wildlife

Waterton Canyon

Published February 23, 2019

Past 2 weekends away, really good to be Colorado home — mighty FAAANNNTASTIC. And this weekend, a rare non-snow reprieve. I dig the white stuff but outdoor run miles been super limited in 2019, lotta treadmill ticks. Every Wednesday/every Saturday, precip pattern this season. Mountain snowpack over 100% now, reservoirs expected high once Spring melt begins. Happy water news for high altitude/arid Colorado (300 days of annual sunshine, notta lotta summer rain).

Saturday run, new run. Hour-15 south to Littleton, day destination: Waterton Canyon. Parking lot still ice-packed with remnants of winter past. Crampons, no crampons? Micro spikes? Hmm. Just trail shoes & a hydration pack today. Tenth mile in, dirt road CLEAR, plowed & DRY. SUCCESS!

Early start, notta lotta faces on the trek out. Peaceful, quiet. Foot pulsed easy on packed clay. Outdoor eye-candy, crazy beautiful. Big scenic walls, reminiscent of local Boulder Canyon.

GREAT day for a Colorado run! SUNSHINE, snow & mile-high attitude 🙂 Outta road 6 ½ miles in, just past the Dam. 9 minute clip, gradual grade UP, gonna make the return FAST.

BIGHORN SHEEP run reverse. On the road, surrounding rock walls, high plains grazing – all food foraging for Spring green. Mostly female, single ram spotted high. Unexpected. WOW!

Thin air, outdoor-adventure every day — even in February.

Ski. Hike. Ice fish. Climb. Or take in a canyon run. LOVE LOVE my Colorado life ❤️

: feb FUN run

: outdoor eye-candy

: gradual UP

: dirt road CLEAR

: Strontia Springs Dam

: end of the road

: BIGHORN SHEEP

: lone Ram

: Spring green foraging

: tableside GUAC reward

Torres del Paine

Published January 17, 2019

After a crazy night of questionable life choices, woke to a BANG.

rap, RAP, Rap. Hotel door. Up, spinning, WALL, bed. Where am I?! rap, RAP, Rap. Focus. Diego de Almagro. Punta Arenas. I’ve got this. Back in Chile.

Conversation: Bus is leaving in 15 minutes. I don’t feel well, think I’m skipping today’s trip. You can sleep on the bus. Ugh. Ok, ok. 15 minutes. I’ll be there.

Change of clothes. Sip of juice. Teeth brushed. On the bus.

Conversation: How do you feel? Green 🤢

Bus stop. AMAZING what 3 hours sleep can do. Splashed water on my face. NEW day. Puerto Natales, border town between Chile & Argentina. COKE Sabor purchase. Thanks Katya. Would’ve LIFE MISSED Torres del Paine without ya. Road trip!

Landscape reminiscent of HOME.

Prairie grasses, MASSIVE PEAKS jutting STRAIGHT UP — an oil painting of colour. Turquoise water, snow-capped peaks. Colorado HOME…well, almost. Except for the guanacos, Chile’s native llama variety 🦙

Murky grey Laguna Amarga, 10 minutes more. Silt-fed glacier water. 180-degree turn.

pull over, PULL OVER. GUANACOS. Native, unafraid, running wild amongst us. On the lake? FLAMINGOS. FOREVER memory/life imprint. Photo FLOOD. I was here.

Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. Entrance selfie, day pass purchased, passport stamped. Each bus stop progressive/building on the last/memory upon memory. Another peak, more glacier-fed waters. Salto Grando trail, Mirador los Cuernos. Thunderous waterfall, wind whipping off the MONSTER WALL above. YES, YES, YES!

GROUP pic time. Complete strangers a week ago. Different countries/language/age. Marathon brothers/sisters, ALL Antarctica adventurers. I heart my new RUN FAMILY.

Day trip in South America’s Andes Mountains.

HOME from HOME, my mountain soul fed ❤️

: first LOOK

: South America’s ANDES

: turquoise BLUE

: Laguna Amarga

: GUANACO 🦙

: Chilean llama

: FLAMINGO

: FOREVER memory

: Parque Nacional

: Cerro Paine Grande

: Salto Grande

: Cuernos del Paine (Norte, Principal, Este & Fortaleza)

: breezy STRONG

: adventurer RUN FAMILY

: mountain soul fed ❤️

Torres del Paine

Posted in Americas | Tagged nat'l-park, rivers-lakes, waterfalls, wildlife | Leave a comment

Isla Rey Jorge

Published January 16, 2019

Happy SUNSHINY day, our last on Antarctica.

Day START? a LOVE of LIFE Antarctic dip. Just the feet – but yikes! Let’s ya know you’re ALIVE! Gotta/hafta/MUST DO. Icy, FRIGID, C-O-L-D!

Plenty o’ time for a grounds walk of both Chilean & Russian Research Stations.

Chilean Station: Chapel visit (Santa María Reina de la Paz), asked/learned ‘bout Brown Skuas (dirty-brown sea gull cousin/feed on penguin chicks/bunch during my run).

Russian Station: Eyed the Island’s beautiful Orthodox Church from afar. Some got an inside tour, some not – hurry, hurry up, wait. My circle stayed trapped at a makeshift Russian gift store (room inside a modular container). Handful of maps & bobbles, cash only – I bought a $20 lid. On vacation/no regret. Antarctica purchase.

Day Highlight: walkabout at a nearby penguin colony. Russian air boat, Russian driver. Life jacket readied. Greeted by a resident chinstrap when boarding. Bird swam up, waddled inland amongst us (as if on queue), value add/all part of the show. HA!

So much LIFE, too little TIME. Day ago I ran 30+ miles.

Legs remembered 🙂 Gracefully fell in & later back outta our rubber raft. No skillz, no moves. Up, over, THUD, REPEAT. LOL> Balance nada. Good laughs.

Boat ride – AWESOME. Penguin walkabout – AMAZING.

Gentoo Penguins: Beaks brightly colored, bigger than either Magellanic or chinstrap varieties. LOVE LOVED. Luckily, arrived day after the BIG MASSACRE. Leopard SEAL NatGeo style kill. Penguin flippers still littered the beach. Surviving adults collectively tended a nest of 7 adolescents (assume, most newly orphaned). Circle of life.

Boat return, another graceless plop on shore, hurry up & wait.

Da plane, da plane.

62 runners now FAMILY. Jokes, stories – GREAT ENERGY. ANTARCTICA LOVE PARADE continued Chilean late nite. Dinner, more laughs. Nearby bar. Some really poor life choices, whole lotta memories.

Goodbye White Continent. 2019, I was there.