Category Archives: Personal Development

Places of Questionable Significance

In 1983, an incredibly drunk Ozzy Osborne made the mistake of deciding to relieve himself on the Alamo, a building of historical significance. He was arrested (Isn’t public urination usually just a ticket?), and scorned by many, primarily due to the fact that the Alamo is an important symbol of pride amongst Texans. However, to Ozzy, a British rock star, the building probably did not mean too terribly much. While a sober Ozzy (if that existed in 1983) would probably have realized the building is significant due to the presence of tourists, he probably would not have felt the same affinity or pride when standing in front of the Alamo.

With the exception of a few wide eyed hippies that believe that every place is significant, and a few hard core cynics, that fail to see the significance in any place (or anything), the significance of most places is dependent on the person and the culture. There is no better of an example of a place like this than Four Corners, U.S.A.

Four Corners is unique due to the fact that it is the only place in the United States where four states all border one another. If one wanted to stand in five different states at one time, it would not be possible. If one wanted to stand in four different states at once, there is only one place where it can be done; Four Corners Monument.

The primary reason people visit this particular monument is to take silly pictures like this one. Assuming the location of the four-state border is correctly marked (some question that is in the right place), in this picture I am in four states at once.

However, in the absence of state borders, this particular spot would really actually be quite insignificant. There is no natural demarcation point, or significant change in scenery. Even on the Colorado side, the wide open landscape, periodic mesas, and sagebrush screams Arizona much more than Colorado. This Arizona-like feel persists for over thirty miles into Colorado until the San Juan Mountains start to show up on the horizon somewhere east of Cortez.

The significance of this place is further muddled by the fact that this point is not the border of four different jurisdictions. The monument is actually on an Indian Reservation. Thus, you do not even get the standard differences in policies and sales tax that usually accompany state borders. An equal number of souvenir stands exists on all four sides of the monument. I am not sure whether or not marijuana is legal on this particular reservation, but the policy is the same on all sides. I did not observe all of the pot heads clustered in the Colorado quadrant of this monument.

In the absence of state borders (and people obsessed with exact points of latitude and longitude), the most significant site in this region is a rock formation a dozen or so miles away called Shiprock, which has cultural and religious significance to the Navajo people who have inhabited the region since well before the Spanish arrived.

From a completely neutral standpoint, the rock formation definitely seems to stand out way more than any other feature in the area, which is mainly small mesas and creeks. But that does not mean the wide open space where the monument should lack significance to all people.

For most likely a variety of neurological, sociological, and historical reasons, Western Culture associates wide open spaces like this one with freedom. It’s the wild. It’s the untamed. It’s the place where you can yell as loud as you want, shoot any kind of weapon you want, and start a fight without anyone to break it up. There is nobody to tell you where you can (and can’t) hike, climb, tie a rope to an arch or mesa to swing from it, or even try to catapult small rodents. It’s the last refuge of people seeking to escape every single one of society’s restrictions and limitations.

But the one set of regulations that one can really never escape is the ones that exist only inside their own heads. I often refer to these as the “invisible chain”. And by this, I am referring to all of the anxiety, fear, and self-consciousness that often stop us from doing what we feel we should be doing. It stops us from telling people what we really think. It stops us from talking to that interesting and attractive stranger on the train. It stops us from dancing when fun music comes on. In some ways, it stops us from living. And, millions of Americans are in the process of destroying their livers trying to reclaim it. In these pictures of the free, wild, and untamed west, there are typically very few people, or buildings to indicate the presence of people. There is nobody to judge you, and nobody to make you feel self-conscious about what you chose to wear, say, and do. The fact that this is where we go to seek freedom indicates where we, as a people, believe most of our restrictions come from.

Therefore, if one could overcome this “invisible chain”, the restrictions placed upon us would be limited only to those officially legislated by some kind of governing body and effectively enforced by law enforcement personnel. The few lucky individuals that manage this are able to find this greater level of freedom in places like London, Hong Kong, or New York City; places that provide the interaction with other human being that we all crave.

We often see the desire for community and human interaction as pulling us in one direction, while the desire for freedom and individuality pulling us in the opposite direction. As an extrovert, I often struggle with the fear that asserting my individuality and refusing to conform, will cost me in the social realm. Reflecting upon all of this in the wide open spaces of the desert southwest, I re-realized that being an individual and reducing that fear actually helps in the social realm. Negative responses from those that fear non-conformity are more than outweighed by positive responses by those that appreciate authenticity and variety in nearly all circumstances. The key is to understand that we all have freedom of choice, and not to allow any of the hate to translate into hatred towards others. This applies even the people that have ridiculed me and caused me hurt. They have the freedom say what they want. The only way to truly overcome that ridicule is not to ridicule them back, or “defeat” them in an argument. It is to not be affected by that ridicule and continue to be the way you are despite anything they say.

