winter around town

A few photos from around Denver of late...

Denver Big Air freestyle ski/snowboard trick contest came to town. They built a 135ft jump in the middle of Civic Center park. I didn't make to the competition but it was a sight to behold.

 

Denver sunset

Sam with a bizarre delivery at work

Steamboat / Strawberry Park ski weekend

April's older sister Sandra came out from Illinois for a visit and a jaunt to the ski slopes. We booked a couple cabins at Strawberry Park Hotsprings and hit the road in my overstuffed car, skidding over Berthoud Pass, white knuckling it over Rabbit Ears Pass and rallying up the steep snowpacked road to the springs. Forecast called for snow that night, so I preemptively installed the tire chains for the ride out to Steamboat resort in the morning.

We woke up to a foot of fresh powder, loaded up the car with our gear and made it all of a quarter mile before getting stuck up the first hill. There was no hope making it up the slope, even with the chains on. So, we bagged the ski day and soaked instead. I took a nice snowshoe up to the ridge behind the springs with a great view that I forgot to photograph. They've had record snow this winter here, it was incredibly beautiful with everything capped in 4ft of soft snow.

We skied on Sunday instead, and what a great day it was. Turns out half the lifts were closed yesterday due to wind and whiteout, so lucky that we didn't make it to the resort on Saturday as planned. Perfect weather and wonderful soft snow. This is the first time I've skied in seven years, but like riding a bike it all came back immediately and I jetted around the entire sprawling resort. It was an expensive day at $98 for a lift pass, but lots of fun and absolutely no lines for the lifts. Time to learn to get into the backcountry and away from the development, clearcutting, and sprawl of the commercial resorts.

April & Sandra at Strawberry Park

National Western Stock Show

It's the 105th annual National Western Stock Show here in Denver, good day to take in the sights and smells of the 'old west' or something like that.

Xmas v2.0 with the family

Headed back to the midwest for the holidays, but it worked better (and substantially cheaper) to celebrate a week after the official holiday. Really pleasant and relaxing week with my family. A special treat was making to the extended family's Christmas gathering at Aunt Lisa's place in Naperville, and then spending the next few days at home with my immediate family and Grandpa & Meredith.

Dad, Mom, Grandpa, Meredith

After the family time, I spent a day walking around Chicago before my flight left at night. I'd heard about the new glass viewing platform, called The Ledge, installed at the Sears Tower observation deck 103 floors and 1353ft above ground. I had gone up to the top with Dad once when I was really young but had never been back up, even while living in the city. (I did make it up to the 88th floor a few times for courier deliveries, but no view from the mailroom there.) It's worth checking out if you're in the neighborhood.

Merry Christmas

We got nostalgic and splurged on a real, cut, Christmas tree from a nifty tree lot nearby. It was a flat rate for any tree; of course we got the tallest one they had. Even at 8ft, it felt tiny amidst the 14ft ceiling in our place so we mounted it atop a speaker cabinet to get it up to 11ft. Homemade decorations and a robot angel on top. Tis the season!

Rocky Mt NP- Deer Mountain

Itching to get out of town, I drove up to Rocky Mt Natl Park for a quiet solo hike up Deer Mountain. Not much snow on the Front Range yet, so no need for the snowshoes I brought along. Blustery snow front blew in as I reached the summit, snapped a couple quick shots and jammed back down. Nice hike, nice workout, nice Saturday afternoon.

Chili Fest birthday party

Back in Boulder, each year for my birthday I hosted 'Chili Fest' where my friends and I each make a batch of homemade chili, potluck style. It's been a few years since I've done it, but finally threw down for Denver's first Chili Fest. It's not a contest or cook-off, just a celebration of good chili and creative cooks. We had 7 batches this time, including traditional red, vegan red, pork & veggie greens, a white chicken chili and veggie chili casserole. And a keg of local Hibernation Ale beer from Great Divide to keep it jolly.

