Category Archives: Colorado

History Colorado Center

It has been unprecedentedly cold across Colorado these past several days! It’s been so cold that no outdoor activity, not even skiing, sounds even remotely appealing. So, in order to make the most of my time, I decided that today would be a good day to check out the new exhibit at the History Colorado Center. As, I do want to check it out, and will likely be skiing or traveling elsewhere the next several weekends.

The History Colorado Center is a State history museum in Central Denver, located just south of downtown. As the name advertizes, the museum covers the history of the State of Colorado. A similar museum can most likely be found in nearly all state capitol cities.

In my biased opinion, the History Colorado Center is one of the best museums I have ever been to. The reason I say it is a biased opinion is that I definitely prefer museums that cover topics I am personally interested in. I tend to be more interested in science and history than art and lifestyle museums. In addition, I have not been to too terribly many museums, as I tend to spend more time on outdoor activities. So, my recommendation of this museum can be taken for what it’s worth; based on a strong personal bias and a limited sample set of options. But, I do feel like this museum is worth the $12 admission. Today we spent just shy of three hours there, but I do feel like I could spend close to an entire day here.

I really enjoy this museum for three reasons:

1. The museum is highly interactive.

This seems to be a trend in museums of late. I am not sure what instigated this particular trend, but over the past decade more museums have been moving towards more interactive exhibits. This particular museum was constructed only a couple of years ago (replacing the previous Colorado History Museum), and thus many of the exhibits at the museum are indicative of this trend.

Just inside the entryway to the museum is a “time machine” exhibit. These two “time machines” can be physically moved across a gigantic map of the State of Colorado. Depending on where these devices are placed, a user can select a year from a list. Each selection contains a different historical story of Colorado. These stories come from many different time periods and nearly all portions of the state. If one were to watch all of the stories available in this exhibit, it would definitely take multiple hours.

Other interactive exhibits at this museum include a silver mining exhibit, a bunch of screen-selecting games, and my personal favorite, the ski jump simulator. The ski jump simulator not only simulates the building of speed, becoming airborne, and subsequent landing, but also requires that the user mimics the right ski jumping technique. All this is done in from of a screen that shows the ski jump in progress. Improper technique will result in a crash in the simulation, and the length of the jump is also dependent on technique. It is interesting to attempt this ski jump simulation several times to get the best possible result.

2. The museum presents a fairly complete representation of state history.

By this I mean the all regions of the state, all time periods, and all types of people appear to be represented at this museum. Many people think of Colorado and think only of the mountains and the activities associated with the mountains. Some think of Denver and the Front Range cities, but the entire Eastern 1/3 of the state is often ignored. This museum actually includes several exhibits that cover life in the Great Plains portion of the state.

Half of the first floor of the museum is dedicated to the story of a small town named Keota on the plains in Northeastern Colorado. Like many town in this area, it’s economy was primarily based on farming and ranching. Although the town did fairly well in the first couple of decades of the 20th century, it did not fare well during the dust bowl and now is basically a ghost town.

Other exhibits about the history of Colorado’s often forgotten Eastern portion include one on Bent’s Old Fort, and one on the Sand Creek Massacre. With these exhibits, and several others, the History Center Colorado also presents history from the point of view of nearly every ethnic group to ever inhabit the state. One exhibit describes Colorado’s history as a borderland between the United States and Mexico prior to the Mexican-American war. Another one describes the Japanese Internment Camps during World War 2. And, despite the fact that Colorado is only 4% black (as a state), the museum contains an exhibit about a place called Lincoln Hills, a resort in the mountains developed by black people for black people at a time when many places refused to serve them.

In addition to presenting history from all portions of the state, as well as from multiple perspectives, the museum covers times all time periods, as well as both good times and bad times. The Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival is a celebration of the winter sport activities that make Colorado a destination for many. However, the new exhibit covers the importance of water resources in the state of Colorado. This exhibit covers three periods of time where water resources and the management of them made a major difference in life in Colorado. In the 13th century water resources were depleted from the “Mesa Verde” area, leading to hard times for the once thriving Pueblo Indians in that region. Their response was to move south to areas where resources appeared more abundant. Remnants of this civilization can still be viewed at Mesa Verde National Park, the only archeological U.S. National Park. The dust bowl was one of the hardest times in Colorado. Many farmers suffered from a combination of low prices and extreme drought. This began a population decline in the plains, but some remained on the land. Finally, current concerns about water resources were covered, as reduced snowpack from climate change combined with population increases threaten shortages of water resources.

3. The museum has character.

By this I mean there are a lot of little fun things like this Bison topped with a Santa hat. Throughout the museum there are a lot of other little decorations here and there, such as the Welcome to Colorado sign, that just make the atmosphere a bitmore fun. They do this without either going over the top, or seeming too cheesy, which I very much appreciate.

Visiting the History Colorado Center today was a good change of pace from my normal activities, and a wonderful way to take advantage of a day with less than ideal weather. With a fun yet intelligent atmosphere, a complete view of Colorado’s history as a state, and a plethora of interactive exhibits, my visit to the History Colorado Center was a memorable experience. It gave me a lot to think about, and a good overview of the state that I now call home.

The Last Chance Of The Year

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There is a saying that “old habits die hard”. This is possibly an overstatement, and it might not apply to everybody. But it is a powerful statement of inertia that applies to a large segment of the population. A major stress factor, such as the discovery of a new food allergy or the loss of a job, can change people’s habits rapidly and decisively. However, in the absence of some kind of major push, most people’s habits will change slowly or even not at all. It is for this reason that bad habits like watching too much TV, engaging in frequent unprotected sex with strangers, and even smoking can persist for decades.

I would not consider the habit I am referring to as a bad one. It is mostly just annoying to some people around me. It all started in the 8th grade when I became somewhat obsessed with football. A typically Sunday for me that fall I would not only watch a couple of NFL games, but I would also watch the pre-game show at 11 A.M., as well as NFL Primetime at 6 P.M. On any given Sunday, I’d watch as much as 8 hours of football!

This also caused me to put off too much of my schoolwork. Then one November weekend, I suddenly realized that I had a major Science project due and I was running out of time to complete it. That Friday evening, I came home from school knowing that I would have to scramble to finish this project on-time, and calculated that I would have almost no time for anything else that weekend. My parents were disappointed in me, and actually feared that my grades would suffer because of it.