This is one of several lessons, I re-learned on this trip. These re-realizations make this place significant to me, even if the official reason for the significance of any of these places is questionable. Everyone has a different experience here, and it is completely understandable for someone to come to Four Corners, find out it is on a reservation, buy nothing at the souvenir stands, and leave seeing the place as pointless. For me, however, this is where I got my mind off some of life’s frustrations, and got back on the path to becoming a better person.

Bergen Peak; Beating the Weather

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If anyone were seeking my advice about living in Colorado, amongst the topics I would address would be the weather. One thing that differentiates Colorado’s day-to-day life from life in many other places is how significant of an impact weather can have on daily activities, and how imperative it is that Colorado residents pay attention to weather and weather changes. Colorado, being an outdoor oriented place with significant weather changes on many different time scales, is a place where residents find their plans impacted by weather significantly more often than in most other places.

Today was one of those days. Weather forecasts called for significant thunderstorm chances along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains starting at 2:00. This is not too terribly uncommon for this time of year. As a result, it is a fairly common practice to begin all hikes in the mountains at this time of year early in the morning. This lead me to wake up at 6 AM in order to complete the 9.6 mile round trip hike of Bergen Peak prior to the anticipated onset of thunderstorms. The frequency in which people begin their activities early has implications beyond those activities. It is fairly certain that a significant number of people forgo Friday and Saturday night activities in anticipation of early morning hikes. Some even head up to the mountains the evening prior to their anticipated activity in order to save time. The end result; less people out at bars and more people at cabins and campgrounds on any given Friday or Saturday night at this time of year.

Getting to this trail-head is actually quite easy from Denver. Overall, the drive takes less than an hour, and it does not require any off-road type driving. While the best route is along Interstate 70, the exit is far enough East that one could drive here from Denver without contending with the parts of the highway farther into the mountains where weekend traffic delays are common. This hike is both moderate in intensity (elevation gains and such), and quite well marked. This is possibly because the trail is often open to, and is quite popular with, mountain bikers.

The first mile from the parking lot, along the Meadow View trail was fairly flat. This trail connected us with a loop that consisted of the Bergen Peak Trail and the Too Long Trail. We decided to take the loop in a clockwise direction, starting with the Bergen Peak Trail.

This trail took us up some steeper areas, as well as some areas of densely packed trees. The occasional opening along the trail was marked with a sign indicating a “scenic view”. These scenic views were pretty nice, but on this particular day, our visibility was limited by a significant amount of haze. Once again, life was being impacted by weather, but this time a longer-term trend. This summer has been more humid than is typical for Colorado standards, leading to significantly more haze than normal.

A one mile spur off of the main “loop” brought us to the top of Bergen Peak a little bit after 10 AM. By this time, the skies had gotten even more hazy. At the top of the mountain, there is some kind of tower (most likely for phones), as well as this sort of random building. I really do not know what it is for, and I was unable to enter the building. I really hope it is not home to some crazy recluse making secret revenge plans. Nothing good would come of that.

Continuing the loop, we took the Too Long Trail, which felt as if it was living up to its name. The trail itself is listed as only 2.4 miles, less than the 2.7 miles indicated for the Bergen Peak Trail. However, it felt a bit longer, as the trail was more of a semi-circle, and connected to another trail, called the Elk Meadow Trail. Along this trail, we were, indeed, closer to the meadow. However, we did not see any Elk today.

What we did see, though, were a significant number of different species of flowers, and some mica. In one spot (pictured above), purple flowers were actually growing off of a dead tree branch. Quite amazing!

I’m glad we took the Too Long Trail, even if it lengthened our hike to something close to 10 miles. Not only did we actually experience why it is called Elk Meadow Park, but we also encountered the most unique find on this hike. Apparently, someone felt it would be interesting to decorate one single tree, roughly halfway up the Too Long Trail, with Christmas decorations. It was just one tree, seemingly randomly selected, with roughly a dozen ornaments placed on it. For one with an imaginative mind, there are dozens of different scenarios that can be pondered that would lead to this outcome. But, even more so, I wonder what the people who operate the park think of all of this. And, I wonder how well it would be received if I were to return to this tree, and add a contribution of my own. If others have the same thoughts, what could this tree look like a year from now?

While hiking this trail today, I did not believe I was going to get any good photos at all (due to the haze, and the tree density of most of the hike). However, the more I look a the photo I chose to lead this entry with, the more I fall in love with it! It is not the kind of perfect photo that you will find on commercials or billboards (see this image). It is a photo of the same place, but from a different perspective; one of a world that is not quite so perfect but beautiful in its own way. It is an image of a world where people wake at 6 AM to get in a hike before a round of thunderstorms that never materialized. It is a world where we know enough about what is in front of us to stay out of danger, but with enough haze to keep the excitement associated with the mystery of the unknown. That is the world in which we live in, and the frustration occasionally waking up early unnecessarily is a small price to pay for the wonder and the mystery that accompanies it.