I forgot to snap photos of the party, but documented my zero emission beer transport:

Buena Vista / Mt Princeton Hotsprings birthday weekend

April surprised me with a couple nights at the amazing Bunny Lane Cabins outside Buena Vista for my birthday! Fun times indeed- a large one room cabin with a pingpong table, vintage stereo system replete with a classic rock cassette library, and a toasty wood stove. Low key and rustic, just how we like it. Good homemade food, goofy fun times. Happy birthday to me!

"Rabbit Den" cabin

The cabin is just up the road from Mt. Princeton Hotsprings resort and we enjoyed a long afternoon soak (and another later at night) along the Chalk Creek. Natural hot water seeps up from the earth right next to the river, and rocks are arranged to form small pools of varying temps depending how much chilly riverwater mingles.

Mt. Princeton Hot Springs alongside Chalk Creek

We drove up to Saint Elmo, a preserved 'ghost town' up towards Mt. Princeton. Most of these buildings are now privately owned and restored, originally built in the mid 1880's.

St. Elmo ghost town

Hiked along the base of the Chalk Cliffs- a unique rock feature resulting from the effects of underground hot water chemically transforming the rock before it uplifted into the peaks we see now.

the Chalk Cliffs

Great Sand Dunes National Park, CO

 We thought camping might be finished for the year, but caught a good autumn weather weekend and packed up for the Dunes. Took off Friday after work and showed up really late to the campground, so it was another fun surprise to wake up to our surroundings.

Such a bizarre geology here, sand dunes like I grew up with on the Lake Michigan shores, yet nestled alongside the Sangre de Cristo range in the Rockies. Really beautiful, stark contrasts of sand and rock. They say these dunes are a deposit from wind currents carrying ancient desert sands across the San Louis Valley, then dropping the particles as the air stalls up against the Cristos.

Fun times slinging the Frisbee and running around the slopes.

Took the scenic route home, including tossing a couple rounds at the alley in Alamosa. 

 Safety first!

Miner's Cabin / Mohawk Lakes - outside Breckenridge, CO

We heard a tale of this refurbished miner's cabin up outside of Breck / Blue River from our neighbors and wanted to check it out for ourselves. Evidently this old, abandoned mining shack had been fixed up at some point and was now open to whomever stumbled across it, wood stove and all. We headed up after work on Friday, and it was plenty dark before we actually arrived to the trailhead.

But it was only a couple of miles on a well established trail to the cabin, but in case we didn't find it we brought tent and supplies to camp on our own. And plenty of headlamps. After an ultra-quiet, moonlit walk in the woods, we found the cabin and to our luck it was unoccupied. We poked around with limited light, sparked a fire in the stove and settled into the cozy sleeping loft.

It wasn't 'til the morning light that we even grasped where we were at:

1883 miner's cabin we stayed in

Not a bad scene to wake up to, that's for sure! But we also quickly discovered that this cabin is along a very very popular hiking trail in Summit County. Cooking up some eggs for breakfast outside rendered us the de-facto tour guides for dozens of hikers, kids, dogs, etc. It wasn't anticipated, although it wasn't surprising either given the novelty and location. They all asked the same innocent and curious questions, but it got old fast. Most of these folks would have passed on by had a couple of morons (us) not been fixing breakfast and coffee here.

We were staying a second night, so we cleaned up and headed uphill as soon as possible to avert the prying crowds. Joining the day-trip masses on the trail, we came to some great features:

Upper Mohawk Lake

This alpine lake lies a couple miles above the cabin in a historically rich mining area. Lots of pits and mines and rail tracks and trailings litter the hillside.

Further up around treeline another alpine lake hangs within the glaciated bowl. Looking west:

After hiking back to the cabin, the daytime crowds meandered off downhill in the afternoon and it was back to just us. So quiet and pleasant, and just a tad spooky... knowing that tough miners had erected this place for shelter and rest and their toil of riches ~130 years ago.

We cooked dinner, as they had, although we are lazy westerners who bought fun food & wine at the supermarket and hiked it in a couple miles from the car. They did not even conceive of such luxuries, I'm sure.

