Fourth of July in the "Vail-ly"

Around the Fourth of July 2013

On the way out of Rocky Mountain National Park I stopped in at the pretty little lake town of Grand Lake and took on some coffee for the drive down to Winter Park, CO. Actually, I wouldn't get quite all the way down to Winter Park because 5 miles north of it lies Fraser. A little town with a few highly recommended eateries and mountain bike trails. I wanted to put the supposedly "out of this world pizza" by Elevation Pizza to this Jerzey Boy's taste buds, but they were closed. So I ducked into local breakfast/lunch haunt "Sharkey's" for a sandwich and on the way out wished I had a duck's waterproof coating to weather the cool  afternoon downpour.

Grand Lake Portal

Later, I took Mage up to explore the winding dirt roads of the area's mountain forests. The infestation of Pine Beetles is clearly evident everywhere you look. The combination of short mild winters which don't kill off enough larvae and the continuing drought conditions which weaken the forests is a cyclic concoction of doom for the pine trees. Downed trees are innumerable and piled up everywhere ready for bonfires which will be seen from space, but still it was hard to find a clear view off in to the distant peaks and valleys from the forest roads. 

Grand Lake Fire Truck

So, even though I spent the night camped out up there I didn't get lucky enough to catch a brilliant lightning storm or any other photographic opportunities other than a weak rainbow. But I did get some rest and in the morning I found the trailhead for "Chainsaw" which is part of a fairly famous mountain bike race course known as the Tipperary Creek Loop. If the rest of the course is anything like the section I did it must be a heck of a race because other than the climb it was some really fun singletrack. 

After a van shower I took the scenic route to Vail (via Rt. 40 then Rt. 9 south to I-70) where I met up with my hometown buddy, Dino. He suggested we check out the free concert happening down in the village. I expected a "concert in the park" type of atmosphere, but was surprised to walk into a large beautiful amphitheater. The band was okay, but the people watching was excellent. Afterwards we kept the party rolling by strolling down to the underground "Shakedown Bar" which has live music 7 days a week.

I spent the next afternoon adding a Facebook "Like" button to this blog (don't forget to "Like" Me, please) and that evening we went into Avon.  Since it was the 3rd and not the 4th, I can only assume that they decided to put on a fireworks display to honor my visit!  Not only do Avon's fireworks deserve at least an honorable mention in the "Best Fireworks" department, but they brought the Dirty Dozen Brass Band to kick off the evening all the way from New Orleans. 

A good time was had by all, but the evening didn't just end with the fireworks finale. In fact, after wetting our whistles at one of Avon's finer establishments our designated driver, Nika was kind enough to get us back to Vail safely for a continued pub crawl through "The George", "Red Lion" and once again "Shakedown".

 

To soak up the undigested suds of the previous evening we hit the "Westside" for breakfast and exerted just enough energy to set ourselves up for a lazy day sunning poolside and relaxing in the hot tub. As night descended we strolled into Vail for their Fourth of July fireworks. They were definitely nothing to write home about. In fact, they aren't even worth mentioning in a blog, so forget I mentioned it! None the less, we still had a great night and probably a celebratory drink or two too many. 

Another neighborhood friend who I hadn't seen in over 20 years wasn't taking any excuses though the next morning. George pried me loose from bed and mushed me up a breathtaking ride ascending Vail Mountain. It is pretty up there, but when I say breathtaking, I mean I was "out of breath" the entire ride up! The downhill makes it worth it though, as does a few cold ones down in the village as reward for all those calories burned. 

At this point the national holiday is over and I figure it's time for me to move on also. After saying goodbye to the Vail crew I headed south to have a look at one of the more odd landscapes you will see. Odd in the sense that if I asked you, "Where are the tallest sand dunes in North America?", you probably wouldn't answer "Colorado". That is, in fact, the case. So I had to have a look at the "Great Sand Dunes National Park" and parked at "The Point of No Return" to explore a little.  At upwards of 750 feet the dunes are impressive, but I must admit that having climbed my share of dunes I could not think of any serious pay off to climbing to the top of these giants,  so I admired them from afar. 