That weekend’s weather was especially nice, with high temperatures reaching 70 on Sunday. Sometime on Sunday my father reminded me that this would probably be the last 70-degree day until April. As a weather tracker from a young age, this was a fact that I was already well aware of. But, it was something I had not been thinking about through all of this. At this time, my father was just trying to be a good parent, and inform me that procrastination had consequences. But the sudden reminder, that it would be at least three, and up to five months before weather like this would return prompted me to go outside that minute, even though I knew all I could afford was a 10-15 minute break from my work.

The previous winter was my first in Illinois, and it was quite harsh! Not only had I just moved from Long Island, New York, a place with milder winters, but that winter was harsh for Chicago area standards too! Temperatures were significantly colder than their long-term averages, particularly in January and February. I recalled seeing a snowpack persist for over five weeks, something I had never seen before, and school was closed a couple of days due to extreme temperatures (below -20). It was quite a shock for me, and something I did not enjoy. Feeling that fresh air, and knowing that these ten minutes would be all I get for such a long time made me regret my obsessive watching of football in a way I had never regretted anything before. It was that day that I realized that I cared significantly more about activities that I personally participate in than watching professional sports (or anything on TV). I did not completely give up on watching professional sports that day. But, since that day I’ve have had a clear understanding of where my priorities lie.

The winter that followed would be modestly mild for Chicago standards. But, it was still colder than the ones I remembered in New York, and there were still very few days warm enough to be enjoyable for outdoor activities. It was enough to cement in me the lessons I learned that November day. I would spend seventeen more years in the Midwest, in either Illinois, Indiana, or Wisconsin. Only one winter season would be more oppressively cold than that first one (and I was in Wisconsin- a colder place overall). Many of the winters would be milder, some significantly milder. Still, I would rehearse the same pattern every fall. Starting around Halloween weekend, any day where temperatures were projected to reach the 60s or 70s would basically sound an alarm off inside of me. I would start planning ahead of time how to take advantage of these particular days, and bill it “the last nice day of the year.” Sometimes, I would even have some “false starts” in this process, where I would be prompted to enjoy “the last nice day of the year” only to have another stretch (or even two or three) of warm weather occur before winter set in.

Now that I live in Denver, this practice is not necessary. Not only do sunny and mild days occur quite frequently in the middle of the winter, but winter is one of the most exciting times to be in Colorado- due to skiing. But, we are also not in an ordinary weather pattern. Today’s highs will top out somewhere between 60 and 65. But, after this, an abnormally prolonged period of cold weather is expected in Colorado. It might even be too cold to ski, as highs between 10 and 20, and lows below 0 are anticipated for Denver. It will be even colder in the mountains! So, that alarm in my head triggered me to take advantage of this day as if it were the last chance I would have this year to go on a bike ride, which I did.

Of course, one of the challenge in taking advantage of the last nice day of the year is that in November and December, the days are quite short. Today I also had an added time constraint, as I knew the winds around Denver would pick up around noon, making bicycling much more unpleasant. So, I stuck to a much simpler ride, down the Cherry Creek Trail to Cherry Creek State Park, a 25 mile round trip. Most of the ride is flat, or slightly uphill on the way out and slightly downhill on the way back. The first major terrain feature is a large hill near Kennedy Golf Course, which is followed by the climb up to the reservoir.

The Cherry Creek Trail is one of the best trails I have ever ridden! It follows the river, through all of the underpasses, and avoids nearly all traffic lights. This makes it a perfect way to get somewhere quickly on a bicycle. There is some terrain climbing up to Cherry Creek State Park, but overall, the ride here only involves three “climbs”, and each one is only a couple of hundred feet in elevation. Therefore, this would be a great ride for people who are only in moderately good shape, or not looking for a major challenge.

It will be too cold for bicycling in Denver to be enjoyable for at least another week and a half. But, in all likelihood, this was not my “last chance of the year” to ride. Therefore, I probably did not need to be too concerned about taking advantage of today’s weather. However, I am also not seeing any negative consequences in taking advantage of a day like this. I did not miss out on anything important, and everything I need to work on I can complete in the later part of this week when the weather turns awful. So, this old habit is going to “die hard”, and probably won’t change much until it leads to a poor result.

Hiking Boulder’s Flatirons in late November

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One of the things a lot of people don’t realize about Colorado is that it is actually possible to hike here year round. For sure, winters in Colorado are characterized by a lot of snow, but at lower elevations, warm-ups are also quite frequent. Earlier this year I made some calculations with some data from the National Climatic Data Center, and concluded that even in the coldest part of winter high temperatures can be expected to exceed 50F in Denver more than one in three days.

At higher elevations it is more consistently cold and snowpacked. This is why Colorado has great skiing, but also why hiking at higher elevations beyond the month of October generally unrealistic. However, it is great knowing that there is a place where both skiing and hiking could be available on the same calender day. Sunday I went skiing, Monday I rode my bicycle, and yesterday I hiked. What an interesting place!

With that in mind, this is a great time of year to check out many of the hikes available at lower elevations. This includes the Flatirons in Boulder, Colorado. Many of the trails up this mountain feature can be accessed from Chautauqua Park on Boulder’s Southwest side. With the park being in town, and downtown Boulder being only about a mile and a half away, and this park can easily be reached by bike or bus, making this one of the few places in the country where one can frequently hike and even rock climb without access to a car. So, I can kind of see why it is an expensive place to live, but I really did not mind driving, so I’ll spare myself the extra $400 a month in rent.

Hiking in the Boulder Flatirons is quite different than climbing a trail up a mountain. Rather than one trail up and one trail down, there is a network of trails that need to be navigated for one to reach their destination. From the parking lot, the Chautauqua Trail can be followed up to the Flatiron Loop Trail. The Chautauqua Trail is a fairly consistent moderate uphill grade. The Flatiron Loop Trail, however, gets both steeper and rockier. Climbing this trail reminded me how high in elevation the Flatiron features really are. With the features known as the Flatirons being so close to town, it is easy for one to think of these features as extending down almost to the elevation of town, roughly 5400 ft. But, the reality is that these features are largely between 7000 and 8000 ft. in elevation.

Some of the rockier areas of the trail scared my dog a little bit. Despite this, I did see a significant amount of dogs on the trail. However, in Boulder, I would consider the Mount Sanitas Trail more dog-friendly, as it does not contain segments like this one.

