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| View on the hike to Fern Lake |
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| The park supports 3 sizable elk herds |
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| Ominous dark clouds suggest I should pass thru this area quickly |
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| Clouds mirrored in a beaver pond |
Teeth
Thursday, June 30, 2011
June 27: Rocky Mountain National Park
Text to be added later.
June 26: Rocky Mountain National Park
Text to be added later.
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| I never get sick of watching bears at a comfortable distance |
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| This fine specimen of a cinnamon-colored black bear could care less about his human observers |
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| Visitors in my camp site |
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| In the absence of actually owning a map, I now take photos of the topos. This gem was at the trailhead. |
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| Lovely Emerald Lake |
Sunday, June 26, 2011
June 25: Maroon Bells
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| Wildflowers around camp |
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| The hike started with a river crossing |
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| Aspen grove along the trail |
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| View of collegiate peaks area |
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| Couldn't resist this sign |
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| Maroon Bells |
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| Pika: good to see a healthy pika after being out of the country for so long |
Thursday, June 23, 2011
June 22-23: Boulder, CO
For many year I wanted to live in Boulder, but had never been there. I just new I would love it. So, it was with some trepidation that I approached the city on my first visit. I have been grappeling with the decision of what to do next career-wise. The hiccup seems to be that I have become specialized in salmon and I love being in the mountains, yet the two don't co-exist much in the lower 48. With this in mind, I was worried that Boulder would steel my heart... and rightly so. Situated just below the Flatirons or Rockies front range only 45 minutes from Denver and being a vibrant progressive pocket, as I feared, I could find little not to love.
The scenery is dramatic. I love the way the Flatirons rise upward in a great wave like swoop from the flat grasslands. I love the proximity to the mountains. I love the vibrancy, the sense of community, the restaurants, and much, much more.
I met my dear friend Lorraine for lunch at "The Med". Lorraine moved out of Alaska a few months before I did and it was so great to reconnect! I was planning on camping for the evening to enjoy some much needed space, but Lorraine offered me a room at her place (actually her partner Tim's place) which was too good to pass up. I didn't realize how much I missed having quality "girlfriend" time.
One of the pleasures of my trip across the US has been spending time rekindling relationships with family and friends. I feel blessed to have so many great people in my life and so many who bent over backwards to take me in.
After lunch, Lorraine showed me downtown Boulder. We strolled along Pearl St and there I saw all my favorite retailers. I went to a used bookstore and exchanged my audiobooks for new ones to keep me company on the drive to Oregon.
At Lorraine's, Recommendation, I hiked in Chataqua park. It is a free public park in Boulder that encompasses the first Flatirons. I only had 50 minutes to hike, but I was enraptured. It is by far the coolest park of any city I have ever been in.
I met my friend Brett, whom I met in Torres del paine, Chile, and his girlfriend Jennifer at the farmer's market. Later we sat on the grass in front of the courthouse and listened to live music on Pearl St. I am in love! With Boulder, that is. If only I could support myself here, I think I could live happily ever after.
I went back to Lorraine's and we had another nice visit over a bottle of wine; sleep came easily and heavily that night.
In the morning, Lorraine and lazed around with good coffee and good conversation. Eventually I headed back to Chataqua Park to finish the hike I started the day before. It felt so good to be close to the mountains again. I felt the endorphins wash away all the stresses that had been mounting concerning my future and the mountain energy cleared my mind of all but the most positive of thoughts.
The scenery is dramatic. I love the way the Flatirons rise upward in a great wave like swoop from the flat grasslands. I love the proximity to the mountains. I love the vibrancy, the sense of community, the restaurants, and much, much more.
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| View of Boulder and the front range from Chataqua Park |
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| The first Flatirons |
One of the pleasures of my trip across the US has been spending time rekindling relationships with family and friends. I feel blessed to have so many great people in my life and so many who bent over backwards to take me in.
After lunch, Lorraine showed me downtown Boulder. We strolled along Pearl St and there I saw all my favorite retailers. I went to a used bookstore and exchanged my audiobooks for new ones to keep me company on the drive to Oregon.
At Lorraine's, Recommendation, I hiked in Chataqua park. It is a free public park in Boulder that encompasses the first Flatirons. I only had 50 minutes to hike, but I was enraptured. It is by far the coolest park of any city I have ever been in.
I met my friend Brett, whom I met in Torres del paine, Chile, and his girlfriend Jennifer at the farmer's market. Later we sat on the grass in front of the courthouse and listened to live music on Pearl St. I am in love! With Boulder, that is. If only I could support myself here, I think I could live happily ever after.
