hiking

out there & UP: Brainard Lake

Published November 18, 2018

Chapter close, new door opened. Finished 8 consecutive weeks of marathoning yesterday in Mississippi. Today at 10,300ft, ANTARCTICA training begins. YES! #luckyinlife

Post-midnite arrival in a rare Colorado ice storm. Sleeping in; can’t pick up Ro before 10am from his Fall kennel home. Surprise awaits when Papa shows – HIKE day! ‘though Denver suffered a quarter-inch ice, heavy SNOW high-elevation & SUNSHINE forecast’d Sunday. FAAANNNNTASTIC!

Sunday pup pick-up, day destination: Brainard Lake.

Local altitude, short 45 minute drive. Boulder Canyon to Nederland, chose Peak-to-Peak highway. Better to avoid Ward in winter season. Only one road climbs thru town – UP.

No drama arrival. Road plowed, parking secured. Lot FULL with shoers & Nordic lovers. Lodgepole pine. Precip base thigh-deep. Thin air. Welcome home soldier, marathon season over.

5 miles roundtrip today. Ever see a dog SMILE? Off-leash heaven. Heavy snow kept Pup trail-contained. Sunk to his neck early on chipmunk patrol, stayed close day remainder. LOL>

Backpack light, training day ONE. Need to manage 75lbs comfortably by mid-January. Paced slower than goal too – but my head, out there/up there SOULFUL.

LOVE LOVE my Colorado life. Heart SOAR ❤️

: shoers & Nordic skis

: off-leash HEAVEN

: heart SOAR

: wind whipping COLD

: ANTARCTICA training

: FROZEN ❄️

: Sno Ro

: 10,000ft SMILE

: happy PUP

Brainard Lake 2018

Posted in NoCo/Indian Peaks | Tagged hiking, snowpocalypse | Leave a comment

Angler Mountain Trail #29

Published September 22, 2018

First day of AUTUMN. That perfect time of year when Aspen blaze yellow & we don morning jackets.

Smack in the midst of Fall run season [marathoning Cheyenne tomorrow] – no time for hikes? How bad do you want it? Autumn’s once a year, summer’s retreated. Anything is possible 😊

4am crack-of-dawn start Saturday a.m. Backpack readied outside my front hall closet. Bottled water, snacks for Pup. No 14er attempt this day, purposely staying tree-line. Leaf peep slow-soak.

West on I-70, HIKE DAY destination: Silverthorne. Haven’t been since May last year, Ash & Tom’s Colorado wedding. Town will always tug at my heart. Whatta life memory!

Fast forward 15 months: mountain HIKE, no wedding. Angler Mountain. Trailhead start tucked outside a residential subdivision, notta lotta parking. Arrived early – early enough to watch the sunrise/crest the Divide. Slow, deep breath. Magic. Colorado HIKE celebration.

Sunshine poured thru tall naked groves of Aspen. More leaves on the ground than on the trees themselves. UP, UP, UP. We’d hike 2 ½ miles above Silverthorne, snap scenic shots of Lake Dillon – and SURROUND ourselves with YELLOW. Colorado aspen ablaze.

Filled an old swag bag with mementos of the season while Ro ran off-leash. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter – all celebrated, shared with family & friends. Why not Autumn? Idea💡

Purchased cards in Georgetown. Stuffed each with a piece of the day – Aspen leaves, pine cones, burnt thistle. 8 of you received impromptu LOVE from Colorado. Gonna DOUBLE that count next year.

‘Tis the season, my personal fave. Happy Autumn 2018! 🍂🍁

[Confession: day’s hike – Ash’s plan. They’d repeat my trek Sunday morn with Grandpup Marty.]

: first day of Autumn

: dog SMILE

: Aspen YELLOW

: Fall foliage

: Lake Dillon

: tree-line elevation

: Grandpup Marty

: Wilp wedding bridge

: Silverthorne CO

: Sunday ROMANCE hike

: season SHARING

Posted in Continental Divide | Tagged autumn, hiking | Leave a comment

BIG WILD beautiful ALASKA

Published July 26, 2018

He’s baaaack. Back where it all started, BIG WILD beautiful ALASKA! 5 years ago, my run journey began in Anchorage. Marathon Numero Uno. Saturday in Juneau, targeting #124. Whatta life adventure – 50 States, 4 Canadian provinces, 5 continents.

Predawn flight outta Denver, 2-hour connection in Seattle, Juneau arrival just after noon. Lyft ride downtown (no rental car this trek), hotel check-in, bag drop-off (backpack/extra run shoes/travelled lite) – much too early to settle in, plenty of daylight hours to explore. Summer sunset in the Great White North not ‘til 10pm, up again before 4am. Nothing free airline eye-shades couldn’t fix 😊

Juneau, Alaska’s official state capital but as residents will tell ya, everything happens in Anchorage. More than 40% of the state’s sparse population reside in Alaska’s largest city. Juneau’s a former GOLD rush town. Large Inuit population, the Tlingit, still call the peninsula home. Lotta Russian influence too, Alaska’s caretakers ‘til 1867 ☭ 🇷🇺

Another unique trait? No roadtrippin’ here. By air or by sea ONLY.

BIG, WILD, primitive & GREEN. Surrounded by mountains, closer to British Columbia than mainland Alaska. Scoped out lunch/early dinner options on my walk to the Tramway. Ticket please. UP UP UP Mount Roberts, lift every 30 minutes.

Top of the tramway: restaurant, gift shop AND a trailhead. Just 2 hours in Alaska, already found myself a hike. BESTEST views of Juneau & Gastineau Bay.

LUSH vegetation, mountain flowers, BALD EAGLES & bugs. Crazy HUMID too. POWER HIKED UP, movin’ fast/protecting my blood supply from insect vultures. Whole lotta, whole lotta going on. Limited to only four months of temperate weather – live, breed & die.

Father Brown’s Cross, Gold Ridge, Gastineau Peak. Snapped my scenic shots & trail-ran returned. Felt GREAT to RUN.

Bathroom splash bath, cooled-off watching a documentary ‘bout the local Tlingit’s Raven & Eagle clans. Crab bowl at Tracy’s King Crab Shack (gotta/hafta/must); SPRUCE TIP ice cream for dessert. Voted Juneau’s BEST Ice Cream – how could I go wrong?

Tomorrow’s kayak/crampon-hike itinerary: Mendenhall Glacier ❤️