A bit lazy, yes, but there will be plenty of other hills to climb as I continue west........and perhaps even a dinosaur!?

Great Sand Dunes National Park

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The Rocky Mountains are Pretty Lame

End of June 2013

Who would want to fly-fish here?

So let me tell you a little about the Rocky Mountain National Park. It's lame! I would really suggest skipping it. There is absolutely no reason to grace them with your presence. Unless you're into abundances of interesting wildlife, effervescent towering snow capped peaks, beautiful refreshing waterfalls and/or lightning shows that make you wish you hadn't given up psychedelics. Other than that, it's seriously lame. That's why I only stayed a week!

The first night after driving a full lap of the meandering park road, scaling its dizzying heights and hair pin switchbacks, I forced myself to take some photos of some lame 14,000+ foot mountains in lame lighting conditions. The next morning I did what would be one of many lame hikes. This first one along Fern Lake Trail up to Fern Falls and on to Cub Lake. I never did see any "Fern Lake" which I thought was totally lame! The next day I drove down to Bear Lake and there were no bears! Lame. Dejected and miserable I hiked to Nymph Lake, then Dream Lake and finally to Emerald Lake. As you can probably guess by their names, they were lame. 

Bullwinkle resting

That evening, not having my fill of misery, I went back to the lakes for what I hope will be some awesome photos, but they'll probably be lame. While out on a crag shooting the sunset a beautiful 10 'pointer' Elk decided to graze for his dinner not more than 30 feet from me. I asked him to come closer, but he ignored my request. So lame.

Trying to get away from the misery that Rocky Mountain National Park is, I was driving to the small town of Glen Haven that night. Luckily the speed limit is 25mph, otherwise I would have definitely obliterated the deer that came within about 2 feet of my front bumper before she did a 180 and narrowly escaped. She was doing an illegal lane change and you know she was probably uninsured and that is super lame.

Marmot

The next morning I had to listen to Hal, a volunteer from Texas, give me a history lesson about the former owners of the only still standing structures within the park. One of these structures being an outhouse with no door. Apparently the Holzworth's, German immigrants, had a sense of humor even if it is a lame crappy joke. Later I hiked up to Adam's Falls and shot the hell out of a moose. He just stared at me like all my shots were missing! Lame!

The following day I hiked the Colorado Trail up to Lulu City. It was so lame I won't bore you with details. 

The animals here are super aggressive ;) This poor guy lost his hand!

I don't know why, but the following day I hiked the North Inlet Trail up to Cascade Falls. There after a warm climb I had to bare the sting of cool mountain water misting me as it cascaded down the Rockies. On top of that I saw 3 huge moose bucks and few feet later a mother with her baby. They were so close to the trail that to pass, I actually had to ask the mother telepathically for permission. Can you believe that!?

Completely depressed I raced the van up to a high elevation in an effort to somehow rescue this trip with some evening sunset photos and all I got for my troubles was a super intense rainbow. And no pot of gold! Lame!

Elk

 I'm so out of here!

The Columbine, Colorado's State flower.

No photos please, I'm having a bad hair day!

The Rockies Take My Breath Away!

 June 22-24th, 2013

Rockies to the Horizon

Coming  back from NJ and landing in Denver, the Rocky Mountains are a towering majestic  presence on the horizon, awe inspiring and invigorating. So I turn the key  and get Mage's tires spinning again. Driving  through Golden, Colorado it takes a fair bit of will power not to pull over for a tour as I pass the Coors Brewery, but the huge crowd of alcoholics I spy waiting for the tour persuades me to forgo it. With hindsight, I probably missed a good party.