A Whole Different Kind of Camping

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For me, at least, this is a whole different kind of camping than what I am used to. I am not a very experienced camper. In the entire course of my life I think I have camped maybe a couple of dozen nights. All of these nights took place at a campground, typically reserving a site ahead of time. Last night, I took part in a style of camping that is fairly common in the State of Colorado, but seemed quite strange to me when I first heard of it.

There are no specified campsites or reservations. There is no park office to check you in, collect a fee, and sell you firewood. There are no restrooms or showers, and there are certainly no vending machines. This type of camping simply involves finding a spot in the forest to lay down tents. It is so basic, and so obvious. Just go and camp. Yet, in the context of the modern world that we live in, it sounds so strange.

In fact, I did not even know how to prepare for this trip. When we all went to the store to get supplies, I was the only idiot grabbing burgers, buns and cheese, as if I was preparing for a barbecue, until I was instructed otherwise by those who have actually camped in such places before. There are no grills here. You can only prepare food supported by the equipment that you bring.

We camped high up in the Rocky Mountains, around 60 miles west of Denver, just south of a place called Guanella Pass. This wilderness region is particularly significant, as trailheads leading to the top of two major mountains, Mount Bierstadt and Mount Evans, can be found throughout the area. So, although there is no specific campsite, it is still a common place to camp, as many heading up one or both of these mountains set up camp in the area.

We set up camp in the area along Geneva Creek, where a significant number of campfire setups like this one are left behind by previous campers. So, while I can count this among the most remote places I have spent an evening, I realized that there are places that are even more rustic, more primitive, and farther “away from it all” than here.

We did not intend to climb a major mountain, nor did we have the time to do so. This trip was actually planned last minute by people more knowledgeable than me about such things. We ended up hiking a more moderate, and shorter trail called the Burning Bear Trail, which follows a creek by the same name.

The trail starts off pretty flat, and looking more like a dirt trail than a typical hiking trail.

As the trail picked up, I saw a significant amount of chopped down tree branches, many of which were chopped down in some sort of regular pattern. In one section, the tree branches appeared to have been arranged to form some sort of tepee. I took a gander inside, but it did not feel too useful. Also pictured above is the columbine, which is Colorado’s State Flower.

While there were no major waterfalls, there were a lot of small waterfalls along the trail, and plenty of places where my dog could cool off in the creek.

After hiking roughly 2.5 miles, and climbing probably about 900 feet, we reached some kind of old cabin, which made for a good stopping point, where we could turn around and get back to the campground with plenty of time to prepare fire and dinner and such.

Returning to the trailhead around 6:15 P.M., we encountered what I thought was the most amazing view of the entire wilderness area of the day. By that hour, the sun had reached a lower angle, accentuating the mountain’s higher peaks.

In some ways camping that evening was similar to a typical camping experience. We cooked some food, set up a campfire, told some ridiculous stories, and went to bed around 11. There was marshmallow roasting, and people throwing all kinds of random items into the fire to see how they would interact with the heat and flames. Mosquitoes came out in gradually greater and greater numbers as the evening progressed, and went away around sundown.

However, in some other ways it was different. As previously mentioned, we were not grilling. Instead, we were cooking food on small stoves. Although we did use some previously purchased bundles of firewood, we also used a significant amount of firewood that we gathered from random tree branches. In fact, we even tried to lite branches that were retrieved from the creek. They turned out to be a bit too wet.

There were a couple of other firsts for me on this journey. Aside from being my first time camping at a place other than a designated campsite, it was my first time camping with a dog. This presented some other challenges, but, my dog definitely seemed to enjoy it. Also, at an elevation close to 10,000 feet, it was by far the highest elevation I had ever camped at.

In the end, one of my favorite parts of the evening was when I arrived back at the campsite at roughly 6:30, went back to the tent, and threw all of my stuff down, including my wallet, phone, and keys. I had previously not thought about this, but these three things represent the basic necessities of our connected 21st century world. Most days when I wake up, I reflexively pack those three things into my pants pockets. Even when I am going for a bike ride, I have them in my camelback. In a way, setting these three items aside is symbolic of having truly escaped to somewhere different. It is truly having left everything behind and actually haven taken a break from whatever your day-to-day life typically entails, including it’s stress, anxiety, and uncertainty. Once those three items are put away, the here and now is all that needs to be considered, and there is something inherently amazing about that, which I had previously failed to appreciate.

Two Ways Up Lookout Mountain

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The first time I heard about Lookout Mountain, the first thing I thought of was teenagers making out in their cars half an hour after sunset. It just seemed like the kind of place a crazy new high school couple, with access to a vehicle along with the freedom that comes with it for the first time in their lives, would go. It is that perfect middle ground for high schoolers starved for both attention and alone time. They are far enough out of the “public eye” (i.e. social circle) to not feel too awkward, but not far enough out of the “public eye” to not get the recognition they crave.

