Leap Day in Santa Fe

I can't recall what I did on any of the eight previous February 29ths of my lifetime.  With my calendar still wide open, this year, I took advantage and slipped out of town for a day I'm sure to recall in some detail four years from now.  I came down to Santa Fe, Ne Mexico, which is about a six hour drive from Denver. That the city's name rhymes with the unofficial holiday  is purely coincidental. 

I drove down yesterday stopping at a steelworks museum I Pueblo.  I arrived too late to tour Fort Union MM in northern MM.  Shortened operating hours are a big disadvantage to traveling in the offseason.  I arrived at my motel right before sunset.  After checking in, I walked a short distance to historic plaza and began exploring the 400 year old town.   When I was sufficiently tired and hungry, I found a good restaurant.

Today, I focused on the historic district.   There's plenty to see & by lodging so close to the center of town, I didn't need to drive at all today.  I went to a few museums (1 history, 2 art), took a self-guided tour of the capitol, went to some historic churches including mass at the cathedral, and finished with a dinner complete with side of green chili.

PS. Happy 3rd B-day AAAA.

Not-so-gusty Ride

I'd been itching to get out on my bike since I got my tire fixed late last week.  The forecast consistently predicted Wednesday would be the warmest day this week, which indeed it was.  But in paying attention to temperature, I failed to noticed that it was also going to be a very windy day, not ideal conditions for an inaugural ride.  I went out anyway and, without any notable exceptions, the wind didn't factor in to the ride.  It's a good thing I went then because that night it snowed six inches.  I'll have to wait for that accumulation to melt before I can ride again.

Considering it was the first ride almost three months and I'm in less than peak shape, I managed a fairly respectable thirty miles.  The first half of the route was mostly flat or downhill, but coming back I struggled up a couple hills that really got the heart pumping.  I started southeast through some neighborhoods until I connected with the Platte River trail which I rode south (upstream) for about five miles.   I was going to stay on the trail system, but the other trails were unpaved and either too muddy or slushy to ride so I worked my way north along surface streets.  I took a ten-minute breather beside a nice pond in Englewood after which I found paved trails to use for most of the rest of the ride.

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Trip Statistics
Length: 29 miles
Ride Time: 3 hours 42 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours 04 minutes
Avg. Speed: 9.5 MPH
Max. Speed: 22.1 MPH
Total Ascent: 1,200 ft.
Max Elev.: 5,541 ft.

Elevation Profile

Pikes Peak from Tejon Street

Platte River Trail

Front Range from Whitman Elementary

White Ranch Park

Though the temperature was to remain somewhat cold, yesterday's forecast also announced not just 'sunshine,' but 'brilliant sunshine.'   I'm not one to let a day of brilliant sun go to waste.   After lunch I headed west to the mountains to find good trail.  Along the way, the Colorado Railroad diverted my attention for about two hours, but a few good hours of daylight remained after my visit.  I found my way to White Ranch Park in the foothills northwest of Golden.

I hiked a modest distance (4.3 miles), though if you knew how tight my back was today, you'd expect more.  This park attracted me because it has a lot trails intersecting at numerous points to create a bunch of route options.  In addition, though not by design, the route I ended up following went partway along a social trail packed through the snow.  Though I didn't need snowshoes or extra equipment, there were plenty of stretches where some extra traction would have been most welcome.

The trip started with a quick descent into a pleasant pine forest.  This portion is the part where I was led off-trail.  Once I re-connected with the official trail system, I paid extra care to remain on it.  For the rest of the way, I mostly followed the same trail, named Rawhide, though on account of the late hour I did take one short cut to save about half-mile of hiking.  The best view came at a break in the trees on the northernmost leg of the hike.  The break revealed, across a deep gully, Ralston Buttes still bathed in late-afternoon sunlight .

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Shortly after turning south, I passed through a campground.  Somewhat to my surprise, it hosted a small group of campers set up in the snow for the holiday weekend.  They had a large fire going, a warming sight even from fifty yards away.  On the last mile-plus of the hike, it started to get rather dark and much, much colder, but I managed to make it back to car without needed a flashlight, whereupon, I cranked up the heater and drove back to Denver.

Trip Statistics
Length: 4.3 miles
Total Time: 1 hours 58 minutes
Min. Elev.: 7,100 ft.
Max. Elev.: 7,510 ft.
Net Gain: 410 ft.
Total Ascent: 1,092 ft.