What I did not realize until yesterday’s hike was that the Flatirons are numbered. The Flatiron Loop Trail traverses Flatirons #1 though #3. For each of these peaks, a spur off the trail provides climbing access. The first Flatiron, pictured above, looks somewhat different up close. Small scale features, particularly indentations in the rock, do not show up when viewing these features at a distance. Like some famous paintings, they look nicer from afar than they do from close up. The trail reaches it’s peak elevation between Flatiron #2 and Flatiron #3, and beyond Flatiron #3 is the trail I intended to do, the Royal Arch trail.

Unfortunately, this trail was closed, most likely due to the flooding. As an alternate, I decided to hike the Flatiron #3 climbing access trail, as I still wanted to get to the top of these features. This trail was even steeper than the Flatiron Loop Trail, and also a lot narrower and rockier. It is one of those trails where one follows the rocks as an indicator of the trail’s path.

Flatirons #2 and 3 appeared somewhat more as I imagined them; rock formations poking out of the trees, with a near steady slant of around 45 degrees. As I viewed each of these features up close, I could not help but be reminded of the rock features near Red Rocks. Of course, these features are not nearly as red in color, but their shapes looked quite similar, making me believe that some of the same geological processes must have been at work in the creation of both of these features.

On the return trip, back to the parking lot, I actually came to the conclusion that Flatiron #1 just looks somewhat different than the other two. A later Google image search would confirm this for me. I guess this one is not quite a “flat” as the other ones.

It was actually nearly 3/4 of the way back down to Chautauqua Park that I encountered what I consider the best view of the day. The time was around 3:30 P.M., which in late November means that the sun was already starting to descend in the western sky behind the mountains. However, the sun was still an hour or so from setting. As a result, the shadow created by the mountains can be seen quite clearly in contrast with the bright sunshine, making for a breathtaking image that is unique to that particular time of day. Half an hour earlier, it would have looked like your standard daytime image of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, and half an hour later this entire area would be shadowed and the entire region would be significantly darker.

I did not specifically plan to be here at this exact time, in this exact place. In fact, if I were to try to calculate what time of day I would need to be here to see this exact view, I likely would have calculated it incorrectly. Sometimes in life the best results come not from careful planning, but from simply going to new places, trying new things, and being ready to absorb and enjoy what comes your way. This is what comes to mind when I look at this particular photograph.

Golden Gate Canyon State Park

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Only half an hour outside of Golden, Colorado, Golden Gate Canyon State Park represents one of the easiest hiking places to get to from the Denver metropolitan area. It is definitely a lot shorter of a drive then Rocky Mountain National Park, but is probably a little bit longer than The Flatirons in Boulder. My visit to this park was not in peak season, on the 19th of October, but it was on a weekend. Based on what I saw today, it appears that this park is significantly less crowded than both Rocky Mountain National Park and the Flatirons, and therefore may represent a more tranquil alternative to those two destinations for day hikes.

Yesterday, we visited the east side of the park, parking in the first parking lot in the state park off of Crawford Gulch Rd. At this parking lot, our elevation was just short of 7,800 feet. I have to admit, I was a little bit apprehensive about doing a hike this high in elevation well into October. Last spring I came to the conclusion that the in-between seasons, when it is not warm enough to for activities at high elevations, but not quite ski season, are the best times of year to explore areas at lower elevations. But, I knew that it was going to be a warmer day in Colorado, with southwest winds, and highs in the 60s in Denver, which would mean temperatures could be tolerable at this elevation.

Upon exiting the car, I immediately noticed two potential hazards. One was the wind, which was quite strong that day, and made the temperatures, near 50 at the time, seem quite a bit chillier. It did not help that our hike’s destination was a place called “windy peak”. I kept thinking to myself, if it is this windy at the trailhead, I am in for an unpleasant summit. Second was the fact that hunting is permitted in pretty much the entire area where we would be hiking. Most likely, this is one of those irrational fears that we all seems to have. It’s kind of like all of those posts we see that indicate that more children get injured by trampolines and swimming pools than by strangers, yet, most parents seem way more afraid of their kids talking to strangers than using their backyard trampolines and swimming pools unsupervised. But, for some reason I did get a little nervous when I saw this sign. Luckily, I was able to put this out of mind pretty quickly. We would only see one group of hunters on this hike, and they seemed like they knew what they were doing.

On this hike, we dealt with the remnants of two recent weather events. First was the major flooding event last month. In fact, one of the roads to the trailhead was washed out by this flood and closed. We had to park right by the main road, and hike a little extra to get to the trail. This was no big deal, and based on this, we could see why repairing this road would be a relatively low priority for the State of Colorado (compared with, say U.S. highways 34 and 36 near Estes Park). We also had to traverse through some snowy areas. Friday morning, Denver actually received it’s first snow of the year (which seems really early to me). There was more snow in the mountains, and parts of the trail, especially those in the shadowy areas, and near our highest elevations, were snowpacked. The snowpack, however, did not exceed 6″, where it would start to make the hike tougher and eventually impassible. It did, however, make some downhill stretches a bit slippery and more hazardous than normal.

Somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 of the way up, we saw a couple of neat rock formations, like this one, and decided to go off trail and take a few side excursions. This mostly meant physically climbing up the rock, and then rejoining the trail the next place we see it. It’s the kind of thing I periodically do with hikes that are not going to completely exhaust me (like a “14er”) to add a little extra spice to the experience. Upon completion of the second of these side excursions, I saw the tall peaks in the distance for the first time. These peaks, which I would later be able to identify as Mt. Evans, Mt. Bierstadt, Gray’s and Torrey’s Peaks, showed up in the southwest sky.

The end part of the hike involved traversing through a fairly uniformly snowpacked and fairly dense forest. We arrived at Windy Peak, whose elevation is just shy of 9,100 ft. The views from windy peak are pretty spectacular, but, as promised, it was quite windy here, and quite chilly. It was definitely windier than it was at the trailhead, and this hike seemed to follow the similar pattern of the summit being significantly windier than even places a mere 50-100 feet down the mountain. Due to the conditions, we did not remain at Windy Peak too long. Basically, we remained there long enough to eat a cliff bar without feeling like we were rushing through it, and to take a few pictures.

On the way down the mountain, we actually noticed significant snowmelt. In fact, the road to the park was icy in the morning, but clear in the afternoon. We also came to the conclusion that Golden Gate Canyon State Park is one of the best signed hiking destinations we had ever been to. Every trail junction has signs like these, with a complete map of the park, and arrows pointing to where to go. I’d say getting lost at Golden Gate Canyon State Park is next to impossible!

