely bring the hat and gloves, multiple layers, and rain gear! And small snacks – eat lunch after!