Steak 'N Shake

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Winter has finally come to Colorado. The temperatures are finally on the cold side. It snowed in Denver the day before Thanksgiving. Unfortunately for the mountains, it wasn’t the huge storm that is needed. Snow is badly needed for the ski resorts and next summer’s water supply. Despite the snow conditions, I went skiing with my friends Mark and Kathy at Copper Mountain. The skiing wasn’t too good. The conditions were pretty icy. Furthermore I had boots that were cutting off my circulation and skis that would not stay on. Fortunately someone stopped on the slopes and adjusted the bindings for me; otherwise I may have had a long walk down. Even though the skiing wasn’t good, the terrain was gorgeous.



A view of I-70 from the slopes of Copper Mountain






Mark & Kathy at Copper Mtn. Resort









Me at Loveland Pass. This was a side trip on the way back to Denver.





After getting back to Denver on Thanksgiving, I went over to Mark and Kathy’s for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner of steak & baked potatoes. Well maybe not so traditional. But who wants turkey when you can have filet mignon.

The lazy bug hit on Friday. I got up with intentions of going hiking until I looked out the window saw that conditions were less than ideal. So I found myself on the couch eating cookies and I watched football and movies most of the day. On Saturday, I did get out for a short hike before the football games started. I did a short loop in the Mt. Falcon Open Space Park.


A view up Bear Creek Canyon from Mt. Falcon Open Space Park.




Georgia beat Georgia Tech as expected. The game was a little sloppier than it should have been though. Unfortunately for the Dawgs, Tennessee barely took care of business against Kentucky. So no SEC Championship game for Georgia this year. Maybe they can make the National Championship game in this crazy year. The Dawgs are ranked number 4 in the BCS Rankings. If Missouri loses in the Big 12 Championship game and if West Virginia loses to Pittsburgh next week, Georgia could end up playing Ohio State in the National Championship game. This year just cries for a playoff. Regardless of how the season ends up, there really isn’t a clear-cut number one and two team. But then there never really is since there isn’t a balanced schedule where everybody plays everybody.

After watching some soccer on Sunday, I went for a hike at Alderfer/Three Sisters Park near Evergreen. I did the Mountain Muhly Trail. There was still some snow on the ground, which added to the beauty. For the most part, I had the trail to myself. That doesn’t happen too often.


Me with The Three Sisters (The mountain) in the background

Book II, Chapter 9

Saturday was a sports day for me. I got up early to watch the US National team in their final game of the year. They beat South Africa 1-0 in a dull game. After the soccer game, I had to go to a sports bar to watch the Bulldogs. They weren't on local television this weekend. The Bulldogs won after a slow start.

On Sunday, I went to Genesee Park. I took the Beaver Brook Trail down into a canyon, and the Chavez Trail out of the canyon. It was nice hike.


Me along one of the Beaver Brook crossings.






It has been rather warm for here lately. That is about to change. The forcast has some cold temperatures coming on Tuesday, and it looks like the cold weather will stick around this time. Oh well, I was getting spoiled with the weather. The mountains need the snow anyway.

Another One Bites The Dust

The crazy year in College Football continues on... Another number one goes down. Illinois beat Ohio State. I can't say that was too big of a surprise. However, CBS apparently thinks there is going to be an upset of another number one this coming Saturday. The Nationally televised SEC game of the week will be LSU vs. Mississippi. The "best team" in the SEC and the country against the worst team in the SEC. I'm scratching my head on that. I guess they know something. Anyway the Dawgs won again this weekend. If they win out, they have a shot at a BCS Bowl. I would not have thought that with the way they were playing earlier this year. Go Dawgs!!!

My Sunday hike took me to the City of Boulder Mountain Park. The City of Boulder has a huge park in the foothills just west of town. I did a loop that took me over Green Mountain at an elevation of 8,144 ft. Green Mountain seems to be the most popular name for a mountain in Colorado. There are four of them listed on SummitPost.org. Anyway the hike was great. I had great views of the Indian Peaks, Longs Peak, and Boulder from the top.


Me on some rocks on the way down Green Mountain.






FYI - If you didn't read a certain comment from last week's post, you may have missed out on something.

Waitin' For a Train

Nice weather this weekend in Denver. It was a little chillier in the mountains. On Sunday, I went the trailhead at the East Portal of the Moffat Tunnel in the James Peak Wilderness. I originally planned to hike to the Arapaho Lakes, but the snow was getting deep on the approach to the lakes. I decided it wasn't worth the effort without snowshoes. I turned around and took another trail. I went to one of the Forest Lakes instead.


Me on one of the Forest Lakes.






A train came out of the tunnel while I was eating lunch at my car. I followed it down the valley trying to find good picture spots. I got ahead of the train when it had to wait for another train that was going in the opposite direction.


A BNSF Train with the Continental Divide in the background