Colorado is full of places to explore. In fact, as a relative newcomer, it is somewhat overwhelming. I think I am finally well versed on all of the skiing options in the state, and I am getting a handle on all of the whitewater places. But, hiking, climbing, and bicycling, it seems like can be done almost anywhere. And nearly every trail area seems to have trails varying from easy to very difficult like this one. How any Coloradan chooses where to go on a particular day remains a mystery to me

A New Activity

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It has been said many times in life that each and every one of us has something called a “comfort zone”. This “comfort zone” consists of wherever we feel comfortable. It is a set of situations, places, activities, and types of people. Inside our comfort zones, we feel a certain calm. The situation does not call for any kind of panic, and does not induce a certain kind of stress. I think we all enjoy being in our comfort zones, and can have some of our best times in life in places that are familiar to us, around people that we know and trust, and doing activities we know we excel at. Outside our “comfort zones”, we feel stressed. We often have some level of self-doubt, about our ability to handle a certain situation, excel at a certain new activity, or relate to an unfamiliar group of people.

It is also commonly stated that our “comfort zones” are in a perpetual state of flux, and at all times they are always either expanding or contracting. And, believe it or not, whether our “comfort zones” are expanding or contracting is typically at least partially under our control. When we open ourselves up to new experiences, we allow our comfort zone to expand. Nearly every activity any one of us enjoys was once strange and unfamiliar. LeBron James was once new to basketball, and Lindsey Vonn was once new to skiing.

Those that do not leave their “comfort zones” from time to time tend to see their comfort zones contract over time. This is because, well, in life, change is inevitable. We have all had the experience of one of our favorite places, perhaps a restaurant or a store, either closing down, or changing under new management. Likewise, sometimes friends take a different path in life, or change in some kind of a way making the friendship simply not what it used to be, or gone altogether. If we don’t perpetually find new places, new activities, new people, and new situations, we are doomed to enojy less and less as time goes by.

In that vein, I decided to take advantage of an opportunity to do a new activity today: mountain biking. Today’s adventure took me to Alderfer/ Three Sisters Park near Evergreen, CO, which is actually less than an hour from Denver.

Some might say that mountain biking is not too different of a sport from road biking, which I have done over 1,000 miles of every year since 2009. I even came into this thinking it was only slightly different, like how baseball is to softball. But, there are actually much larger differences than I imagined.

The main difference between the two sports can be summed up as balance vs. speed (or power). In road biking, when idle, it is proper to have one pedal down and one pedal up, and be positioned in an aerodynamic stance. This is because the top priority is sped, and putting our legs in the most powerful position possible will help us develop that speed. In mountain biking, it is proper to put both pedals at roughly the same height, especially on downhill sections with rocks and jumps. This, along with an upright position off the saddle, bent arms, and weight back is the best position for maintaining balance, which is the top priority when mountain biking.

This was the hardest downhill stretch I did today. In fact, it took me three tries to get down this without either crashing or hitting a rock, which would make me come to a stop, and have to dismount. Even upon completion, I am sure I looked quite lame. However, I was told I did pretty well for a first timer.

Stretches like this become both easier and more fun, as one develops to confidence to take them at faster speeds. In this sense, mountain biking actually reminds me of skiing. Most people don’t understand how enjoyable skiing is when first learning. My first day of skiing, when I was 14, all I did was try not to fall. As I got better at it, and, most importantly, developed more confidence in myself, allowing me to go faster, the sport became more enjoyable. In fact, I came to the conclusion today that if an activity is easy to master, within the first day, it will likely get boring over time. Some of the most enjoyable activities, the best games, and most interesting topics, cause frustration at times, especially at first.

Later in the day, I crashed on a similar downhill stretch. I broke my pants and got a couple of scrapes. This is, of course, bound to happen to anyone that goes outside their “comfort zones”. Whether it be the physical “scrape” I got my first day of mountain biking, or the mental “scrape” of a 14 year old who got rejected after asking someone out on a date, we all take this risk when we exit our comfort zones. Assuming we can overcome our “scrapes”, and learn from our experiences, we will all be the better for it. In reality, we have a choice. We can either let fear control us, or gain control of our fears. This does not mean we eliminate fear. I was quite scared today. It means we work through it, and refuse to let our fears close us off from new experiences and relegate us to an ever contracting set of options in our lives.

Bent’s Old Fort

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The idea of racial unity, or more accurately the idea of two or more racial/national groups living side-by-side without conflict, and mutual respect for one another is not new. It isn’t, as it feels like some people believe, something that mankind first came up with in the middle of the 20th century after finally sorting through the fallout from World War 2. It is just an idea that has never really overcome other pressures.

In the early to mid 19th century, brothers William and Charles Bent, of Saint Louis Missouri, actually believed that it was possible. Early in life, these brothers participated in a series of trade missions along the Santa Fe Trail. As the Bent brothers encountered both Mexicans and Native Americans on these missions, over time they established good relations with both groups of people. William Bent was even accepted into the Cheyenne tribe, and participated in negotiations on their behalf. This included negotiations with other native tribes, as well as with the United States. The two brothers, along with Ceran St. Vrain established a trading fort in what is now Southeastern Colorado, along the Santa Fe trail.

For this reason, I decided to make the trip to Bent’s Old Fort, but I ran into one minor issue. Apparently, I did not realize that Bent’s Old Fort is a National Historic Site, and therefore is closed due to the current government shutdown.

So, I did the only sane thing. I pulled my car off to the side of the road (the parking lot was also closed), and I snuck around the gate. Heck, I didn’t have to pay the entry fee!

The fort is reconstructed really well. I should probably come here sometime when I could actually get inside the building. And also when the bulls and horses that are kept there are contained rather than wondering around where I could have theoretically provoked them and wound up in trouble. In fact, that is why I did not stay very long, and did not take any pictures of the animals and the trail. I was, however, able to imagine what it was like for pioneers and traders to travel along this trail, and encounter this fort, the first building of any sort travelers along the trail would find for miles. And, according to the information presented in the parking lot, which I did get to read, from 1833 (when it was built) through 1849, this place would have been bustling. Surely, a welcome sight for travelers.

One question that often comes to mind when learning about Bent’s Fort, is why it was placed where it was, near La Junta, Colorado. Currently, most of Colorado’s largest cities are a lot closer to the mountains, within 20 miles or so. From the perspective of modern day Colorado, it appears illogical for this major trading post to be located over 60 miles east of Pueblo, the mountains, and all of the good fur and pine. However, at the time Bent’s fort was built, 1833, it was built right on the border with Mexico. For someone traveling west on the Santa Fe Trail, this fort marked the end of the portion of the trail in the United States. After this, travelers would have entered Mexico, or, after 1836, the Republic of Texas.

