Spiceless

This past week I finalized where I am moving to. For those who know my place, I will still be in the same area, but I will be on the other side of Kipling. The place is a little smaller, but I will have a garage that I can use as storage. It looks like it will be a good place. On Wednesday I went into Denver for my first concert since I have moved here. I saw Crowded House at the Fillmore. Great show!!! Good singing by the audience as well. Neil Finn has to be one of the most underrated artists around. He is amazing in all of his career incarnations.

On Sunday morning, my friends Mark and Kathy managed to get away from their house projects and go into the high foothills with me. I took them to Chief Mountain, which is off of the Squaw Pass Rd. that leads to Mt. Evans. According to the signs, the hike is a little over 2 miles up. It was a pretty easy hike. Not steep at all. Even with the top at 11,709 feet, it seemed easier than Blood Mountain back in Georgia. The view from the leaveitrite rock on top of Chief Mountain was quite rewarding. We could see Longs Peak, the Indian Peaks, Grays Peak, Torreys Peak, and Mt. Evans.
Kathy and Mark on their way up Chief Mountain.








Kathy, Mark, and myself on top of Chief Mountain. Mt. Evans is behind us.





Sunday afternoon, I went to see the Colorado Rapids beat the LA Galaxy 3-0. This was supposed to be David Beckham’s big debut in Colorado. Not surprisingly, he didn’t even make the trip. Apparently, it is not a good idea to play a full 90 minutes in England on Wednesday and then fly back to LA and play a full 90 minutes on Thursday. The body doesn’t react well. Who would have thought that… Landon Donovan and several other starters didn’t make the trip as well. It looks like LA is throwing in the towel before the game even started. Which doesn’t bother me, I was there to see the Rapids win. The Beckham part would have been an interesting sideshow. It seemed the majority of the crowd felt that way too. It was 90% capacity for a sold out stadium. The majority of the fans that showed were pro-Rapid fans. While they may have been disappointed he wasn’t there, they appeared to be there to root against him. They did give the Beckham fans something. They played Spice Girls music at halftime. The local news sent the anti-soccer reporter that focused on the 10% that didn’t show. Alas, they also forgot to report that the Rapids won 3-0. You would think they would report that the hometown team won. The Rapids didn’t look like they had a shot at the playoffs a couple of weeks ago. They have won 3 in a row and are now in a tie for that last playoff spot with the Columbus Crew who happens to be the Rapids next opponent.












Former US National team players Tony Sanneh (Rapids) and Cobi Jones (Galaxy). Cobi was the biggest name that LA brought.



The starters on their way out. LA would have better off if they let the little Beckham's play.



One of the anti-Beckham signs at the game.














Go Rapids,

-M

I Have Climbed The Highest Mountain

I revisited a spot from the old 1981 trip this past weekend and did what I couldn't do then. On Saturday, I went to the Leadville, Colorado area and camped at Halfmoon Campground. I needed an early start on Sunday, for I planned to climb Mt. Elbert, the highest mountain in Colorado at 14,433 Ft. I attempted this mountain on the family vacation in 1981, but I didn't have the will power as a 9 year old from Florida to fight through the altitude. I dropped out at around 13,000-foot mark, which is just below the final ascent of the first false summit. I hung out in a rock shelter with my sister and the marmots while my parents and my brother went to the top. I've always wanted to revisit this hike. Now that I live in Colorado, I have the opportunity to do it as a weekend hike.

I was on the trail before sunrise. I had to use a headlamp for about the first mile. The Sun was up by the time I reached tree line. It looked like it was going to be a good day.

The view of the first false summit of Mt. Elbert from just below tree line.

I hike at a pace that I can keep moving. Nothing too fast or too slow. At about the 13,000 feet, I find that the altitude starts to affect my normal pace. I needed to take a break. I found the rocks that we used for shelter in 1981 and took a 15-minute break there to let my body adjust. This time I had the will power to keep going. I climbed the first summit, and the next, and the next. I lost track of all the false summits. I just kept on going till I made it to the top.

Me within 50 yards of the summit of Mt. Elbert. La Plata Peak, a 14er, is visible on the right.

Me on top of Mt. Elbert. (14,433 Ft.)

