When The Yanks Go Marching In

British Bulldog: June 12, 2010







The wait is over; the World Cup has started. The U.S. is off to a decent start. They tied England 1-1. It is a good result. The U.S. goal was a bit of an English blunder to say the least, but it counts. Overall, I think the tie is a fair result. Both teams had excellent opportunities to win it. I went to the British Bulldog in Denver to watch the game. It was a blast. The place was should have been renamed the American Bulldog. They closed the roads outside and had a street party. From the video I saw on the local news, it was packed despite the wet weather. Here are some videos I took from the day.

When The Yanks Go Marching In

The National Anthem

Here's a guy dancing to a U2 cover band long after the game ended.

The next game for the U.S. is against Slovenia on Friday. I’ll be late getting to work that day.

-MM

Energy Spent

It was a soccer day on Saturday. I watched the U.S. beat Australia 3-1 in the morning at the British Bulldog, and I watched the Rapids beat the Crew 1-0 at Dicks Sporting Goods Stadium. I’m getting warmed up for the World Cup when everyday is soccer day. The first World Cup game for the United States is against England on June 12th. It will be televised on ABC.

On Sunday, I made my way up to Rocky Mountain National Park where I did some hiking. I started my hike at the Bierstadt Lake Trailhead where I hiked up to Bierstadt Lake. I had the lake to myself.




A view along the Bierstadt Lake Trail









Bierstadt Lake








Me, Longs Peak, and Bierstadt Lake





After enjoying the scenery at Bierstadt Lake, I started hiking towards Bear Lake, but I did not go to Bear Lake. I kept on going. I made way to Lake Helene and Odessa Lake. The trail was not steep, but once I got past the turnoff for Flattop Mountain I started getting into some significant snow. The snow made the going slow. The scenery was great though.




Looking towards Notchtop Mountain






A small pond along the way






Looking down on Lake Helene






Notchtop Mtn and Grace Falls







Odessa Lake








Me with Grace Falls in the background






While sitting on the rocks above Lake Helene and Odessa Lake, I decided to make this hike an adventurous loop hike. I made the way down toward Odessa Lake. It was rough going in the snow. I didn’t even bother trying to get to the lakes edge because of the snow. I kept on going to Fern Lake.




Fern Lake








Thankfully, I was through with the snow at Fern Lake. From there, I hiked on down to The Pool. The water level was impressive.

After The Pool, I had a long uphill hike to get back to Lake Bierstadt. This route had some nice views looking down on Cub Lake. I lost my sunglasses somewhere in this section. I had them on top of my hat and must have flipped them off at some point while adjusting my hat. I was tired, but I made it back to my car. I estimate that the round trip was at least 15 miles. I think I’m being conservative with the estimate. I don’t have mileage for all of the connecting trails. The snow hiking sucked a lot of the energy out me. Except for losing my sunglasses, it was a great day.




Cub Lake








Until next time,

-MM