We'll be back for you, Silverheels.

Well, we attempted Mt Silverheels south of Breckenridge off of Hoosier Pass today.  The weather looked cloudy, but stable until we hit about 13,000 feet, then the clouds started gathering.  Dark clouds.  Clouds that could hold lightning.  So, we made the tough call to head back down without gaining the summit.  Discouraging, for sure, but the right call - just a few minutes after we got in the car and starting heading home, rain and lightning hit the area we just came from...justification.  :)

Some pictures below from our hike - it was a beautiful day to hike.  We started across the road from the Hoosier Pass parking area, followed the road up to some towers and then headed up and off-trail.  I'm guessing we did about 9 miles, almost all off-trail.  Our favorite kind of hike!  We saw about 4 other hikers on the way out, NONE on the way back, until we were within 1/2 mile of our car.  I love the solitude and connection with nature that can be had by strapping on some hiking boots, packing the day pack with layers and snacks and heading off into the mountains.  Thank you, Colorado for another beautiful day above 10,000 feet.

I think my favorite picture (and moment) is when Tom called me over to where he'd stopped and pointed out a white-tailed ptarmigan in the rocks - it was SO hard to spot!  Only when we'd both taken pictures and were almost ready to move on, did I notice the second one, looking to be sitting on a nest.  Just fantastic!  These birds don't startle easily and usually hold their ground, making for some great photo opportunities...

The Ptarmigan

 

Views to the West

A fantastic thistle. 

Mt Silverheels

Tom heading down

Some late summer bloomers...

My favorite local trail...

With all of the cool, cloudy, rainy weather lately (thank you, Mother Nature), I wanted to remind myself that it is summer out there!  What better way than with a trail run in the heat of the day?  So, I laced up my shoes and headed to my favorite local trail at Bear Creek Lake Park.  Why is it my favorite?  A few reasons - 1) it really is never extremely crowded, I usually only pass a few hikers, runners and bikers - 2) it is mostly shaded, at least the 5 mile loop that I normally do - 3) it is not crazy-hilly as so many front range trails are (unless you add a modest climb with Mt Carbon) - and last but not least 4) it is only a 10 minute drive for me!  I do love Green Mountain, as it's out my back door and there's no driving required and I run there plenty, but there is no shade there, so on a hot day, Bear Creek it is!

I start off on the Owl trail just on the south side of the creek, and it intersects the Cottonwood trail, then the Mt Carbon trail and I take the detour on the Fisherman's trail around the lake and back onto the Mt Carbon trail along the north side of the creek - almost exactly 5 miles start to finish.  It's a peaceful run and one I've done MANY times.  I've seen plenty of critters from large coyotes to a bald eagle chowing on a fresh catch from the lake.  Tom fishes there with Lucy quite often in the summer and Lucy HATES the beavers in the area - they torment her from the water and have even caused her to fall through some ice (in shallow water) in the winter - of course from her chasing them when she shouldn't!  Rascally critters!

Well, even though today was warm, I saw signs of fall - there were quite a few small bunches of yellow aspen tree leaves (pic below), and even some in other kinds of foliage as well.  I do love the fall, followed by ski season, but then, of course, I'll have to strap on my winter weather gear and running snowshoes to enjoy this local trail.

Tomorrow we head up Mt Silverheels off of Hoosier Pass - one of Colorado's centennial peaks -I'll try to post pictures...

Sunflowers

I found these little beauties on a trail run a few days ago. A nice addition to Green Mountain, as the other flowers are winding down for the year!  

The same, only different.

I went back to Ohio this weekend to visit family.  My hometown – or I should say the town closest to my parents’ house - is a small one, or at least used to be.  I grew up with a rotary phone, a party line (2 neighboring houses shared our same phone line), no ability to get a pizza (or any other food) delivered and 42 people in my graduating class.  Small.

But now, that closest town is not so small.  The only chain restaurants we used to have were fast food, or the Ponderosa buffet.  But now, Olive Garden, Max & Erma’s and Cheddars dot the horizon and it houses 2 Wal-Mart stores.  There is much more traffic, much more to do and many more options for restaurants.  This is great, especially for those that live there – it means the economy is good and jobs are available.  But for me it is sad to see old schools, restaurants and other buildings torn down to make way for these new, “better” buildings, franchises and just overall progress. 