To some, the fact that I automatically defaulted to this thought process is a demonstration of a disturbing level of immaturity. But, I am strangely comforted by the fact that my mind occasionally defaults to such ideas and pursuits. One of my goals as I get older is to never lose that youthful sense of wonder that makes everything seem so significant and magical early on in life. Sure, if I were still trying to take high school girls “up to Lookout” at this age, it would be quite pathetic! However, I take significant pride in the ability to still see places like this and imagine it’s possibilities from a perspective that is quite youthful, while still approaching it with the wisdom and maturity that I have gained over the years by being an astute observer of the world, humans, and human nature.

So, although my first thought of this mountain was one of 16 year olds making out in cars and possibly allowing themselves to go further, I came to understand it’s cultural significance to Colorado and the Rocky Mountains when it became the first major mountain I climbed on my bicycle after moving here from Illinois. In a way, Lookout Mountain welcomes people like me to the world of cycling in the Rockies the same way I imagine it welcoming those 16 year olds to “adulthood”.

As the stormy weather that plagued Colorado the week leading up to Memorial Day came to a close, I decided to pursue this mountain in another unique manner. I decided that on Monday, I would hike up the Mountain, using the Chimney Gulch and Lookout Mountain trails. Then, on Tuesday, I would ride my bike up Lookout Mountain Road.

Regardless of whether one decides to pursue this mountain on foot or by bicycle, it begins at a (relatively) light to moderate level of difficulty. The trail heads up a gentile slope that would be considered “moderate” in terms of hiking. The bike ride is up a slope that most with little or no climbing experience would consider quite difficult, but it is a bit over a mile into the ride before the climb picks up.

While the bike ride does offer some amazing views, and I would argue better views of the Denver skyline, about a mile into the hike, some waterfalls form at this time of year, when rains are significant, giving me a whole new perspective of Lookout Mountain.

It is at this point cyclists will encounter their first major set of switchbacks (along with some steeper terrain). The hiking part also picks up in intensity.

Just after the halfway point comes a somewhat easier part of the climb. It is at this point the road somewhat flattens out for cyclists, and most can shift up a gear or two and pick up a few miles per hour in speed.

Roughly 2/3 of the way up the mountain, the hiking trail meets up with Lookout Mountain road for the second and final time, at a place called Windy Saddle Park (near Windy Saddle Peak).

Windy Saddle Park offers a great view of the Clear Creek Valley to the West. The photo to the left was actually taken back in April on a previous bicycle trip up Lookout Mountain, while the one on the right was taken on Memorial Day. Colorado is typically a very dry state, with a very brown or red look (depending where you are). However, the week preceding Memorial Day was quite wet, with daily thunderstorms, and even four consecutive days of hail. These photos, taken from the same place, demonstrate how different Colorado can look during different seasons and weather patterns.

After Windy Saddle Park comes the most challenging part of the trip, regardless of whether one is hiking or cycling. Cyclists will encounter a series of switchbacks with a higher grade and frequency than the switchbacks in the earlier part of the climb. When I continued on the hiking trail, I had anticipated the same increase in intensity. What surprised me was the sudden change in tree density. It felt as if we had suddenly left the wide open and entered a forest.

There are two trail junctions in this more challenging (although still not “14er” level) part of the trail. First, the Beaver Brook Trail, which is a longer trail that winds through the rest of Jefferson County, breaks off to the right. Luckily, these trail junctions are clearly marked so nobody spends hours wandering around wondering when they will finally get to the top. The second junction is with the Buffalo Bill Trail, which goes to the part of the mountain where Buffalo Bill’s grave is.

Lookout Mountain is not a single peak. It is more of a mound. One one end of the mound is the tower most commonly associated with Lookout Mountain. On this other end is Buffalo Bill’s Grave. Buffalo Bill’s Grave is a great destination point for cyclists. There is a gift shop at the top offers water for free, nice bathrooms, and great snacks. Being pretty much at the same elevation as the other side of Lookout Mountain, one can stop and turn around without feeling like they cheated themselves out of part of the climb.

While (excluding driving) there are two ways up the mountain, there are three ways down. One other thing I discovered about Lookout Mountain is that it is a popular place for hang-gliding/ para-sailing.

Depending on the day of the week and conditions, it is not too terribly uncommon to encounter around a dozen gliders taking off and landing at different points on the east side of the mountain.

Between the awkward adolescents in their cars just past sundown, cyclists like me achieving our first significant Rocky Mountain climbs, and hang-gliders soaring through the air over town, Lookout Mountain is truly a place where dreams come true. It is a place where people feel a sense of achievement, a sense of advancement, and a sense of welcome into what’s ahead. For cyclists like me, it is even more challenging bike rides, higher into the mountains. For those adolescents, it is adulthood, and all of the challenges that will come. Either way, it is both magnificent and scary, but best appreciated by looking upon it with the same sense of wonder that we begin our lives with.

