hiking

Badlands National Park

Published June 28, 2019

Kicked off June in Deadwood, ending in Sturgis. South Dakota bookends – with a HUGE Bighorn chapter in-between. Black Hills tomorrow will DOUBLE my lifetime ultra tally. Six 50k finishes in 6 months (with two late-year treks to go). Whole lotta trail, lotta new adventure.

2019 2^nd Half – back to Canada. Saskatchewan, Montreal and Yellowknife. Family RUN-cations booked in Iceland & Austria. 7^th continent reality over Thanksgiving break. Blessed life.

Friday puddle-jumper to Rapid City, half-day hike before shuteye.

Welcome to the Badlands. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Wind Cave, Custer State Park, even the Corn Palace. South Dakota three times – but never ever Badlands. ‘Til today.

Hour-half ride to Interior in a tricked-out F150. Nice ride. Boys & trucks.

Summer HEAT. Following 6 weeks of climate-change monsoons, even the Badlands was flower blooming. Ranger recommendation? Notch Trail. Rock walls, fields of YELLOW. Easy 2-mile hike & rope stairs UP. Allows ya to hike the canyon rim. FAAANNNNTASTIC! Sign me up!

Desert hike. Desert heat. And a view you’ll long remember ❤️

Badlands National Park – add to the list, HIGHLY recommended. WOW’d.

: Badlands WELCOME

: Ben Reifel Visitor Center

: Cliff Shelf Nature Trail

: desert OASIS

: Badlands BLOOM

: SNAKES 🐍

Notch Trail (Badlands Nat’l Park)

: RANGER recommend

: long way DOWN

: Notch Trail

: desert DAY HIKE

: rope ladder UP

: ‘the Notch’

: Canyon Rim trek

: view I’ll remember

: 93 degrees HOT

Badlands National Park

Posted in Heartland | Tagged hiking, nat'l-park, road-signs | Leave a comment

Wyoming unplugged

Published May 25, 2019

Vedauwoo

Memorial Day weekend. Unofficial start of SUMMER. Estimated 42 million Americans on the road next 3 days. Lucky for me, notta lotta folks holidaying outside Laramie WYOMING. LOL>

Backpack, run clothes & – dog treats. Pup couldn’t be more excited. Quick stop in Cheyenne for [Sunday’s 50K] bib pick-up, hour highway more: I-80 Vedauwoo exit. Dirt-flying gritty ranch roads. Airbnb SUCCESS! Secluded, no cell, no TV, fenced yard, FRESH eggs & two Tom turkeys.

Overstimulated Pup. In/out in/out. Near perfect weather – early season, no bugs – finally, just left the door ajar. Smell of fried eggs inside, wild Wyoming outdoors. Paw-friendly Ro destination.

Stars, BIG sky. Zero people noise, ambient light void. BESTEST sleeping weather. Early pre-dawn rise. Watched a herd of ELK before booting-up for Saturday’s hike in nearby Vedauwoo. Camped here couple years back with Ash & Tom. Easy 4-mile loop, 8000ft elevation. Welcome Summer!

Quick supply run into Laramie (always room for COCONUT CREAM PIE).

Gobble, gobble. Clatter of big bird Toms. Back on the Ranch/Home on the Range. Pup now on chipmunk patrol, guarding the perimeter. Popcorn & a DVD before surrendering our day done.

Wyoming unplugged. Gotta/hafta/must do. Highly recommended 😊

: ROAD TRIP ready

: Holiday HOME

: Wyoming sunset

: FRESH eggs & TURKEY

: morning ELK

Vedauwoo (Medicine Bow Nat’l Forest)

: 4-mile loop

: Turtle Rock Trail

: Vedauwoo SPRING

: Colorado ASPEN

: Wyoming WILD

Laramie Wyoming

: Pyramid on the Plains

: Ames Monument

: Cowboys Stadium

: ALWAYS room for pie

: Goodnite Wyoming 🌓

Posted in Rocky Mtn West | Tagged hiking, museo, wildlife | Leave a comment

Guanella Pass 11,670ft

Published May 11, 2019

First non-run weekend in a few. Alarm set, 5am buzz, shower, backpack ready – HIKE day! Hour-half to Georgetown, pup peering o’er the console. Rocky Mountain altitude.

destination: Guanella Pass. 13 miles from town center; trailhead start for Bierstadt.

9-mile Jeep trek ‘til snow towered 15 FEET high. ROAD CLOSED. Two weeks from Memorial Day, don’t expect the Pass ready before mid-June. Mountains still socked-in, whole lotta snow. Maybe a rafting trip this summer (water should be FAST) 😊

Parked. Pup tethered to my belt. 2 ½ miles followed a path created by hikers past. Quiet. No people, wildlife still hibernating. Untethered Ro past tree-line. Less threat of mountain lion on exposed sheets of high snow. Bear season too – though none yet spotted per the online Ranger report. Mule deer & Bighorn, only tracks seen all day.

Broke trail last mile-half. Just me & Ro, only heartbeats this high this week. Amateur navigated (not great with a compass). Used tops of road signs & later, roof of a trailhead outhouse. Stovepipe & triangle apex pushing outta the snow.

Gosh. Good to be HIGH. Thin air. Blowing skies. Nowhere better. PERMA smile.

Soaked in peaks while Ro wildlife-explored. Marmot chirp. Never sunshine-showed (stayed burrowed), just teasing Pup.

Dig hiking high. Only 2 marathons calendar’d Independence Day to Labor Day. No cell signal, weekends in-between. Craggy rock & snow-melt rivers. 14er summits, Ponderosa pine, Engelmann spruce. “The mountains are calling & I must go.”

First HIKE of 2019! LOVE LOVE my Colorado life ❤️