Somehow, living out-of-state and only seeing it infrequently, I always expect it to be the same as it was – and in some ways, it is - the historic homes and big trees are still there, along with the city pool, cute neighborhoods , county fairgrounds and most importantly, Dietsch's ice cream.  And out by my parents’ home, few things have changed except new homes are being built on previous farmland.  Somewhere deep down, I expect progress, but it never fails to surprise me. 

In some selfish way, I want it to be exactly the same, even though I know the growth is good – small towns have it tough in today’s world where people flock to cities.  Findlay, Ohio – to me you are the same, only different.

Rain.

The “monsoon flow” has certainly arrived in Colorado.  I hear the Dillon Reservoir is full – and if you saw it over the winter, it was a sad little piece of water.  Things are green, sprinkler systems have been turned down (or off) and my garden looks fantastic.  I think the high temperature on Sunday was in the upper 60s, what a nice break.  Fantastic! 

If you have lived for any amount of time in a dry/desert climate, you know how important rain is.  However, for those of us that enjoy the 300+ days of sunshine a year we have here in Colorado, one thing you don’t do is look at the weather before you plan outdoor activities.  Oops.  Lesson learned.  We thought we’d hike or mountain bike on Sunday AM, but Mother Nature had different plans for us.  I TOTALLY forgot about the possibility of rain!  I just assumed, as every other Coloradoan does, that there will be sun at the time and place you desire.  Admittedly, a great perk to become accustomed to, but unfortunately, it bit us this time – that pesky assumption of sun.  The trails will have to wait for a drier day.

So, I headed to a Spin/Yoga class and cleaned carpets instead…boooorrrrriiinnng.  Not quite a 13er or a long mountain bike ride, but very productive nonetheless.  Mountains, we’ll be coming for you soon.

Picture of the day is from my office window downtown.  I normally have a city and mountain view, but it felt like I'd walked into The Langoliers (Stephen King book/movie). Pea soup fog in Denver, gotta love it. 

More TrailCam fun!

Besides the "squirrel cam" photos from a few weeks ago (which don’t really count, as we feed them peanuts already), we got our first "real" wildlife photos earlier this week.  Looks like perhaps a mom and 3 nearly grown babies checking out our back yard – sometime around 4 in the morning.  I know we have raccoons in the GM subdivision, but I rarely see them out and about. This is just a friendly reminder that they're here, and sneaky.

Not the most exciting animal photo, but I'll take it!

A Travel Life

Ever think you were meant to do something else as a career?  I think most people have at some point in their lives.  I believe I'd be happy as a travel writer or travel show host.  Don’t get me wrong, I do really enjoy IT and what I do, but to travel and get paid for exploring, now THAT would be perfect.  Of course you’d have to be a very entertaining and fantastic writer (or host) to actually make any sort of decent money at it, but for me, that would be the ideal career.  I think my favorite travel show is GlobeTrekker – ever seen it?  Originally, it was a PBS show and had only one host – Ian Wright – he is very entertaining to watch – funny, dynamic, a very good presenter.  I did see an episode recently that was a “behind the scenes” peek at the show and I was shocked at how much production goes into it - it always looks kind of "thrown together" - and how little sleep they get!

But seriously, I’m happiest when I have a vacation on the horizon – somewhere we’ve never been before, a new place to explore.  In August, we’ll be headed to Kodiak, Alaska to visit our friends Karen and Robin.  Karen quit her job a few years back, joined Americorps and met her now husband Robin – I admire her.  Robin is a GREAT fisherman and the last time we visited (when they were in Gustavus, AK), Tom (with Robin’s help) caught a HUGE halibut – something like 60 lbs (see picture below).   I can’t wait to get back to Alaska and see their new home (and the bears) – we had a blast with them, we are really looking forward to this trip!

In September, we will be headed to Colombia and Panama.  In Colombia, we’ll be visiting Providencia – an island in the Caribbean – it actually sits off the coast of Nicaragua, but is owned by Colombia.  I also cannot wait for this vacation – it’s our typical, out-of-the-way place where we have to take 4 flights to get there, see very few tourists and can get some good hiking, snorkeling and exploring in.  We are stopping in Panama on the way back to spend some time in the capital city, see the canal (always been on my “bucket list”), and explore their old city “Casco Viejo”.  Yay!  So, imagine – TWO vacations coming up soon, I’m so excited.

Anyone with a "travel for a living" job offer can contact me at anytime.

TOM'S BIG FISH