Around Idaho Springs I pick up the Rt. 103 Scenic Byway towards Mount Evans.  Echo Lake, lying just below the United States' highest highway, seems like a picturesque spot to park for the evening and also holds promise for some night photography. It's cloudy, but possibly and hopefully clearing later to bathe the snow capped Rocky Mountains behind the lake with the light of this year's "Super Full Moon" (30% bigger and brighter due to being on its closest orbital approach).

Two things I can tell for sure:

1) It's going to be a cold night here at this high altitude.

2) It's going to take a bit of acclimating to the lack of oxygen here at 10,000+ feet.

It feels like I'm constantly out of breath. Which makes it slightly more difficult than usual for me to talk to myself and be convinced that the headache and body aches I'm experiencing are in fact due to the altitude and not symptoms of Lyme's disease contracted from that little blood sucker of a tick I pulled out of me a few days ago. 

Echo Lake with small Super Moon

Having cheerfully survived the night starved of oxygen and warmth on the bank of Echo Lake I awoke and began the hike on Chicago Lakes Trail #52 from Echo Lake to the Lower Chicago Lake. In the morning I felt slightly more acclimated, but after an 8 mile round trip hike starting at 10,500' and ending at 11,700' I have to admit that I struggled at times and may have over extended myself a little. That afternoon Mage was a very welcome site for sore eyes and feet and legs and back.....

Fields of Gold- Guanella Pass

Feeling much more comfortable back in the driver's seat I dove the van through historic Georgetown and sliced and diced the mountain roads along another Scenic Byway leading up to Guanella Pass at around 12,000 feet. Planting my flag, well actually my tripod at the summit, I gathered some golden hour photos like you might gather the beautiful wild flowers flourishing along the mountain side until dusk settled upon the peak. I cooked up a meal and hydrated as best as I could, but apparently it wasn't enough. As I lay in bed tossing and turning while the cold Colorado winds rocked the van my headache reemerged with a vengeance, relentlessly tightening its grip and not letting go no matter how much precious water I chugged. Even without any cell phone signal,  I made the call to get up and drive down to a lesser altitude and was much happier for it. Down around 10,000' again I was able to park and almost immediately travel off to dreamland. I always thought that it would be awesome to take a couple of weeks to climb Mt. Everest. I'm definitely rethinking that now and have a huge, newly found respect for anyone who even comes close to such a feat!

Tomorrow I could avoid the ski town of Winter Park, but I won't. There is no point because on the other side lies Rocky Mountain National Park and there is no avoiding that place. It would be a crime to do so on a trip such as this...... Stay tuned.

Bad Lands to Devil Lands

Mid to Late June 2013

Early Dawn in the Badlands

Well, it was a great week and if it wasn't for the serious lack of water here I might backpack around the backcountry of the Badlands for a considerable time. Alas, I decided it was time to move on and said goodbye to what was so far the most photogenic national park of the trip. 

Not far from the Badlands is a former "bad ass" hole in the ground. What makes a hole in the ground deserving of such a reputation? Consider that it was the home to a Minuteman Missile capable of delivering over half of the entire fire power unleashed during World War II, including the two nukes dropped on Japan! Additionally it could reach its target in Russia in 30 minutes! Throughout the cold war there were about 1000 of these Minutemen Missiles scattered among the Midwest States. This was one of 150 in South Dakota and the last remaining, the others having been imploded. Today it sits as a reminder with its 60 ton blast door pried back so you can have a look at a "dummy" missile resting idly in the silo. However,  I don't think the site is about the visual impact. It's more about the awe and terror of having these things in our midst. Contemplating their existence and the possibility of them having to be used in the past or heaven forbid, in the future. 

Minuteman Missle

Right there at the silo exhibit is what is touted by the U.S. Forest Service as a mountain biking prairie trail so I pulled out the bike and went for a ride. Sometimes I consider buying a book listing the "Top 100" biking trails as a useful reference. It is "trails" like this one where I consider finding a book listing the "Top 100 Trails To Avoid!" So useful would it be to avoid trails like this one that if such a book doesn't exist I may just write it myself! I would consider it a great service to mankind. Well, at least for mountain bikers.