Unfortunately, both Bent brothers ended up on the wrong side of history despite their good intentions. Actually, it was perhaps because of their good intentions. Charles Bent, the older brother, was appointed the first territorial governor of New Mexico following the Mexican-American war. The reading material outside the fort suggested that he was appointed to this position due to his good relations with the people there. However, he was killed by the Native Americans in the Taos Revolt in 1847.

The younger Bent brother, William, was persecuted by the other side. During the Sand Creek Massacre, he was captured by General John Chivington after attempting to make peace between the U.S. and the Native tribes during the gold rush. He was forced to lead Chivington and his troops to the Cheyenne campsite where he conducted the Sand Creek Massacre, killing hundreds of Native Americans. William’s end was not nearly as dramatic as his brother’s, but his efforts failed to create peace between the U.S. and the Native Americans.

The story of the Bent family and their fort reminds us that it is important to judge everybody as an individual, and not paint every member of some group with one brush. Throughout this time, there were definitely more white people like Chivington, who murdered natives despite their efforts to make peace, and also more white people like the Bents, who approached native tribes with deep respect for their culture, and attempted to share in the human experience with them. There is more to who someone is than their racial identity.

Just in case the lines were not blurred enough in this whole story, John Chivington was a hard-core abolitionist. He could not wait to free the black population and share our culture with them. Yet, he viewed all Native Americans as savages that needed to be exterminated. On the flip side, the Bent brothers owned slaves, and William would eventually support the cause of the confederacy. So, there is a group of people out there who would potentially view Chivington in a more favorable light than Bent.

So, who is the good guy and who is the bad guy? People like to simplify history, assign one side ad good the other as bad, and establish one or two themes. This makes them feel like the have a good handle on the situation. However, in reality, history is about as complicated as the human mind, and all of the many mechanisms that cause people to behave in the way that they do. Some people may know more individual facts about history, but that does not necessarily mean they understand history better. Some people view all facts through the lens of a preconditioned idea about the nature of the people involved, and cannot appreciate all of the facts.

One amazing thing about traveling is that travel has this way of causing people to build upon their thoughts. Sometimes it almost feels as if the world has found a way to set itself up in such a pattern that it creates certain themes in everybody’s lives, or at least each person’s individual trips. After pondering these thoughts on the drive from La Junta back to the interstate, the drive home took me through two towns that recently made waves in our current political climate; Pueblo and Colorado Springs.

Last month, these two towns made news across the state as they surprising recalled two of Colorado’s state senators. One of them was actually the leader in the senate! The recall election was at least partially about the gun control debate, but other factors may have contributed. Advocates on each side of the debate appeared, at least to me, to be motivated by ideological differences rather than some form of tribalism.

But is it all just ideology? Have we really replaced racial issues with actual issues about how we view our government and society (which would be a positive change)? Unfortunately, last year’s election results, and specifically the large difference in voting patterns by race indicates differently. Race also still finds it’s way into may of the political debates we have in this country today. I am not going to assign blame to either side on this one. This is not a partisan political blog. But, pondering the racial component to our politics, the self-segregated neighborhoods in Chicago and other places, the Indian Reservations and the like, makes me think that we are not really living side-by-side the way the Bents had envisioned. The middle of the 20th century saw a major push towards that end, with Matrin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech articulating that goal in a manner that most can relate to. But, there does still appear to be a disconnect.

Tribalism is an inevitable part of human nature. But will our “tribes” always be dictated by our origins? The internet now provides us access to nearly everybody around the world, and more and people are moving more frequently. These factors may encourage our future “tribes” to be more determined on different grounds, such as worldview, or common interests. But, would this be better? Less disconnected? Less violent? Maybe the key is not how we determine our “tribes”, but having respect for other “tribes”, or at least letting them live the way they want to as long as they are not hurting you. This is a tall task for the human race, but one that is theoretically possible. All challenges can be met, like the one below, Pike’s Peak, which I got one last view of before it once again becomes snow packed tomorrow (which is fine, it looks better with the snow on it anyways). A mountain whose peak was once unreachable, is not reached by People on foot, in their cars, and by the cog railway.

An Unexpected Glacier

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It’s the first of October. The temperature is around 60 degrees, and the sun is shining. It is the type of weather that would have certainly depleted 6-12 inches of snow back in any East Coast or Midwestern city. And that is with a wintertime sun angle, and much more atmosphere to obstruct the sun’s impact on the snow. With this weather being possible on the first of October, it is quite likely that many warmer days occurred on St. Mary’s Glacier during July and August. Despite all of this, the Glacier still sits here, occupying the little piece of ground in the mountains of Central Colorado that it occupies.

Part of me is actually bothered by it’s existence. At roughly 11,000 feet in elevation, and at about the same latitude as Denver, it feels like it needs to be either higher or significantly farther north to exist. Most other glaciers in Colorado are significantly higher in elevation. So, knowing it is at a latitude an elevation that produces so many 60 degree+ temperatures, how does St. Mary’s glacier exist?

That is the question I pondered today, after driving past some of the best fall foliage I had seen thus far in Colorado, and climbing a rocky 3/4 mile trail to the base of St. Mary’s Glacier. Before getting to the glacier, the trail meanders by St. Mary’s lake, a lake pretty much produced by melting glacial waters. I would not recommend going into this lake, as the water is really cold! However, it would be really dumb of anyone to not realize this, as the glacier is in clear view, along with the water running off from it. It is clear for anyone to see that the water in this lake was recently part of that glacier 100 feet or so up the hill.

The cascades of water along the trail were moving quite fast on this day. That made sense, given the warmth and sunshine. But, it still seems to me that 4 months worth of weather like this would eliminate any snow and ice remaining on the surface. So, what is going on?

Well, the weather in Colorado is actually quite complicated, and highly dependent on local terrain features. Snowfall rates can vary significantly from location to location in the mountains depending on the wind pattern and terrain. In fact, this variance caused enough frustration to motivate a local ski enthusiast to create a web page dedicated to finding the best snow and snow conditions in the area.

The terrain features at this particular location must cause snowfall to be significantly higher here than at similar locations I had previously visited. Earlier this summer, I climbed Gray’s and Torrey’s Peaks. The trailheads were at about the same elevation as the base of St. Mary’s Glacier, maybe even a little bit higher. Yet, no glaciers existed. Another possible part of the explanation is cold air funneling between the two mountain peaks that surround the area. Unfortunately more detailed observations would be needed to actually conclude that this is why this glacier exists at an altitude where it shouldn’t.