A Bike Ride to Roxborough State Park

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The primary reason I love cycling as much as I do is that I am able to go places a significant distance away completely under my own power. For many years I have enjoyed commuting to work (now only 1.5 miles but formerly 6 miles), running errands, visiting specific places, and getting myself to and from specific events by bicycle. I feel the benefits are two-fold. There is the obvious money savings on fuel (and/or parking/ transit). In addition to the monetary savings, I find the exercise and time outdoors to have a been a great value to my health, both mentally and physically, over the years.

Roxborough State Park is about 30 miles South of central Denver. It is a place I had never really thought about visiting up until a few weeks ago when I was looking for new interesting places to ride my bike to, and wanted a ride that would be roughly two hours each way. In Denver, it is possible to cover a good amount of distance quite quickly using the metro area’s bike trails, which bypass traffic signals, as well as most terrain features that would normally slow a cyclist down.

The Platte River trail can be followed from Denver southward to it’s terminus at the C-470 trail, about 16 miles south of downtown. The Platte River trail is quite flat, as it tracks right along the river. However, the C-470 trail, which roughly follows the highway (which is the Metro area’s outer loop), contains a lot more rolling hills. After several miles on the C-470 trail, I arrived at Chattfield State Park, a reservoir, and popular boating destination on the southern fringe of the metro area.

A couple of years ago, this was the destination of a couple of rides I had done. Last year, I did a ride to Waterton Canyon, the starting point of the Colorado Trail, a place I also rode by on my way to Roxborough State Park. It is somewhat encouraging to actually see my continued progress as a cyclist right in front of me. However, it also made me realize that there is one disturbing parallel between cycling (or any activity of this nature) and drug addiction; as the more I ride my bicycle, the farther and more intense of a ride I need to do to feel “satisfied”. This is beginning to feel eerily similar to the gradual increase in tolerance a regular drinker experiences, or the ever increasing doses many drug addicts demand over time.

There was a fairly long line of cars at the entrance to this park. Luckily, I was able to bypass this line, saving me both roughly 20 minutes of time, as well as the $7 entrance fee to the park.

The road from the entrance to the visitor center, basically the last two miles of the ride, was not all that fun. It was gravel and bumpy for much of the way. I felt uncomfortable going over 13 miles per hour. However, the park rangers were quite pleased that I did not try to use my bicycle on any of the trails, as they do not permit bicycles on the trails.

At the visitor center, I realized that one of the main attractions of this particular park is the wildlife. Showing people the fur and bones of dead animals seems like a somewhat sick way of presenting what the park had to offer to it’s visitors, but it was really neat to actually feel the fur of a black bear for the first time in my life!

The rock formations at Roxborough State Park were actually quite similar to what I saw at Garden of the Gods. In fact, it is easy to see how the same geological processes created the rock formations that run up and down the edge of the front range, including the Garden of the Gods, the place, as well as places like Red Rocks.

The park is also set up quite similar to Garden of the Gods. Both places make it easy for the average non-outdoorsy tourist to attain a good view of the park. Here, the Fountain Valley Overlook, a mere half mile from the parking lot with only a slight grade, provides views like the one at the top of this entry to those with no interest whatsoever of getting any exercise. The park also offers somewhat more strenuous hiking. Carpenter Peak is roughly 1000 feet higher in elevation than the visitor center.

I meandered around the park a bit, but decided not to do the more strenuous hike as to preserve my energy for bicycling. The only wildlife I encountered were these three deer, which is not particularly out of the ordinary. However, I did encounter them at a much closer distance than I typically do.

For much of my time at Roxborough State Park, I was intrigued by these relatively short trees I encountered all over the park. These tress are quite different than the ones I typically see around Colorado. I later read, on the way out of the park, that there are some unique species of trees, as well as insects and animals, that live here due to the micro-climates created by the wind patterns that these rock formations create. In fact, Roxborough State Park is considered a destination not only for it’s rock formations, but also for it’s unique wildlife.

While marveling at the beauty of the park, and considering how awesome it might be to live in one of those houses that overlooks the place, the weather caught me off guard. Prior to this ride, I looked at the forecast for Denver, which called for a threat of rain after 3 P.M. However, 30 miles farther south (and closer to the Palmer Divide), and roughly 1,000 feet higher in elevation, any threat of thunderstorms is naturally going to come earlier in the day. Right around noon, I noticed a few raindrops, and suddenly noticed the clouds beginning to build overhead.