A huge thank you to whomever the ambitious folks were that restored this cabin to an 'inhabitable' state in 1989. I imagine you guys are long gone from the regular scene, and I figure this trail was a lonesome hike back in your day, a quiet place mostly of your own... 21 years has brought a lot of development and visitors to Summit County. Ourselves included. Thank you for sharing, all the same:

photo of the original visitor's log, mounted and weathered on the cabin wall, 1989

An uneventful hike back to the car and a stop for coffee and made-to-order donuts in Breckenridge before heading north over Berthoud Pass and through Winter Park, Frasier & Granby. We drove through Rocky Mt. Natl Park, eastward over Trail Ridge Road for some spectacular motorized views.

I had to work in the Boulder office on Monday, so we made it back to Camp Dick near Peaceful Valley (along the Peak to Peak Highway) just as darkness arrived on Sunday night. An easy night of car camping before heading down the mountain in the early morning, and I arrived back to work just in time for a day in the office!

UT/CO Day 9: Colorado Natl Monument - 34mi

During the past week cruising around Utah, I've been looking forward to my encore of sorts: stopping at the Colorado National Monument to ride around Rim Rock Road, the 'Tour of the Moon' stage of the old Coor's Classic Bike Race (later elevated to infamy by Kevin Bacon in the American Flyers movie.)

overlooking the Coke Ovens Formation

It was a fun loop ride, and felt wonderful to leave all the panniers and gear in the car. The Monument is pretty, but it ain't no Zion!

After a couple hours, it's time to get back on I-70 and pick up a case of fresh peaches in Palisades, and then the real treat of my encore day... a long hot soak in Glenwood Hotsprings!

Utah Day 8: Bryce back to Bicknell - 104mi

Another cold night back up at 7800ft, basically laying awake waiting for the sunrise. Daylight finally broke and I packed up and made a beeline for the next gas station and a hot coffee. Two routing options before me today- an easy ride 45mi north on HW22 to Otter Creek Reservoir Campground, or see if I can push further on towards my car in Bicknell, guerrilla camping when it gets dark. 

sunrise with nothing but Lucky 7's

 HW22 runs north from Bryce Canyon's bustle and is one of the loneliest stretches of road I've pedaled in Utah.

Aside from a couple empty ranch structures and a passing pickup, this heffer is the only traffic I encounter for the first 30miles:

Kept up a fantastic pace from the start- nice steady tailwinds and dropping down to the Res at 6400ft had me to the Reservoir Campground just in time for lunch! I'd already made 45mi by 1pm so no question I was going to keep rolling north, now on HW62. The fast progress and favorable winds kept me energized and challenging myself to make it all the way to Bicknell in a single day. The gradual, rolling ascent back up from the reservoir retained the wind and things were sailing along to Koosharem.

lonesome HW62 between Otter Creek Res and Koosharem

On the way my rear tire's threads finally succumbed to the pannier load, same as the front tire failure on Day 2. I'm thanking my lucky stars that I grabbed that spare tire from Ken back at Zion, as it's still 30+ miles to the car, and further yet to any bicycle tires for sale.

After getting fixed up, I cut across the across valley to join HW24 and tackle the final pass of my trip. This one was a doozy, as the road turned back into the wind for the 1500ft ascent... I hit the summit 83miles into the day:

 It was a real triumph of satisfaction, and now dropping down to the the old agricultural valley surrounding the town of Loa as the sun fell low on the horizon

Had a tire puncture that unfortunately took two attempts to repair properly, which delayed me past sunset. My journey came to its conclusion a bit after dark, with a daytime total of 104miles! Not to shabby to ride a full century while lugging 60lbs of gear with about 2500ft of elevation gain.

back at my car in Bicknell

These moments of return to real life (or at least the means that are getting me back to real life) are both satisfying and sad. 8 days of beautiful terrain, nice people, amazing views & gigantic skies, physical exertion & perseverance, nice weather and good livin'. I'm ready for a rest, but even more ready to keep on going. Each time I finish a journey, I know next time will be longer and more ambitious, bringing new adventures. The times of cursing the winds, damning the climbs, nursing soreness, shivering at night... they've all melted away by now, adding to the charm and the reasons to keep at it. Time to think about the next adventure!