6 days after Ironman – couldn’t wait to hit the mountains, jump in & rejoin everyday life.
Kicked off the weekend at Louisville Street Faire listening to live outdoor music, filling up on pizza & ice cream. All summer, every Friday night on Front Street (just off Main). Haven’t been once this year – good to be back.
Woke late Saturday plus the weather’s been a bit unpredictable, so Lake Isabelle was today’s target. Ash & Tom’s dog Marty injured his shoulder a few weeks back so decided on a shorter hike to best assess his recovery.
Hiked Lake Isabelle 2 years ago during my 52 week hike challenge – actually overshot the Glacier, resulting in Ro & I hiking down to our end destination. Good memories.
Paid the park fee & queued 30 minutes for our turn into the Park. So many people flocking to Indian Peaks this day, that rangers limited car entry into the Park.
Located parking on the west side of Brainard Lake & hit the trail. Good to be outside, always enjoy the smell of pine.
Quickly made our way to Long Lake – much easier without waist-high snow – and continued on Isabelle Glacier trail. Memory failed me thinking I’d passed glaciers before Lake Isabelle. In actuality these were only leftover snow banks from the heavy winter season which socked the Rockies this past year. WOW – it’s August. Not expecting these drifts will melt before snow flies again. LOVE my escape from the summer heat – only an hour from home.
Sat on a large rock, Isabelle lakeside & shot landscape pics as dark clouds gathered. Rain, gusty cold wind, ice pellets, rain again, then sunshine – all within a 20 minute span. LOL>
What turns a good hike day into a GREAT hike day?
Saw 2 HUGE moose on our hike return. I’ve seen moose from a distance in New Hampshire & Alaska. These guys however were close (10-15 feet away) and H-U-G-E. Their rack, their heads – just enormous. Tried to keep our distance & not startle these giants…but in reality, they could have trounced us. SPECTACULAR!
Bear & bighorn sheep last month – moose today. Travelling to Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks over my birthday – excited about the possibilities. Life is good, really really good 🙂
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- perfect day for a hike
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- wet summer = lush green colour
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- snow melt & runoff…in August
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- snow silhouette – LOVE this place!
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- Lake Isabelle
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- Isabelle Glacier
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- he’s baaaaaack – my hiking buddy, Ro
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- Moose!
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- outdoor music & brew every Friday night (local summer fun)
Attempted Frozen Dead Guy Days for the first time last year – in a blizzard – only to find all events postponed to Sunday. Awesome BBQ, beautiful blowing snow, laughs with friends but overall, kinda a bummer.
Fast forward one year. Sunshine and 30’s.
Drove Canyon to Nederland with my new housemates & secured amazing parking in the mud off Third.
Arrived 20 minutes before the start of the infamous hearse parade. Crazy, ridiculous bunch of characters – costumed coffin racing teams, blue monkeys, the Incredible Hulk…followed of course by a line of hearses.
New, vintage and even a flame throwing Cadillac hearse. Nope, not your everyday parade 🙂
Quick BBQ lunch at Wild Mountain, then off to the coffin races. Scored a great viewing spot on the hill while Ash & Tom lost themselves in the beer tent. Watched the Pink Socks retain their title, defeating the top qualifying Frozen Justice entry. This day Spiderman, Hulk & Batman were no match for the mighty Pink Socks.
Missed both the frozen tee-shirt contest & Polar Plunge but cheered on ice turkey bowling participants & later watched a short movie on Grandpa Bredo – ‘the Frozen Dead Guy’.
Crazy ridiculous fun. We’ll be back next year – it’s tradition 🙂
The Pink Socks did it again! Five Frozen Dead Guy Coffin Race wins in a row. The defending champions came to Nederland on Saturday, carrying their humble but sturdy coffin and bringing a lot of good cheer and optimism. If they did it four times, they could do it again. And they did: with ease. No one even came close.
The 13th Annual Frozen Dead Guy Festival was blessed, at last, with perfect weather. The snow came on Friday, smothering the Nederland area with about eight inches of gorgeous, sparkling snow, creating a winter post card of our recently dirty snow-filled town. As up to 15,000 people filled every empty space with their vehicles, the businesses and sidewalks and streets became parking lots for pedestrian traffic jams.
Everyone loved the sunshine, the no wind, the warm air and the crazy fun events that kept them moving from venue to venue. Music from band tents on either side of town kept the atmosphere upbeat and visitors said there was nowhere on earth they would rather be for the day.
CLICK to WATCH ‘Frozen Dead Guy Days – Coffin Race Championship’
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- Frozen Dead Guy Days in Nederland
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- 4-time coffin race champs, the Pink Socks
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- Flame Throwing Cadillac Hearse – yeah, they take their Hearse Parade serious
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- Beware of the Blue Monkey!
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- Who doesn’t love a coffin race? Check out that crowd!
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- ice turkey bowling
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- The Ned-Mess: BBQ (w/ fiery XXX sauce), mac n cheese layered over sweet potato fries. They say it’s not pretty to look at, but the taste is pretty amazing!
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- sunshine & 30’s — FAAANNNNTASTIC day!
Between Ironman training (running marathons & 2 hour lap swimming), work, church & family (acclimating to life with Ash, Tom & pets), have experienced a mighty full 2014. What’s missing? Need to get outside & enjoy our Colorado winter!
Bought tickets (via Groupon) to Ice Castles – an elaborate castle carved from ice, open from late December to February in Breckinridge (CO), Utah & New Hampshire. Cool, huh?
Wait, wait, it gets better.
Timed my trip to Breck on the same weekend as the International Snow Sculpture Championships. Teams from the US, Europe & Mongolia worked for a week on their masterpiece(s) – judging scheduled for Saturday. Excellent luck!
Left Boulder County in 50 degrees & sunshine. Arrived in Breckinridge, overcast & 20 degrees. Same state yet divided by the mighty Rocky Mountains = very different weather.
Busy ski day on Breck but secured parking & walked a short mile to Riverwalk Center & the International Snow Sculpture Championships. What a find! FAVES: Italy’s simple entry ‘Looking Up’ & both bold sculptures crafted by Mongolia. DISLIKE: France’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ – seriously, kinda creepy.
Devoured a package of elk jerky & entered Ice Castles. SPECTACULAR! Inspired to climb – but probably not the right setting 🙂 Anything better? How ‘bout returning at 6pm & walking thru the Castle under lights. WOW, WOW, WOW!
Crazy cold return walk under the most stunning, illuminated sky (ok, 2nd best – hard to beat October’s outdoor soak in Steamboat).
Have enjoyed touring the US during my 50 state marathon challenge but Colorado – man, this is home.
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- International Snow Sculpture Championships — with Ashton Haga and Tom Wilpiszeski
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- Winner: Breckinridge
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- 2nd Place: Germany
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- 3rd Place: Wisconsin
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- Russia
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- France
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- Mongolia
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- Mongolia (small country, 2 entries)
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- Colorado
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- Italy under lights – simple but probably my favourite
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- Welcome to Ice Castles!
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- LOVED this place! AMAZING!
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- today’s WOW shot! (pic credit Tom)
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- mighty tight tunnel – claustrophobics beware!
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- tasty snack
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- Ice Castles under lights
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- toss up whether green or purple were my fave
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- Goodnite Breckinridge – super fun day!