My bike ride home ended up being a race against mother nature, which I barely won, partially by blatantly ignoring the 15 mile per hour speed limits posted along the trail through South Suburban Littleton. With a little bit of help from the wind at times, I was able to make the 28 mile ride from Roxborough State Park in 100 minutes, returning home by 1:45 P.M. As someone who typically pays close attention to the weather, and understands weather patterns quite well, this was a somewhat embarrassing oversight on my part. However, I do feel a sense of accomplishment in making the return ride so quickly. And, once again, I was reminded of what I love most about cycling; being able to travel a good amount of distance, and even see my own progress on a map, all under my own power.

An Overlook of the City

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Starting sometime between the ages of 3 and 7, we are all asked the same question; What do you want to be when you grow up? Sometime between the day we are first asked this question and the first time we purchase an alcoholic beverage legally, we all answer this question. Some of us, inspired by an event, a hero, or something we are really interested in, figure this out at a young age. Meanwhile, others answer this question later on, after a year or two in college with an “undeclared” major.

Whether we answer this question at the age of 5 or 20, we all determine “what we want to be” believing that we have some kind of final answer to this question. One of the biggest surprises that we all encounter in the adult world is that “What do you want to be when you grow up?” is a question that we never stop answering. Sure, some of us may spend up to a few years at a time in a sort of steady-state, remaining in one place. But, eventually, inevitably, some form of change, or opportunity for a change, will come our way, requiring us to revisit the question.

I actually learned this fact years ago, when I was actually given two different options for where to take my career by a former boss. So, the fact that I am currently approaching a crossroads that may take me down a different career path, to a different location, or both, does not come as a complete shocker to me. While not surprised, there is still plenty to think about, and sometimes the best thinking is done in another setting.

A common scene in the movies (and on TV) is for one of the main characters to absorb recent events and ponder what they are to do next while overlooking their city’s skyline. This is a scene I reenacted somewhat accidentally today when I discovered the best view of the Denver skyline I have seen to date from a place called Mount Galbraith.

Mount Galbraith is located just to the west of the town of Golden, Colorado. With a peak at only 7,260 feet, hiking to the top is not challenging. The vertical climb from the parking lot probably does not even reach 1,000 feet. For someone looking to hike in Colorado with no prior hiking experience, this may be a good choice. Unlike other trails near Golden, there is no mountain biking permitted on these trails, and the trails are significantly less crowded than any of the trails near Boulder.

I do not know why I came to this park today. I had a lot on my mind today, and needed to get away from the distractions that often disrupt my thought process; in particular YouTube, the internet, and the Olympics. So, I pretty much just got in the car and started to drive with no plan whatsoever. Before I knew it, I was approaching Golden, and I had remembered seeing a sign for some kind of hiking trail on the way to Golden Gate Canyon State Park. Knowing that in the month of February it is always safer to stay at lower elevations (this is due to both wind and snow pack), I decided at the last minute to stop.

I also made my Siberian Husky come along for the ride, but she seemed to enjoy it. This is probably the closest I will ever come to getting a picture of my dog overlooking a city skyline, something that I think makes for a neat picture. In fact, I think Dogs Overlooking Skylines would make for an awesome calender. 12 different cities, 12 different dog breeds. If someone made it, I would buy one for sure!

Today I followed my instinct, and I did what countless movie and TV characters have done; find a good view of the city skyline and ponder what is going on in my life. I’m guessing most people feel that when they come to a place like this they are taking a step back from life, and looking at what is going on from above. It almost feels as if we are taking a big-picture omnipresent view of day-to-day life when we observe from a place like this. While on a typical day, we are looking at one particular block, one building, or even one desk. Coming to a place like this, the entire city, as well as many places around it, all come into view. It is natural for this view to prompt anyone to look at the big picture.

And, it is time to apply this big picture view to that age old question. What do you want to be when you grow up? Or, for those of us that are already grown up, we can more simply say, what do you want to be? Whenever anyone asks or answers this question, it seems like the discussion always revolves 100% around jobs and careers. But, there is more to who someone is than their career. Maybe you want to be the person your friends can depend on? Maybe you want to travel and have some interesting experiences? Or maybe you just want to have a balanced life? When it comes to “what you want to be”, ambitions like these are a valid part of the discussion and should not be ignored.

A Weekend to Remember for Under $100?

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Genesee Park is a place I had never really thought too much about. For most of my first year and a half in Colorado, I was barely aware of it’s existence. I mostly knew that there was some kind of park at the spot along Interstate 70 where the high peaks of the Rocky Mountains first appear, which is about half an hour west of Denver. But, on most of those trips I would be on my way to the ski resort, or some other destination that is more well known, and farther West along the interstate. With about half a day’s worth of spare time, and little appetite for a long drive, as holiday travels await, I decided to explore this area and see what I would find.

Not surprisingly, I was the only person at Genesee Park today. Not only is it off-season for places like this, but it is also a weekday, a time when most other people are working. In addition, the park was closed for the season. Being alone in a place like this is somewhat of a strange experience, especially for someone who is accustomed to an urban environment, with a plethora of noise and crowds. However, being completely alone was what allowed me to truly tap into my imagination and discover what could come of a place like this during the summertime.