Another conclusion that cannot be made simply from my observations today is the long-term (decades) fate of this glacier. With the current heated debate about anthropogenic global warming, it is easy for one to view how rapidly the glacier is melting today and consider it evidence that the earth is warming, and that this glacier is melting. However, the melting of some of the ice and snow on the glacier during the summer months is actually part of a glacier’s annual cycle in which snowfall in the cold season adds to its’ mass and melting in the warm season reduces it’s mass. If there were no mass reduction of a glacier in the warm season, they would ever expand at the expense of our oceans.

In fact, a close up view of the glacier’s ice shelf showcases this annual cycle. This ice shelf has very white looking snow on top of a darker layer of snow. The snow on top is newer snow, most likely from the most recent snow season. On a warm day like today, it had the consistency of wet, snowball making snow. However, the dark layer of snow underneath had a much icier consistency, indicating that it had survived multiple summers. This is, in fact, an easy way to verify with no other observations or knowledge that the snow field you are looking at is indeed a glacier (as opposed to just residual snow from last spring). Some of the ice in this middle part of the glacier has likely been around for decades.

The bottom layer of the ice shelf was dripping pretty rapidly from the melting. There may be some really fun icicles here on some cooler days. Given that melting is occurring this rapidly October 1st, it is possible to speculate that this glacier is losing mass over time, but that can only be concluded with more observations.

With it being warmer here than at most glaciers, it makes sense to me that this would be a popular attraction. What makes less sense to me after today is why people seem to prefer to drink water from glaciers. At least I see it all over advertisements for bottled water (i.e. the Evian Logo). Today I saw ice and snow in constant direct contact with dirt and rocks, walked on by humans and dogs, melt and run off into cascading streams where the water is also consistently in contact with dirt, rocks, and possibly more dog pee. This did not feel to me like the cleanest water I could be drinking. I guess there are no chemicals. Still, I think I will trust my city’s water purification system.

Maybe rather than being bothered by this glacier’s existence, I should be inspired. This glacier has managed to continue to exist despite not so favorable conditions. It is much like the one remaining factory in a decaying rust-belt town, or that tree in Wyoming the grew out of a rock. They later built Interstate 80 around this tree, further disrupting it, but it still persists to be alive. Like that tree, St. Mary’s glacier, and that one person you know who doesn’t seem to have any bull-shit at their job, evidence that bucking the trend is possible is still out there. It is just a matter of finding out how they did it, and how much of it is luck.

Mount Evans The Easy Way

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The United States of America is not perfect. There are definitely some aspects of our history that seem a bit shady, and there are definitely some things I would change if I had my way. But I still love this country, and feel lucky to live here. One of the things I love about this country is that we attempt to accommodate nearly everybody. We have lifestyles that range from the crowds of Manhattan to empty parts of Wyoming, and many other things in between. Despite the fact that I have come across a few Americans who would like to eradicate one or more of our prevalent lifestyles, we remain a county that accommodates. If anything, we are becoming more accommodating, as more and more places add bike lanes, and some communities allow people to follow their dreams of traveling everywhere by golf cart.

To get to the top of the mountains in Colorado, we also accommodate many different methods. Most Coloradans prefer to hike up our tallest peaks, and nearly every tall mountain here has multiple hiking trails to the top. Two of Colorado’s tallest peaks, Mount Evans and Pike’s Peak, have paved roads to the top. During the summertime, people can drive or ride a bicycle to the top of these peaks. In fact, the ride from Idaho Springs to the top of Mount Evans was featured as one of Bicycling Magazine’s Top Bike Rides. Pike’s Peak can even be reached by train.

The easiest way to the top of a mountain is to drive. Having already hiked three of these peaks this summer, I decide to take a drive (or, more accurately, go along for a ride) up Mount Evans. The road up to Mount Evans is actually North America’s highest paved road, and a very scenic one. There are plenty of wonderful places on the way up this highway, including dense pine forests, alpine lakes, and places where you can see the mountains in the distance. These are the kinds of images you will often find on a calender.

One added bonus of taking this trip in late September was the fall colors. The fall colors here in Colorado come primarily from the Aspen trees, and primarily turn the color yellow. This makes a fall image here in Colorado quite different than what you would see in the east. Firstly, with more pine trees here, not all of the trees are changing colors. And, with the trees mostly changing the same color, yellow, there is less variety. In that sense, I would say anyone looking to take a vacation for the primary purpose of viewing fall foliage would be better off going to New England or the Smoky Mountains. But, the colors did add an extra element to the views on this trip.

Some places in higher terrain just recently received their first snow of the season. The snowfall was not particularly heavy, but it still could be seen, especially from the shaded areas once we climbed above 9,000 feet.

As a result of this recent snowfall, as well as a heavier snowfall at the highest peaks (during the floods a couple of weeks ago), the road was not open all the way to the top of Mount Evans. The farthest up we could go is Summit Lake, which is around 12,800 feet in elevation. This is not too atypical, as these higher elevations typically start receiving snow in September, and plowing a road at this elevation is not an easy task.

I love science! I love the way some scientific phenomenon can create some unique observations, and I love the process of figuring it all out. It was a very windy day at Summit Lake, and I could feel it as soon as I got out of the car. In fact, the wind confirmed for me that it would have been quite unpleasant to try to hike at this elevation. What I observed on this lake is a phenomenon I had seen years back when I was living in Madison, WI. On a cold, windy morning, the wind blows water off of the lake onto nearby grass and rocks. If it is cold enough, those water particles freeze on contact, much as they would in an ice storm.

When I observed this in Madison, WI, it was a similar situation. In that case it was December, as it gets cold a lot earlier in the year at high elevations, but the progression of events is the same. Water has a higher heat capacity and therefore both warms up and cools down slower than air. It takes more than a few cold mornings to freeze over a lake, even a smaller lake like this one. So, at the time of year when winter-like chill first arrives, this phenomenon can be observed near lakes. Larger lakes like Lake Michigan and Lake Superior never freeze over in the winter, and sea spray events like this one can be observed pretty much all winter long. Although I have seen the result of this combination of weather conditions a couple of times, I am now kind of curious to see it actually occurring.

The world is a tough place to understand. Life often seems to unfold in ways that do not make too much sense. Often times, after a particular endeavor does not turn out the way I had hoped, I spend a good deal of time scratching my head, wondering why. When something impacts my life in a negative way, my response is always to try to figure out where it went wrong, as to avoid making the same mistakes. But, most of the time it does not work that way, particularly when social interactions and group dynamics are involved.

