Monthly Archives: August 2013

Kicked off Labor Day weekend by running our local Coal Creek Crossing 10M race. Only my 3rd time running since Alaska, felt strong & finished a respectable 59th.  Far easier than last year when I thought I could run 10 miles with virtually zero training.

Again, not perfect (hadn’t run in weeks, letting my knee heal), crummy pace – but I finished & finished strong.

Gonna keep running both of my hometown’s races annually (Coal Creek on Labor Day weekend & Taste of Louisville in June).

Life is good, really good.  Off to New Mexico – it’s a 3 day weekend and the mountains are calling! 🙂

 

Thanks for participating in the Coal Creek Crossing 10 Mile.

Results for K R Haga:

You placed 59th out of 107 finishers in a time of 1:29:12 for a pace of 8:56 per mile.

Out of 56 men you finished 39th. The winning time for men was 59:09.

Coal Creek Crossing 10M

Coal Creek Crossing 10M

 

Purchased an annual Park pass again this year – but all the talk about FREE day inspired me to drive up to Estes & hike another trail in RMNP (2 years in Colorado but still so many trails to choose from – LOVE it!).

The 13 Fee Free Days in 2013 include Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 21), National Park Week (April 22 – 26), Founders Day (August 25), National Public Lands Day (September 28), and Veterans Day Weekend (Nov. 9-11).

Picked out today’s hike while on the Park N Ride bus provided by RMNP (parking within the Park is crazy crowded through Labor Day – so why not enjoy a free ride to the trailhead?)

Wait, REWIND — 2 days prior, rented a fun Australian film titled Mental.  In the opening scene, a mom of five daughters is in her backyard pulling laundry, goes mental, spinning in the backyard singing ‘The Hills are Alive’ from The Sound of Music.

Then on Saturday I hear ‘Climb Every Mountain’ – again, from The Sound of Music.  What are the chances?

So when I see a 9.3 mile hike in the Park named (Julie) Andrews Glacier, hmmm…kismet.  [Ok, the glacier was not named for Julie Andrews but she was commencement speaker this year at CU – coincidence, I think not. :)]

FAST FORWARD to today’s hike.  Hopped off [the bus] at Glacier Gorge trailhead & made a quick stop .8 miles in — at Alberta Falls. I’ve been here before but wow – when the water is sudden/rushing/alive, it’s just breathtaking.

Few more miles within treeline, a 2nd hike stop at The Loch.  Loch Vale Lake was an end destination during last year’s hike challenge — but that was November and in the midst of a white-out.  This day, stopped and smelled the roses, er…pine.

The trail then snaked noticeably UP over boulders to The Gash & Sharktooth, jugged sawtooth peaks saddled with deposits of glacier snow.  Followed a happy Colorado hiking couple (Johnstown & Denver) up the final push to Andrews Tarn & Glacier.

WOW, WOW, WOW!

I have not lost my sense of awe in 20 months of hiking.  It’s here, here in the mountains where I feel close to God.

Did a Julie Andrews spin for pics – but unfortunately looked more like Wonder Woman so you won’t find any attached.  LOL>

Wait wait, a tarn?

A tarn is a mountain lake or pool, formed in a cirque excavated by a glacier. It is formed when either rain or river water fills the cirque. In Scandinavian languages a tjärn is a small natural lake, often in a forest or with vegetation close around it or growing into the lake.

Waded to my shins in the glacier fed tarn – really really cold water.  First numbing then my feet cramped from the intense cold.  Life’s meant to be lived.  How many dudes get to wade in a glacial pond at 11,400ft?  WOW, what a crazy happy life!

 

With my days & nights mixed up after back-n-forth travel to California, needed to get out (with minimal driving) & ward off the bad juju – start over, get centered, re-discover my happy place.

If I could go back & career re-do, I’d study glaciology or Plan B – study geology.  While not in the right mindset to do a glacier hike today, visiting a geology museum might just do the trick.

Denver’s Museum of Nature & Science is your typical kid-friendly museum with exhibits ranging from Egyptian mummies & North American Indians to space exploration, wildlife & the human body.  But for me, I came to see rocks 🙂

Colorado was founded on mining, and in the historical mining section you’ll see local finds, like Tom’s Baby, an eight-pound nugget of crystallized gold unearthed in Breckenridge in 1887.

While the Nature & Science Museum only came up 2nd on my Google search, it also houses a 3D IMAX flic on Great White Sharks. No brainer – I’ve been scared/intrigued by sharks since watching Jaws as a kid.

AND today’s gem exhibit placed a heavy emphasis on native Colorado gems & minerals.  Very cool.  LOVED it.

Favourite rock of the day – Rhodochrosite, state mineral of Colorado – and in particular, the Alma King.

Rhodochrosites from the Sweet Home Mine are gem-quality crystals because of their translucent cherry-red color, which is due to the relatively low amount of iron, magnesium and calcium impurities. Many experts acclaim the “Alma King” as the finest and most valuable mineral specimen ever mined in North America. Rhodochrosite became the Colorado State Mineral in 2002.

Ended my day at Jett Asian Kitchen & Sushi on Colfax.

On my way back folks, bad juju almost gone – hiking a glacier tomorrow 🙂