After hanging out for quite awhile on top and informing Goat Boy through the marvels of technology that he can't bug me about this anymore, I went down. There were lots of people going up as I was going down. I was worried about them, because the clouds were building up. On the way down, the marvels of technology struck again. The Disco Smitty sports service gave me a live report of John Smoltz setting the Braves' all-time franchise strikeout record. I wasn't expecting to hear that on the side of a mountain in Colorado. It started to rain when I got back to tree line. Fortunately for the people who were still going up, there wasn't any lightning in this storm. Plus the weather cleared up after it rained, so they should be all right. I made it down without any problems and drove home. Not a bad weekend.

Happy Trails,
-MM

Heart Of The Sunrise

I was a little busier this weekend. On Saturday I needed to continue my apartment search, but I wanted to go for a hike. So I stayed close and went for a 6-mile hike at Mt. Falcon Open Space Park. I had been there before several times. This time I finished off the trails there that I hadn't hiked yet. I also went back to some favorite spots like the Summer White House. During the afternoon I went back to my apartment search. I still haven't decided on a new place yet. In the evening, I went to the Colorado Rapids game verses the Houston Dynamo. The Rapids won 1-0. It was their first win since late May. The goal was a beautiful header by Dwayne De Rosario. Unfortunately for De Rosario, he headed the ball into his own goal.

On Sunday, I got up at four in the morning and drove to Mt. Evans. Mt. Evans is Denver's closest 14er, and there is a road that gets to about a quarter of a mile from the top. It is the highest paved road in North America. I made it up there before sunrise. There were about 5 other cars in the parking lot. There were a few people walking around in the parking lot and others trying to stay warm in their cars. I hiked to the top and had it all to myself. I was shocked about that. I didn't think you could have a 14er to yourself in the summer, especially one where you can practically drive to the top.


Sunrise from the Top of Mt. Evans. (14,264 ft.)





Me on top of Mt. Evans







Me again on Mt. Evans.





I stayed on top for quite awhile. The view was great. I was able to identify the following 14ers from up there: Longs Peak, Pikes Peak, Torreys Peak, Grays Peak, Quandary Peak, & Mt Bierstadt. It was quite a bit cooler on top, but I found that to be a nice change from the warm days in Denver lately.
Me near the top of Mt. Evans. The west ridge of Mt. Evans is starting to see some sun. Mt. Bierstadt is still in the shadows.

I wandered out along the west ridge of Mt. Evans before leaving. Lots of great rocks and views. There were also a few mountain goats. When I got back to my car, the parking lot and summit house were covered with mountain goats. I thought I might see an incident with goats vs. dogs. A lady had her dogs on a leash, and they wanted to go after the goats. One of the goats took offense to this. He looked like he might go after the dogs and lady. Fortunately nothing happen.

A mountain goat and my car in the parking lot of Mt. Evans. The elevation of the parking lot is 14, 130 ft. Not bad for Hybrid VeHicle.

Me at Summit Lake (12,800 ft.) with Mt. Evans behind the lake.




Mt. Evans was a bit of a cheap climb. I've been to the top of three 14ers now. Two of them were cheap ones. I rode up to the top of Pikes Peak as a kid. I see myself doing a legit climb of Mt. Evans in the future. It is so close to Denver, and the terrain is great. I saw several routes that looked like they would be fun. This was more of an exploring trip to see what it was like up there. It is also an easy way to get use to some elevation for what is next...

A Hazy Shade of Summer

This weekend was pretty low key. I spent some of my time doing some research on potential new apartments. I'll be moving in September, my current place has some issues that are unacceptable. It's a shame; it is in a great location. I also spent some of my time watching soccer. The Colorado Rapids are not doing so good, and I don’t see them improving this year. Especially after trading away Kyle Beckerman a couple of weeks ago.

I went for a drive on the Squaw Pass Road. It goes from Evergreen area to the base of Mt. Evans. The weather was about has hazy as I have seen it so far in the Rockies. The drive was still scenic though. It looked like it would be a good drive during Fall color as well. Anyway, here is a picture.
Me at some cliffs at Juniper Pass along the Squaw Pass Road.