In a way, I feel like I can take comfort in science. In science, there are universal laws, and certain things that will always behave the same way, even in an unfamiliar place. The cold windy night on Summit Lake created the same ice patters that it did on Lake Mendota. No matter where you are light waves of 550nm will appear green to the human eye. This, and a host of other things, can be counted on, will always make sense, and can provide some comfort in unfamiliar situations. Yet, unlike some predictable things, like re-watching movies and T.V. reruns, it does not become mundane and uninteresting over time. There is always something new to be discovered, a new phenomenon to be observed and investigated, and a new possibility to be opened up.

On the return trip, we stopped in Idaho Springs, walked around and ate lunch. I have driven by this town many times, but never really spent much time here. In a narrow valley, with steep terrain on either side, the town actually has some houses on higher terrain. From the highway, it’s appearance consistently reminds me of model train sets. In addition, the town, which champions itself as “Where the Gold Rush Began”, actually named it’s high school team the “Golddiggers”. I still wonder if the the marching band plays that Kanye West song when the team comes out onto the field.

I was pretty impressed with the downtown. It is a nice, kind of small, western town. It is not over touristy, as it is not adjacent to a big attraction the way Estes Park is. The shops seem well kept, and also seemed to have variety. We ate at Tommyknockers, a microbrewery downtown with bar food, and also a lot of buffalo burgers. From walking around town, I see several other places I would like to try, on subsequent trips. But, I really do not know when I will be coming into town again, as it is not a typical stop-off for me on ski trips and such.

Green Mountain; The Edge of Two Worlds

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A lot of rivers, mountains, and land features are named for the color in which they appear. According to the Wikipedia disambiguation, there are eight land formations, and three towns named “Green Mountain”. This, in addition to the “Green Mountains” in Vermont, which refers to the entire mountain range.

The Green Mountain I am referring to here is the one in Lakewood, CO, inside William F. Hayden Park. What makes this particular mountain so special is it’s location. At 6,855 feet, it is not particularly tall, but it is amongst the first actual peaks that one would come across as they travel to the West. At least geographically speaking, it marks the border between the Great Plains to the East, and the Rocky Mountains to the West.

It is also only 12 miles from central Denver, and is known to be one of the places that dries out the quickest after a precipitation event. So, if there is a place to check out on a nice sunny day only half a week after one of the worst flooding events in Colorado history, this is the place.

To get to William F. Hayden, I rode my bicycle, as it is only 12 miles away from my apartment, and I found a route through Lakewood, mostly on 1st Avenue that did not involve the bicycle trails, most of which are in river valleys in this area, and could still be muddy or sandy from the recent floods. Most of this route, heading to the west through Lakewood, is a steady but slight uphill climb. However, after I cut over to Alameda Ave. and followed the path alongside that road to the West and Southwest, the climb got steeper. By the end of this climb, I was already at an elevation over 6100 feet. This means that I had already done most of the climbing on my bicycle, before I even started this trail.

Upon entering the parking lot, I was surprised to see that the trail conditions were still labeled as “Very Muddy”, and that they were still not recommending use. I am assuming that these ratings were designed mostly with mountain biking in mind. Still, the idea of a “very muddy trail” does not appeal to me for hiking, and I traversed the parking lot expecting not to be able to hike at all, but prepared to be satisfied with my bike ride. However, I saw a lot of people, both hiking and biking the trails, and they appeared fine. Two mountain bikers, who appeared to have already used the trails, confirmed that the conditions would be fine, so I decided to assume that the sign above was not updated, and hike the remaining 700-ish feet to the top of Green Mountain.

There are several routes to the top of this mountain, but the best option for someone who really wants to do some uphill hiking, traverses a radio tower, which is near the top. Although this may take away from the pureness of a hiking experience, it seems to me like a good idea, from a scientific perspective, to have a radio tower on top of a hill, where it can reach more people.

The top of this hill did feel like looking at the edge of two worlds. Looking to the West, one could see the Rocky Mountains, well, mostly the foothills, but it was clear that anyone headed west would encounter taller and taller peaks. Gazing Eastward there is a pretty good view of the skyline of the city of Denver. In fact, observing the skyline of Denver from Green Mountain kind of reminded me of all of those iconic movie and T.V. show scenes where a small group of people would drive up to somewhere like the Hollywood sign and gaze at their city below them. This would usually involve some kind of deep moment, either someone contemplating their life, kissing for the first time, or reminiscing on something. Either way, I have this idea that major moments occur at places like this.

I hung out at the top of this mountain for a while today. For a while, I switched back and forth between looking west and looking east, pondering what each direction meant. To the west, the mountains represent excitement, challenge, and dreams. A lot of people think of the glory of living the good life in a town like Vail, or Aspen. To the east, I initially thought of Denver, but then started to look beyond Denver itself, towards what lies to the East of Denver, toward an area that is periodically overlooked and ignored.

If the west view at this peak represents challenge, dreams, and the possibility of achieving the good life, the east view represents being ignored, overlooked, and stagnation. In fact, if I had not become interested in storm chasing, I might still have no idea what this place is all about. The cultural centers of this country, primarily New York and Los Angeles, do not think about this area too much. People from large cities either just fly over this area or resentfully drive across it.

There have been periods where people in large urban areas achieved greater and greater economic prosperity, while the people of the Great Plains continued to struggle. Politicians routinely ignore people living outside the urban centers as there are fewer votes to be won there. In fact, there are some people in the Great Plains portion of Colorado feel so ignored, they are developing plans to secede from the state.

As I leave the mountain, I think about how I am lucky to have had the experience of storm chasing, an interacting with all of these people. Their lifestyle is not one that I would want, but what they do is still important. People don’t think too much about the farmer and the rancher when they buy their food, but they are benefiting from what the people in this forgotten part of the country do. Most of the interactions I have had with the locals while storm chasing have been positive and friendly. In fact, one time in Sublette, KS, our entire chase group got free hamburgers, as they were having a celebration for the opening of their new co-op gas station, and let us join. One of the great things about this country is that we do provide a variety of lifestyle options; something for everyone. Hopefully one day, we will heal this urban-rural divide, and come to appreciate one another as parts of the complete social and economic system that makes all of our lives richer

Denver to Boulder by Bicycle

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Recent studies have shown that not only has bicycle commuting increased in popularity over the course of the 21st Century thus far, but so has bicycle traveling. Maybe it is the rise in gas prices. Maybe it is the increased interest in combating obesity. Or maybe it is just some kind of generational shift. But, the increased interest in bicycle traveling has even lead to the development of a plan to implement a national bicycle route system similar to the highway system already in place for cars.