Elevation Profile

White Ranch Park

Rawhide Trail

Ralston Buttes

Suburban Denver

Waterhole Trail Scene

Denver Zoo

Today was a free day at the Denver Zoo, the last until November, so I broke up my daily routine to check it out.   It was a great day to go.  Sunny and cool.  Despite free admission, it wasn't too crowded either. A few of the exhibits were taken down for the season, but I was surprised at how many animals were on view.  They were pretty active too.  A pacing cheetah.  Swimming Sea Lions.  African Wild Dogs rough-housing.   The cutest animal was either the Black Bear draped over a tree or a pair of pure white arctic foxes.  I don't know why, but I always get a kick out of penguins whatever they're doing.  I spent about two hours at the zoo before going to lunch.  My wildlife viewing wasn't over for the day.  After lunch, I walked a loop through a nearby park.  I group of spectators congregating under a barren tree altered me to bald eagle perched at the top of it.

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African Penguins

Polar Bear

Artic Foxes

Giraffe

Asiatic Black Bear

Bald Eagle (Washington Park, not the Zoo)

Great Western Road Trip Recap

It took me a while to put together all the pieces needed to post a recap on my late summer road trip.  Sorting pictures took me up through Christmas alone.  Since then, I've been working on this post in between keeping up with posts on my continuing adventures.  The size and uniqueness of the adventure also presented extra opportunities for analysis such as determining the dimensional superlatives for the trip, something I never thought to do on trips confined to a limited geography.  One tidbit I discovered is that while driving I passed over both the highest and lowest elevations on the Interstate Highway system.

The trip began September 13th when I left Niles and ended October 14th when I pulled in to Denver. In the intervening month, I drove nearly 9,000 miles, 1,000 more than I previously estimated, and entered one-third of the states.  I did a pretty good job posting as I went so I won't attempt a detailed narrative recap here, which would run too long any way, but a quick once-over is in order.

From Niles I headed west toward the Chicago, the only major city I would encounter until Phoenix, with the possible exception of  Salt Lake City, and save for L.A. the biggest city I would enter on the whole trip.  I stayed the first night with my Aunt in Wisconsin, the first of six nights I would stay in a family member or friend.  After Wisconsin, I entered the Great Plains and three states for the first time in my life—Minnnesota (excluding airport layovers), South Dakota and North Dakota.  I stopped a a few sites along the way, but the most interesting ones were clustered at the end of this section, Badlands and Mount Rushmore.

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After staying a night in Boulder, I entered the Intermountain West, where I would spend the bulk of the trip, most of it traveling with my mom who joined me a day later in Salt Lake City.  We visited a couple National Parks that I'd already seen, Yellowstone and Grand Teton, and then headed in to new territory in Southern Utah.  Our last major stop together was the Grand Canyon.  We parted ways after visiting we my cousin in Phoenix.

I continued west, determined to reach the Pacific Ocean and complete a coast-to-coast drive, admittedly done in two parts.  I spent more time in California than in any other state.  While there, I visited with two cousins, an aunt, and some friends who recently relocated from New York.  Yes, they all provided me with free lodging.  The trip ended on a high note with a cruise along the Loneliest Road. I took my sweet time, four days to be exact, and investigated every place that piqued my interest along the way.  The last day on the Loneliest Road, spent in Great Basin NP, was essentially the last day of sightseeing.  I spent they day after it driving the final 600 miles to Denver.


Statistics
Miles: 9,015 (8,891 driving, 88.6 hiking, 15.3 biking, and 10.3 boating)
Days: 32
States: 17
Total Counties: 166
New Counties: 93
National Park Units: 7
State Parks: 23
Highest Elevation: 12,135 feet (hiking along the flank of Wheeler Peak)
Highest Driving Elevation: 11,153 feet (I-70 at the West Portal of the Eisenhower Tunnel, Colorado)
Lowest Elevation: -52 feet (I-8 southwest of El Centro, California)
Easternmost Point: Niles, MI
Northernmost Point: Oakes, ND
Southernmost Point: Wellton, AZ
Westernmost Point: Weed, CA
Pictures Archived: 520
Fuel: 257.3 gallons
MPG: 34.3
Cost: $2,260.97

Elevation Profile

Mount Rushmore

Yellowstone with Mom

Bryce Canyon

Grand Canyon

Big Sur

The Loneliest Road

Bierstadt Lake

Yesterday, I went snowshowing for the first time.  It was easily the most taxing five miles I've ever traveled, but the spectacular scenery, amply rewarded my exertions.  I went on the invitation of my friend, Dan Hadley, who provided not only the expert guidance, but also a laundry basket load of extra gear, that I needed for this particular outing.

