[at-l] Trip Reports..

[pmags@yahoo.com (Paul Magnanti)]

Another weekend of playing in Colorado. The older I
get, the more I seem to play. At this rate, I should
have no responsibilities by my late 50's, and will be
able to do play time all the time. :-)

Saturday was a local hike that I lead. By local, I
mean hiking a foothill that is actually part of the
the Boulder Mountain Park system.  I must admit how
spoiled I am when I can do a hike that is eight miles
round trip, has 2500' elevation gain and tops out at
8500', all within a less than three miles from  my
house.

Decided to do a local hike because after last weekend
(capture the flag until midnight Friday, two days of
learning to telemark ski), my body is a bit bruised
and battered and a plain, old fashioned hike, sounded
just great. Had everyone meet at my favorite coffee
shop, conveniently located not too far from the
trailhead. Had a caffeine fix while waiting, and
finally started Simply Seeking's PCT journal that she
was kind enough to send to me.  

The day was  overcast and very windy, so I was a bit
nervous if anyone was going to show up.   But, at 9:20
AM the first person showed up.  Saw the bright red
hair of Theresa and saw the corresponding brighter
smile to go with it.  As a a mental side note,...this
is the second person I have  met since the start of
this year who I am 'hitting it off with' in Boulder. 
Naturally it comes two months before I leave for a six
month trip...  Oh well, enough whining about how cruel
the dating gods are... :-)

Shortly thereafter, another person showed up. Michelle
was ecstatic over the thought of a local hike because
it made it very easy to find a babysitter. But,
somehow she was under the impression it was a two-hour
hike. :O  Four miles an hour over 2500' elevation gain
may be a bit difficult to achieve.   But, she had a
great attitude over the whole thing, and again was
just happy to be out for a day.  Though she has not
hiked much in the past few years, a good attitude is
much more important in my opinion.

At 9:50 AM, with only one no-show, we piled into a car
and drove to the trailhead. On top of the mesa, it was
even windier.  But, once we hiked a bit and ducked
into the trees, the wind was cut down considerably. 
The trail we took gently slopes around the side of
Bear Peak. What I enjoy about hiking through this area
is that is a transitional zone. The high plains type
of plants (yucca plants, cottonwoods, buffalo grass)
are mixed in the Rocky mtn foothills type of plants
(choke berry bushes, aspens, some pines). Neat!   I
also like this particular trail because not as many
people use it compared to the more direct, but steeper
Fern Canyon trail, that goes straight up the peak.

After about half an hour of hiking,  saw a person
approaching us down the trail.  It turned about to be
my good friend Joey.  His home is right next to a
trail that connects to the trail we were using. He
decided to hike and meet us on the trail. Cool!  

The rest of the hike was pleasant, with a bit of ice
on the trail due to being in a canyon. At the top of a
ridge, we stopped for a snack.  The distant Rocky mtn
peaks, though covered in clouds, still looked
beautiful.  About 1/2 hr later, started the steep
climb to the top of Bear Pk, where it was very cold
and windy.  Did not stay that long on the top.  Made
our way down the icy/snowy peak using the patented,
technical term known as 'butt sliding'.  Rather
comical looking.  Made it to normal trail, hiked back
to the car and called it a day for another satisfying
hike.

Yesterday, went on a snowshoe trip.  Th trip was
labeled dog friendly in the sense that dogs were
allowed to hike on this trail off leash, but of the
nine people who showed up, only one person brought a
dog!  Needless to say,  the dog  (Maggie) did not mind
all the attention.  The dog was referred to as Mag by
her owner, so I was a bit confused.  Esp when Emily
said "Mag...play catch for a cookie". Now I like
chocolate chip cookies..but.....

The day was the beautiful sunny, crisp Colorado winter
weather that I have gown to love.  The first half of
the day was easy as we hiked to one of the five
million Lost Lakes found in mountain ranges throughout
this country.  Had lunch moaning how horrible of a
time I am having being surrounded by mountains, fresh
air, and sunny, blue skies.  After lunch, took a
compass bearing, and decided to bushwhack off trail
for a bit of a challenge. The very powdery snow was
four feet deep in some places., even with snowshoes on
sunk at least a foot into the snow. I lost track the
amount of times myself and others feel and became
stuck on hidden logs in the snow!  We made it back to
the car relatively early, drove back to Boulder and
had a post hike celebration of Mexican food, where I
pondered how I am having such a great time in my life
right now,  over a Dos Equis (with a lime).

anxiously awaiting this weekend already,

Mags




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The true harvest of my life is intangible.... a little stardust caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched
--Thoreau

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