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| View of the Rockies from the First Flatiron |
In the morning, Lorraine and lazed around with good coffee and good conversation. Eventually I headed back to Chataqua Park to finish the hike I started the day before. It felt so good to be close to the mountains again. I felt the endorphins wash away all the stresses that had been mounting concerning my future and the mountain energy cleared my mind of all but the most positive of thoughts.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
June 21: Solstice in the Garden of the Gods
It was an uneventful drive and fairly easy to navigate out using my iPhone's GPS. The Garden itself is a free public park and is lovely despite being overrun with tourists. I continued on to Manitou and inquired at the Chamber of Commerce as to what would be a quiet hike. I would like to have scaled nearby Pike's Peak, but that was a two-day commitment and driving to the summit was against my value system. They recommended a nice hike with some elevation gain which was nice despite the heat.
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| View from the visitor's center |
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| Garden of the Gods |
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| Cactus in bloom |
I returned to Aurora that evening. Leith and I had taken post baccalaureate bio and chem classes about 15 years ago. He is a military officer stationed near Denver, but his recent relocation here combined with job demands and his location in suburbia have left him without many friends nor the gumption to explore the Rockies wonderland. He seems very happy to host me and has used it as an excuse for some much needed R and R from his routine.
I decided to spend Wed and Thurs exploring Boulder and visiting friends which also helps me to escape suburbia which I seem to be having a powerful reaction to. The plan is to go to Maroon Bells for the weekend afterwards, followed by a solo foray into Rocky Mountain National Park and continuing westward from there.
On the road again: Iowa and Nebraska
After Father's Day brunch, I hugged my dad and aunt goodbye and shoved off. I am so glad that I made the trip to Chicago. It gave me a chance to spend quality time with my aunt whom I rarely see except in large family special occasions. As Debra put it, it was a 'special' visit and I am thankful for it.
Though there was quite a bit of traffic for a Sunday, the miles passed easily. I listened to Alex and Me, an audiobook given to me from my dear friend Lorraine. My first night's destination was to be Madison County, Iowa roughly 325 miles west. yes, that Madison County. I figured I'd sleep under a covered bridge and have breakfast in the Winterset cafe.
I reached the Winterset turn off around 5:30. I wasn't really tired and it was over 90 and humid. I grappelled with the decision to spend the night or push on. What was I going to do with myself for the 5 hours until I fell asleep? How would I endure the heat and humidity? On the other hand, I read the book and saw the movie and when else would I have a chance to go see Madison County?
I made the turn and drove the 22 miles to the campground. The campground was mainly populated by yahoos in RVs. There was a copperhead snake sunning himself in the road in the campground. I'm not a snake fan. Then I noticed that there was no cell service. I decided to push on.
There was a campground just northeast of Omaha next to a wildlife refuge near the Missouri River. I figured I could get up early and take a walk and admire the birds. After a few wrong turns and a few country roads, I righted myself on route 80. I was burning daylight. I arrived at the little access road to the campground around 8:30 pm only to find it closed. Oh no! What to do? I quickly pulled over and studied the maps for other campgrounds nearby and there was one just west of Omaha. I went to take the direct route to Omaha and it too was closed, due to flooding. Damn, damn, damn! I turned around and retraced the 17 miles back to route 80. No sooner had I turned around when my gas light went on. Damn, damn, damn. It was getting dark and I had no place to sleep and no gas.
I made it back to route 80 slowly to conserve gas. Luckily for me, I caught a break. The first exit on route 80 had a gas station and a camping sign. I inquired about the campground in the gas station and found out it was nice and family oriented. Big sigh of relief!
I pulled in to Arrowhead Lake campground around 9:00 ish and with a flurry of activity managed to get camp set up before nightfall. It was a humid little valley with mosquitoes and I was camped amongst RVs but at least they were families. I would later learn that these people had to evacuate their homes and were there for 2 weeks. I would also learn that this is the only campground open for miles. I noticed thunderheads in the distance and knew that I would be putting my new tent to the test. I had the foresight to bring an umbrella and rain jacket into the tent. Thunder came and the dog in the RV barked and barked. Can't I catch a break? I put ear plugs in and fell asleep only to be wakened by a heavy thunderstorm overhead. It's been a while since I have been in a thunderstorm. Was it safe to camp in a field? I didn't know and was too tired to reason it out so I climbed in my car. I slept only to be awakened by the next squall. I slept off and on like this until 8:30 when I packed up my wet tent (dry on the inside!), took a hot shower (hooray!), and hit the road.