The adventure really began three days ago.  I had one assignment to prepare for the trip, rent snowshoes from a local sporting goods shop.  But on Friday, a huge snowstorm was busy dumping a couple feet of snow in Denver.  After excavating the car from the accumulation, I carefully drove to the store rented the equipment and carefully drove back.  The next day, I had to clear the more snow, including what plows repositioned, so I would be ready for an early start.

I arrived at Dan's place about eight o'clock yesterday morning where he outfitted me with the extra gear.  We departed for Rocky Mountain National Park together, through the scenic foothills and freshly snow-covered forests of the Rocky Mountains.  After a quick pit stop in Estes Park for some last minute beverages and snacks, we entered the Park proper and made our way to the Bear Creek Trailhead.

Although we arrived before ten, it took over a half-hour of prep work before I took my first step in a snowshoe.  I needed no special instructions.  It's as intuitive as walking, although I did recall the advice my guide gave on the glacier hike for walking in crampons: "keep your steps high, wide, and flat."   The biggest adjustment is the additional weight and friction encumbering each step.

Dan picked a good trail for my inaugural trek.  A steep climb, followed by a gentle descent to Bierstadt Lake, a small, frozen lake with grand views of  the mountains that make up the Continental Divide and a few glimpses of Long's Peak, the tallest mountain in the park, thrown in when the clouds dispersed.  The trail was packed pretty tight from previous snowshoers.  At our destination lake, Dan lead me off trail on to some fresh unpacked snow, which is magnitudes more difficult to walk on, or to be more precise, though.  Perhaps, I achieved as many as twenty successful steps before I stumbled and while falling down contorted myself into an odd position half buried in the snow.  Dan commented, "Now, you're in trouble."  Somehow, I managed to right myself and continue to the frozen lake surface, which provide much easier going.

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We rested on a perfectly situated log on the north edge of the lake for around thirty minutes, then crossed to frozen surface to its eastern outlet where we admired the expansive view the many peaks to the east. We returned using the same trail on which we came.  The gentle descent became a challenging ascent. I was most relieved when we reached the highest portion of the trail, which meant an easy descent to the trail.  We did add a loop around Bear Lake, the trailhead's namesake, before packing up and heading back to Boulder.  I had a tight deadline to return the snowshoes, but we managed a quick dinner in Boulder, before I went on my way.



Trip Statistics
Length: 5.2 miles
Total Time: 4 hours 18 minutes
Min. Elev.: 9,452 ft.
Max. Elev.: 9,869 ft.
Net Gain: 417 ft.
Total Ascent: 1,040 ft.


Elevation Profile

Front Range at Sunrise

Trail to Bierstadt Lake

Dan on Bierstadt Lake Pitchers Mound

Snow Covered Peaks beyond a Frozen Bierstadt Lake

Highest Section of Bierstadt Lake Trail

Bear Lake and Half Mountain

Dakota Ridge - Red Rocks Park

A monster snowstorm forecast to hit Denver last evening prompted me to tackle one of the nearby foothills trails before they were covered in thick, fresh layer of snow.  I embarked from a trailhead just south of where I-70 enters the mountains.  The trail climbed up the Dakota Ridge (aka the Hogback), the same formation that I saw in Roxborough State Park last month.  Along the crest I had great views of Green Mountain, western Denver, and Red Rocks Park, which is wear I was heading.

The centerpiece of the Red Rocks Park is an Amphitheater snuggled amongst massive red rocks, hence the name, which host major acts in the warmer months.  The theater is open to the public during the day, and is a destination in its own right even without a headliner.  I chose the more difficult of the two paths back to the trailhead, which took me up to a plateau on the edge of Mount Morrison.  At 6,800 feet, the highest point on the hike, it afforded the best views east over the metropolis of the day, though the gathering clouds portended the coming winter storm.  I rewarded my efforts with a hearty meal at a nearby Fazoli's and still made it to safety before the heavy snows started to fall.

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Trip Statistics
Length: 8.7 miles
Duration: 4 hours 38 minutes
Min. Elev.: 6,020 feet
Max. Elev.: 6,820 feet
Net Elev. Gain: 800 feet


Elevation Profile

Mount Vernon Canyon

Mount Morrison

Red Rocks Amphitheater

Morrison Slide Trail

View from Mount Morrison Plateau

Red Rocks Trail