What surprised me about this mountain park were the plethora of available activities. The two short red poles are obviously for horseshoes, and the two taller metal poles are for setting up a volleyball net.

Additionally, the park had a pretty wide open softball field, which even included a home plate and a backstop. Combined with a subtle smell of wood near the stoves adjacent to the picnic tables and I instantly imagined myself here on a warm summer’s day, with groups of campers taking part in a multitude of activities. I pictured not only the activities the park is specifically set up for, but a multitude of others, such as Ultimate Frisbee, or just simply goofing off with all of the logs and pine cones all over the ground. Children seem to never run out of things to do at a place like this, but sometimes a weekend up here can bring out that imaginative side of adults as well. With the right group of people, a simple weekend away at a place like this could prove to be quite memorable.

It also dawned on me that the experiencing I am currently imagining at this place would also be quite inexpensive, at least compared to many other activities. I did not do the math, to calculate the cost of gas, food, tents, etc., but I could not imagine it coming out to more than $100 per person. In fact, it could end up being quite a bit less. Just the thought of having an incredible weekend like this for such a small price demonstrates what is really important in this world.

It is odd that Christmas time, a time originally designed for people to reflect on what is really important in life, can now have the opposite effect. Regardless of what people think of the practice, few people avoid the stress involved in purchasing Christmas gifts at this time of year. But, what is it that people really want? And what do people really need for Christmas? After a quick mental survey of the people I know, as well as society as a whole, I came to the conclusion that while a new shirt may help someone’s confidence, and a new game may prove fun to play with, we are generally looking in the wrong places to satisfy ourselves. What many of us need is not a new gadget, or an expensive coat. What we need is more subtle. We need things like companionship, appreciation, a sense of purpose, and security. These are the things that we can often find at places like Genesee Park when we share experience with one other, and share ourselves with one another amongst the breathtaking backdrop of some unexpected mountain views.

However, it seems to me that all too often, rather than looking to places like Genesee, or to the people around us to fulfill what we need in life, we look to places like this.

I will certainly give and receive presents this Christmas. Some may even excite me quite a bit. But, in the long run, the things that matter most will be more reflected in the way we view ourselves, the way we view life, the people around us, the way we treat one another, and the experiences we all have.

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.

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.

A Rite of Passage

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Birth to roughly age 22 is an endless barrage of rites of passages. There is birth itself, first steps, first words, first day of school, learning to ride a bike, first kiss, then high school and college are one eight year long rite of passage into adulthood which includes learning to drive, and then all of the other things you can legally do at age 17, then 18, then 21. Due to the ridiculous drinking age in this country, many of us end up going a little bit overboard somewhere in there. On top of that, there are a bunch of rites of passages in there that are specific to each individual, like first baseball games, or learning musical instruments.

The final rite of passage in all of this is graduating and getting a job (or, for some people graduate school). At this point in time, most of us are quite sick of rites of passages. This is especially true for some of us that went to graduate school. The time has just come for us to stop preparing for our lives and live our lives. However, the transition is quite abrupt. We go from being in a near constant state of flux and trying to figure out where are lives are going, to a quasi-steady state, where day in, day out, week in, week out, year in, year out, has the potential to follow some routine that never changes, and never progresses. After a few years of this, it is natural to get a bit restless. Before long, we see American Pie, or Superbad, or Clueless, or whatever movie reminds us of that time in our lives, and almost become nostalgic for the time in our lives when the future, heck, the next week, was an open book, as opposed to a likely mirror of the last.

In Colorado, it is considered somewhat of a rite of passage to climb to the top of a “14er” for the first time. A “14er” is a mountain whose peak is more than 14,000 feet in elevation. The selection of the number 14,000 seemed a bit arbitrary to me at first. It seemed like it just happened to be the nearest round number, and that it would be different if the U.S. were on the metric system. But, this demarcation of peaks exceeding 14,000 feet seems useful to Coloradans for two reasons:

1. With a total of 54 “14ers”, it gives Colorado hikers a large enough variety of places to go and hike these peaks, but not so many that climbing all of them is out of reach.

2. With a total of 54 “14ers”, Colorado has significantly more of these peaks than all other states, including Alaska (14) and California (12). So, despite the fact that those states have the tallest peaks in North America and the lower 48 respectively, Colorado has a basis to claim the top position in the country with regards to mountains and mountaineering.

This is why yesterday I woke up before sunrise and made the trek to Gray’s Peak in order to accomplish the feat of climbing my first “14er”, and becoming a true Coloradan (in the eyes of some).

Gray’s peak is actually the highest point on the Continental Divide, and the trail up to the top of this peak (as well as Torrey’s Peak) is part of a national scenic trail that follows the continental divide. This trail is only about 70% complete. If someone wanted to traverse the entire trail, they would have to do some road-walking. This is most likely why we don’t hear about this trail as much as the Appalachian and the Pacific Crest trails.