I can't stress this enough: STAY AWAY from the Prairie Trail at Exit 116 on I-90! It is a shitty ride, literally and figuratively. That the area is plagued with cow patties I can accept, it's to be expected in prairie land. However, the trail is not contiguous throughout the loop and everywhere the trail isn't cut there are tiny cactus growing. I trust I need not remind you that inner tubes and cactus needles don't mix well. In addition there are "streamlets" crossing the trail many times which are a formidable obstacle since you can forget about riding through them. When the water mixes with this land it doesn't create mud, it creates thick, slippery, deep, heavy clay! The kind that will suck the shoe right off your foot if you step into it. The kind which instantly doubles the size of your tires, sticking to them like glue as you ride through it.  I tried riding through one tiny little stream and quickly and non ceremoniously was gifted with a clay bath. I was on the ground so fast I looked back  expecting to find an ice patch. They say that clay is good for the skin and some people even pay good money at the spa for a clay treatment, but I was not pleased!

Dusting, or rather, scraping myself off I reluctantly soldiered on and eventually the trail led right to a watering hole and a big herd of cattle. It's interesting to note that you can drive your vehicle with a few feet of cattle and they will just stand there with a big dumb look on their face. However, if you ride a bicycle near them they totally get spooked! I didn't realize this prior to my approach, but since they didn't get aggressive, but instead retreated hastily I didn't get spooked myself. I was, however, a bit concerned about how I would fair if too many of these 1000+ pounders got spooked at once and a confused stampede started. So I proceeded very, very slowly. It wasn't until I spotted two Bulls among the herd and realized I was wearing bright red shorts, that I got SPOOKED!

I'm not sure how true it is about the bulls being attracted to the color red, but I sure as hell wasn't going to put it to the test! I 'slowly' dismounted my bike as 'quickly' as I could and removed my shorts before I could soil them. Before you get visions of me riding bare butt, I was also wearing riding shorts underneath so put that out of your head! Shame on you!

I could have used this after my prairie ride!

Needless to say, I very cautiously walked the rest of the way till I was no longer encumbered by the herd, lest I be trampled by a cow or molested by a bull! I'm not exaggerating  when I say that by the time I finished the ride, my bike weighed at least 20 lbs more than at the start. The ride took a little over an hour. I spent twice that long just trying to get enough clay off of my bike to be able to lift it back into the van! 

Next on the agenda was to check out the world's 3rd longest cave system and then a photographic drive-by shooting of Mount Rushmore, but I had gotten word that my grandfather's health was deteriorating fast so I made a beeline for Devil's Tower in Wyoming. I didn't mind skipping Rushmore and the cave, but ever since watching Richard Dreyfus sculpt the Devil's Tower out of mash potatoes in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" I had wanted to see the tower in person.   

Devil's Tower, WY

The Lokota Indian legend is that 7 girls were playing in the area when a large bear ominously started stalking them.  The girls ran to a boulder, but they weren't out of reach so they started pleading to the Great Spirit to save them. It responded to their dire situation by causing the boulder to rise high into the sky. All the while the big bear clawed at the sides leaving the distinctive markings on the tower. The legend goes on to say that the girls were thrust so high into the sky that they became the "Seven Sisters" of the Pleiades Constellation. Modern geological science tells us that the tower is the ancient remains of a volcano. I'll let you decide which story to believe. 

I had just enough time to do a lap and take some photographs when I got the word to come home. So I drove to Denver to fly home and lay Pop Pop to rest. I had been debating what itinerary to follow at this junction of the trip, but that was moot now. After returning, I will continue the trip by exploring what Colorado has to offer.

The world will continue to be worthy of exploration, but it won't be the same. Rest in Peace Pop Pop!

Wyoming- site of "Dances with Wolves"