[at-l] Spring time in Colorado... or trip reports (Longish)

[pmags at yahoo.com (Paul Magnanti)]

OK..with the list being down for a few days, have not
been able to to a post-weekend tradition (well, of
sorts. :D) here on AT-L. My Colorado trip reports!
Many thanks to Ryan for solving the many, many, many
issues caused by AOL (America Off-Line. :D)

As I have three trips to type up, this might be
longish:

Numer Uno: A Sunset Hike, May 14th

As any regular reader of my trip reports know, Sanitas
is a favorite "in Boulder hike". It is in walking
distance of downtown. Is a quick hike, nice views and
is easily hikeable at night.
Since the weather has finally become nice again (after
a weekend of SNOW in Boulder!!! Wotta weekend for my
buddy to decide to visit me) decided to do a sunset
picnic up this local peak. Started at 6:30 PM from the
trailhead and made our way to the summit at about
7:30PM or so. From our packs, all of us pulled out an
awesome feast. I packed in wine and honeydew. Other
goodies included brie and a baguette, Cabot cheese
(oh..how I had fond memories of hiking in Vermont from
that goodie!), crackers, etc. The people loitering
around at the summit wondered when the food was going
to stop. 
As only three of us drank some of the wine (the other
four passed), the hike down was a bit..er relaxed. 
:-)  But the sunset was quite lovely and the twilight
came upon us. The stroll back is rather easy as it is
mostly along an old road. An almost full moon guided
us back to the cars.
Was an awesome hike...

Numero Due: Bike Ride to Nederland, Saturday

Nederland is a funky little mountain town about a 30
minute drive from Boulder. I say funky because it is
pictueresque, situated at 8300', has the Indian Peaks
on the divide over the town and it seems that every
hippie who used to live in Boulder has now moved to
"Ned". (In my thru-hiking prime, I would blend quite
well in Ned.).  Ned is also home of the Frozen Dead
Guy Days. Yes. You read that right:
http://www.frozendeadguy.com/
In any case, Ned also has an awesome little restaraunt
called the "Khatmandu". A little hole in the wall
place run by a family from Nepal. Awesome Nepal/East
Indian chow. As it has been over a year since I had
been there, I think it was about time. So I organized
a bike ride up this town. At the time riding 3000' up
a very steep mountain road (Magnolia..hence the name
of the trip "The Mags Squared Bike Ride" :-D ) to eat
lunch seemed perfectly sane. Six of us met at the
Justice Center in Boulder, road the bike path on
Canyon and made our way to the road. Right away we all
realised just how steep this "Steep Mountain Road" is
(as the sign warned us!!!).  We were all in 1st
gear!!!!  I do not have a true mtn bike (is a
hybrid..my theory is when on trails I'd rather hike!
:D), so did not have the low gearing of the mtn bikes.
But I still kept up with the two lead bikers. Then the
road became steeper. :O Said the heck with it and
WALKED the bike up for a while. Found it quite funny
that on foot I was going as almost as fast at the two
lead bikers. :-)  Yes, it was that steep of a road.  
The three us pulled over a scenic overlook and waited
for our three other friends. Wendy showed up, but no
sign of the other two. After flagging down two cars
and they reported they did not see our two other
friends we figured they turned around and caught the
bus to Ned (smart friends we have. :D). We continued
on this steep road and FINALLY made it to the crest of
the road.  The pavement ends, the road levels out and
the views become awesome. The day was fantastic! It
felt like spring was in the air. That smell you get
when the sun hits the pine needles permeated
everything. The mountains were snowcapped. And once on
the dirt road portion of Magnolia, the whole trip
changed. Not only was it easier to bike (no granny
gear needed!) and the views fantastic, but felt like
we stepped back in time. Little farms and pastures
with horses grazing. Old pickup trucks. The dirt road
and the farms made me feel as if I was in rural
Vermont. We made it to the end of Magnolia, hit the
"Peak to Peak Highway" (Rt 72) and had a great
downhill into Ned.  We parked our bikes, got to the
restaraunt and found out that there was an AYCE buffet
being served. YESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The four of us ate non-stop from 1:55 to 2:10 and just
inhaled our food. We hardly talked. :-)
We saw a friend (Paul) of ours in town who lives off
Magnolia. To make a long story short, the missing two
had pulled off the road to stop to see Paul. That
explains why the other cars did not seem them. Paul
offered to drive us to the top of Magnolia so we could
have a fun downhill.  Sounded good. On the way back we
saw our two MIA friends who were now biking to Ned for
dinner! (And were taking the bus back into Boulder
after dinner).  We had a VERY QUICK ride down the road
into Boulder. Was a great day. One of most fun I've
had in a while.

Numero Tre: South Boulder Peak..aka the birthday Hike

Today is my 29th Birthday. My friend Eve (the red head
you see in some of my pics) also turned twenty-nine on
the 15th. So what better way to celebreate our
birthdays than a hike?  We all met at a local coffee
shop where Marni presented us some crowns that
everyone signed. Woo hoo! Did I look spiffy! I proudly
wore my crown all through the hike. :-)  South Boulder
Peak is the highest peak in 
Boulder at a little over 8400'. It is also one I have
not done.  The trail system around this peak is
awesome. Such great hiking a little over five minutes
from town.  What amazed me was how green everthing was
today. After the drought of last year, all the snow
and rain of this year is helping so much. Wildflowers
everywhere and large green fields below the foothills.
We hiked the steep trail to the summit and enjoyed the
panaromic views of the other nearby foothills, the
plains and the not-so-distant Indian Peaks. Eve packed
in a chocolate cake. And I packed in Ben and Jerry's
ice cream. What's a birthday w/o cake and ice cream?
:-) Though the cake was a bit lopsided by the time we
got to the summit and the ice cream slightly melted,
we did not care. Between the hats, the cake and ice
cream and the good company, it was a birthday
celebration that many of the other hikers on the
summit area thought was quite neat. Had a great
birthday celebration! 

Awseome few days.

It also helped me put some things perspective. I just
turned down a job offer in Portland, OR. The money
would have been great...but, well, money ain't
everything. I am very happy here in Colorado. Have a
great group of friends, and do not want to start over
again. It seems I may actually want to put some roots
down here in the Boulder area.  Portland may be a cool
city. But it is a city. This town I live in is just
about the right size for me. And it is next to
everything I like to do.
Besides, I grew up near the coast. I do not want to be
in a climate where rain is the norm ever again. :-) 
Funny, two years ago would have jumped at the chance
to move to a new area, make more money and try
something different. Maybe I am just happy..maybe I
just want to settle a bit...but the thought of moving
another 1000 miles to Oregon does not entice me. On my
PCT thru-hike last year I thought Oregon was
beautiful. But, I missed Colorado.  When I did the AT
I did not have the same desire to get back to Rhode
Island.  Guess I found a place to call home...  Did
not think it would happen..but there it is. 

Phew..a bit longer e-mail than I intended! Next
weekend, three days of trail work in the Spanish
Peaks...

You all play nice...

Mags

Ps. photos can be seen at (Page 3 starts the newer
stuff):
http://gallery.backcountry.net/Co03

 

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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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