I stopped in Lincoln, NE to resupply. I found a cracker barrel and went in to rent an audiobook since I had just finished A Thousand Splendid Suns and had none left. I got back on the road and noticed it had gotten windy with gusts up to 40. The Yakima Rack on top of my car is like a sail, so I had to hold on to the wheel with 2 hands at all times. Not the relaxing drive that I hoped for, but I prayed for nothing worse. I knew that more thundershowers were forecast. My next stop was a rest area. I checked the weather and severe storms with damaging hail and high winds were forecast. Shit. I pushed on trying to beat them at one point they were closing in on me. I kept going eyeballing potential places to pullover in case necessary, but there aren't a lot of exits from rte 80 in NE. I essentially made a decision every time I passed a rest area to push on. At one point the eye of the storm was only a few miles away or at least it seemed that way but it's tough to tell because NE is so flat.
In the end, I managed to avoid the eye of the storm and made it safely into Colorado. I arrived at my friend Leith's house in soul-less suburbia outside of Denver around 11 hours after I left camp.
Though there was quite a bit of traffic for a Sunday, the miles passed easily. I listened to Alex and Me, an audiobook given to me from my dear friend Lorraine. My first night's destination was to be Madison County, Iowa roughly 325 miles west. yes, that Madison County. I figured I'd sleep under a covered bridge and have breakfast in the Winterset cafe.
I reached the Winterset turn off around 5:30. I wasn't really tired and it was over 90 and humid. I grappelled with the decision to spend the night or push on. What was I going to do with myself for the 5 hours until I fell asleep? How would I endure the heat and humidity? On the other hand, I read the book and saw the movie and when else would I have a chance to go see Madison County?
I made the turn and drove the 22 miles to the campground. The campground was mainly populated by yahoos in RVs. There was a copperhead snake sunning himself in the road in the campground. I'm not a snake fan. Then I noticed that there was no cell service. I decided to push on.
There was a campground just northeast of Omaha next to a wildlife refuge near the Missouri River. I figured I could get up early and take a walk and admire the birds. After a few wrong turns and a few country roads, I righted myself on route 80. I was burning daylight. I arrived at the little access road to the campground around 8:30 pm only to find it closed. Oh no! What to do? I quickly pulled over and studied the maps for other campgrounds nearby and there was one just west of Omaha. I went to take the direct route to Omaha and it too was closed, due to flooding. Damn, damn, damn! I turned around and retraced the 17 miles back to route 80. No sooner had I turned around when my gas light went on. Damn, damn, damn. It was getting dark and I had no place to sleep and no gas.
I made it back to route 80 slowly to conserve gas. Luckily for me, I caught a break. The first exit on route 80 had a gas station and a camping sign. I inquired about the campground in the gas station and found out it was nice and family oriented. Big sigh of relief!
I pulled in to Arrowhead Lake campground around 9:00 ish and with a flurry of activity managed to get camp set up before nightfall. It was a humid little valley with mosquitoes and I was camped amongst RVs but at least they were families. I would later learn that these people had to evacuate their homes and were there for 2 weeks. I would also learn that this is the only campground open for miles. I noticed thunderheads in the distance and knew that I would be putting my new tent to the test. I had the foresight to bring an umbrella and rain jacket into the tent. Thunder came and the dog in the RV barked and barked. Can't I catch a break? I put ear plugs in and fell asleep only to be wakened by a heavy thunderstorm overhead. It's been a while since I have been in a thunderstorm. Was it safe to camp in a field? I didn't know and was too tired to reason it out so I climbed in my car. I slept only to be awakened by the next squall. I slept off and on like this until 8:30 when I packed up my wet tent (dry on the inside!), took a hot shower (hooray!), and hit the road.
I stopped in Lincoln, NE to resupply. I found a cracker barrel and went in to rent an audiobook since I had just finished A Thousand Splendid Suns and had none left. I got back on the road and noticed it had gotten windy with gusts up to 40. The Yakima Rack on top of my car is like a sail, so I had to hold on to the wheel with 2 hands at all times. Not the relaxing drive that I hoped for, but I prayed for nothing worse. I knew that more thundershowers were forecast. My next stop was a rest area. I checked the weather and severe storms with damaging hail and high winds were forecast. Shit. I pushed on trying to beat them at one point they were closing in on me. I kept going eyeballing potential places to pullover in case necessary, but there aren't a lot of exits from rte 80 in NE. I essentially made a decision every time I passed a rest area to push on. At one point the eye of the storm was only a few miles away or at least it seemed that way but it's tough to tell because NE is so flat.
In the end, I managed to avoid the eye of the storm and made it safely into Colorado. I arrived at my friend Leith's house in soul-less suburbia outside of Denver around 11 hours after I left camp.
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