Three is a Magic Number

No new pictures this weekend. Saturday was a raining day in town. It pretty much rained all day. It didn’t feel all that cold, but the snow line was just above 6,000 ft. After the rain lighten up, I could see that the foothills had gotten some fresh snow. It didn’t last long though, I went out Sunday morning for some breakfast burritos around 9:00 am and most of the new snow in the foothills was already gone. The rest of Sunday morning was spent watching the soccer friendly between US vs. Ecuador. US won 3-1. Hat-Trick by Landon Donovan. Excellent goals too. I think Carter would agree. I hope that is the Donovan that shows up in 2010. It looked like a good crowd was on hand in Tampa. The pitch didn’t look too good. That surprised me considering that the Bucs hadn’t played in a while.

After the game, I did go for a hike. Even though I had time, I didn’t drive anywhere. I figured most of the trails would either have snow or mud. So I just walked out the back of my apartments and hiked over to Bear Creek Lake Park. There were some muddy spots here and there. But the day was beautiful though. It was probably around 70° here.

Happy Trails,
-M

Like Sands Through The Hourglass

With the weather being extremely nice, I decided to adventure out of the Denver area this past weekend. The Great Sand Dunes National Park has been calling to me for a while. I had been there before in a past life, but I figure I could make it different by climbing a different dune. It took about three and a half hours to get there. After setting up camp, I made my way into the Dunes. Destination High Dune, approximately 8,691 ft. It is the highest dune visible from the Visitor Center. The hike got pretty steep about 3 quarters the way up. One step forward, half a step back. The extra effort with a little altitude was rough on the lungs. However, once I got past the real steep part, I was able to catch my breath, and I was fine.













Me on top of High Dune. Mt. Herald (13,297') in the background.



The ever-changing terminus of Medano Creek








Medano Creek after sunset.














Sunday morning started off quite chilly in the morning. By 9:00 A.M., I was comfortably hiking in shorts & a t-shirt.














View from the Dunes Overlook Side-Trail. High Dune is the high point in the picture. The San Juan Mountains are visible on the horizon on the other side of the San Luis Valley.














Medano Creek about a mile and half from its terminus. Mt. Herald in the background.

After making my way across the snow & ice of Medano Creek, it was time to kick off the boots and enjoy the sand.

For additional pictures click here.

Good Day Sunshine

A nice sunny day in Denver, Colorado. The temperatures were in the 60's today. Shorts & T-shirt weather out here. It was in the 60's for most of last week. It has been quite nice, but I have been warned. March is supposed to be the snowiest month of the year in Denver. The weather people are quite perplexed by this heat. Anyway, today I went back to Mt. Falcon to do some hiking. The plan was to hike some the trails that I have not been on yet. I didn't get to far on those. Not too many people hike the trails that I had planned to go on. The snow was quite soft because of this. I was sinking up to my thighs in some places. While the snow was soft, it was rough. It would scrape my legs on the snow if I were not careful when I sank. Investment in snowshoes is a must for next winter. I did get far enough from the crowds on Mt. Falcon to spook some Elk.

The snow covered meadows of Mt. Falcon. The snow-capped mountains on the horizon in the right of the picture are the Indian Peaks. At least that is what I think they are.

Chapter 26

Good Day, Eh! I didn't do too much this weekend. So I am just going throw a couple of pictures up and call it a post.

This a view from the Columbine Trail in the Ken-Caryl Ranch Foundation.

Some red rocks along the trails in South Valley Park. This another one of Jefferson County's Open Space Parks.