Locally in Colorado, one of the most important corridors for medium distance bicycle travel would be connecting Denver to Boulder. Given the fact that both cities are very health conscious and bicycle friendly, and that enough people travel between the two cities every day to jam up highway 36, I have quite an interest in finding an ideal route between the two towns. Well, the ideal route for now, until the bike path following U.S. 36 is developed, which may take some time.

Today marked my second attempt to find the ideal bike route between the two towns. My first attempt was back in May, a month that tends to have more ideal weather for intense activities at these elevations.

My journey to Boulder, of course, began in the city of Denver, eventually following a route labelled D1. The city of Denver actually has a local version of the National bicycle route plan envisioned, with a bunch of bicycle routes through the city labelled D1 through D22. While Denver has better bicycle facilities and route labeling than most cities, labels such as this one are still somewhat intermittent. Cyclists in Denver would benefit from signs alerting cyclists to when the route turns. This particular route made two turns while I was on it, and neither turn was specifically signed.

Despite the fact that Denver and Boulder both lie East of the Rocky Mountain Range, the ride between the two towns is definitely not flat, and includes some challenging parts. Periodic hills, followed by descents into river (or creek) valleys occur throughout the ride. In fact, the ride in Denver begins with a significant climb from downtown through a neighborhood called “The Highlands”, which, as it’s name advertises, actually rises a couple of hundred feet in elevation higher than downtown. On this ride, I continued to climb until reaching the Denver City Limits, near Wilis Chase Golf Course, where entering Arvada, I encountered a pretty good view of the mountains, followed by one of the steepest downhill parts of the ride, into Clear Creek Valley.

In Clear Creek Valley, I got to follow two bicycle trails, the Clear Creek Trail, and then the Ralston Creek Trail. Although the Ralston Creek trail is not the nicest of bike trails (less underpasses, more curves), it has one of the best bicycle bridges I have ever had the privilege of riding over. Bridges for bicycle trails are rarely as elaborate as this one.

Arvada is reasonably bike friendly. There are the aforementioned trails, and there are plenty of roads with bike lanes. On Pierce St., the main street I followed north through the town of Arvada, there is even an area where the road itself is discontinuous, but a connecting bike path is available for cyclists. Quite nice!

Unfortunately, the village of Westminster is not nearly as bike friendly. To be fair, Westminster does have bike trails, but it does not really have bike trails designed to connect one place to another. Their bicycle route system definitely indicates that the people of Westminster, at least at the time when they planned their town, viewed cycling primarily as a mode of recreation, and not as a mode of transportation.

My route through Westminster has always been to simply to take the sidewalk along Wadsworth Rd., a very major road with a lot of traffic lights, strip malls, etc. This is already problematic as it is basically sidewalk bicycling, which involves a lot of bumps in the road, and the necessity of slowing down for every major intersection and being very careful for vehicular traffic.

In addition to this issue, part of the sidewalk was closed, and under repair. In addition, there was no real alternate option, as most of the roads in that are are parsed out in subdivisions, not connecting neighborhood to neighborhood, and rarely traveling in a straight line. So, I rode through the shopping centers on the west side of the road. The roads were smoother than the sidewalk had been even when it was not under repair, but there were a significant number of speed bumps I had to slow down for. In the grand scheme of things, whenever riding through metro-Denver, the entire village of Westminster can be thought of as a speed bump. Although it is not as unfriendly to bicycles as some suburbs I have encountered in other metropolitan areas, it is definitely the least friendly in the Denver area, and progress is definitely slowed whenever cycling through Westminster.

Finally, the sidewalk ended abruptly on two occasions. Once, I took a detour that took me out of my way. The second time, I actually got onto the shoulder, which is fairly wide north of all of the shopping centers, but the road speeds up to 55 mph, making the experience not as enjoyable. After cycling this stretch of road, and uphill some more, I finally entered the town of Broomfield, where I knew conditions would improve.

Broomfield also has a lot of windy roads, but it is significantly more bike friendly, with bike lanes on a lot of them, especially in the office park area, known as “Interlocken”, and the area by the Flatirons Mall, where I cycled through today. In that way, it reminded me of Colorado Springs, health conscious, bike friendly, with a suburban look and feel to it.

I had always considered Westminster to have closer ties with Denver, and Broomfield to have closer ties with Boulder. However, I have no real evidence to back that up, only hearsay from those around me. However, the towns of Superior and Louisville, which I biked through next, definitely are more closely tied with Boulder. This is where I reached the summit of my trip, if you can call it that, along McCaslin Rd.

This hill is only about 400 feet higher in elevation than downtown Denver, but with it being the highest point in the area, climbing to this peak actually offers some of the best views of the Flatiorns, and the Rocky Mountains. The Flatirons are a series of formations in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, right outside of Boulder. I believe they are called “The Flatiorns”, because the rocks actually form neat looking slanted sheets, as opposed to the smaller rocks, or more rounded terrain features more typically seen in this part of the country. The Flatirons are a mountain feature that will always be synonymous with the city of Boulder, and the rest of my ride into Boulder was a rapid descent along South Boulder Road, directly facing this mountain feature.

Four rapid miles, and something like ten minutes later, at an elevation over 300 feet lower than where I was on McCaslin Rd., I reached the Boulder city limits. Once inside the city of Boulder, several things change abruptly. First, in Boulder you can get anywhere by bicycle. However, be prepared to be humbled. From the time I left my home in Denver (South of downtown), I was passed once, only once. Over the last three miles of my ride, inside Boulder, I was passed three times.

I was quite pleased with myself today. I made it to Boulder in two and a half hours despite the slowdown that is Westminster, and was not nearly as tired as I was when I did this ride back in May. Every single part of this ride, including many of the more challenging uphill segments, seemed easier, some significantly easier. However, there is no place like Boulder, Colorado to remind you that there are people out there that are way better than you!

The Action Story

Learning about the world and about ourselves through travel and experiences

Category Archives: Colorado

History Colorado Center

The Last Chance Of The Year

Hiking Boulder’s Flatirons in late November

Golden Gate Canyon State Park

A New Activity

Bent’s Old Fort

An Unexpected Glacier

Mount Evans The Easy Way

Green Mountain; The Edge of Two Worlds

Denver to Boulder by Bicycle