I was lucky enough to go with a group of people that included three first timers (including myself), and a mixture of people who had varying levels of experience climbing “14ers”. A couple of people had been up over ten of these peaks, some others had done only a couple. It is also just fun for me to do activities in groups like this, and I am glad I got to share this accomplishment with them.

Whenever attempting something that requires physical strength or endurance, part of the battle is always mental. Seeing Gray’s Peak (left), and Torrey’s Peak (right, partially hidden behind the hill), toward the beginning of the climb definitely created an intimidation factor that somewhat reminded me of the first time I went skiing in the Rocky Mountains, at Steamboat Springs, and looked at the ski mountain, after having only seen ski mountains in the Midwest.

The trail up the mountain follows a path that has been mapped out for some time, and has been improved and preserved by the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative. It is likely the safest way to hike up the mountain, but it follows a ridge that looks a bit scary, as the thought of being on a small linear feature like the one seen in this picture can be somewhat frightening. Luckily, when we got there, it was actually less scary up close than it was looking at it from afar.

With pretty much the entire hike being above the tree line, I began to get some pretty scenic views only halfway up the mountain, which is already above 12,000 feet in elevation. It was quite interesting to see some of the other peaks looking away from the top of the mountain, to the north. As a scientist, it is hard not to be intrigued by seeing a mountain where one side is getting a significant amount of sun and the other is not. It appears as if grass grows on one side but not the other, which indicates a different ecosystem and a different climate, all within the arctic tundra, dependent on local topography.

For roughly the first two thirds of the way up the first peak, I was actually able to keep up with the fastest people among the group. However, having less experience climbing at these altitudes, it was inevitable that I would eventually drop back. I took this opportunity to get some image of the others in the group hiking, as there was a switchback zone after the ridge we had previously followed. Hiking trails like these definitely involves a significant amount of looking at the ground, as there are a lot of small rocks, which need to be approached somewhat carefully. Even after I let everyone know I was taking pictures, some people still did not look up.

It took me about three hours to get to the top, and I summited just after 10 A.M. The feeling of getting to the top is hard to describe, especially for a first timer like myself. It is definitely a feeling of accomplishment, and a really good confidence builder. It is also mixed with this feeling of being on top of the world. All of the mountains, the ones that I typically view from Denver as towering over the city from the west were all below me. I had climbed to the top, conquered it in a way. I may never look upon these mountains the same way again. The very scenery that I can see on all non-cloudy days from the back window of my apartment has been suddenly transformed from symbolizing what is challenging, wild, and untamed to symbolizing that all things are possible, and that challenges can be met with determination and proper planning.

At the top of Gray’s Peak, we actually found a pretty nice place to sit, where the rocks somewhat shielded us from the wind. For some reason, it is always significantly windier at the top of a mountain peak than it is just a mere 100 feet lower. I have noticed this before, but wondered if it would feel different on this hike, which was pretty much all above the tree line. It wasn’t, it felt more than twice as windy at the top of Gray’s peak. I also learned something very surprising about hiking yesterday. On the way up to the mountain, I was told that all hikers should bring a lemon with them on their hike. This made absolutely no sense to me, as I was under the impression that I should stick with sandwiches and power bars to avoid carrying excess weight. Liz and Laura (pictured above) followed by this advice, brought the lemons, and actually let us have some. I had one lemon wedge, so I probably did not receive too much impact from it, but it did seem refreshing and energizing. Who would have thought.

I also brought Bigfooting to new heights, doing my pose at 14,270 feet above sea level, and on the Continental Divide! The scenery behind me is looking in the other direction (South), where I could see more gigantic mountains from above- exhilarating!

From Gray’s Peak, it is possible to “saddle” over to Torrey’s Peak. To do this, I had to descend 575 feet along a ridge between the two peaks, which actually follows along the Continental Divide, and then climb up the second peak. Apparently, this picture taken at the top of Torrey’s Peak, with a Which Which bag in the photo, entitles me to a free sandwich at Which Which. I wonder if I can upgrade to a large size sandwich for posting this picture here.

Climbing up Torrey’s Peak was harder than climbing up Gray’s. The trail up was steeper, and, possibly because I was already tired from climbing the first peak, I had to stop and catch my breath several times.

When I reached the top of my second “14er”, I was quite worn out. This is how I knew that I had given it my everything, and truly pushed my limit. I could have stopped after peak #1 already having accomplished my rite of passage. But, I decided I wanted to leave with absolutely no doubt that I had pushed my body as hard as it was willing to go. I even had to leave the Bigfooting up to others on this peak.

Going down was scary, especially this second peak, which was steeper than the first. I don’t know how I feel about it. I had become accustomed to having trees to hold onto in a pinch, but this hike was all above the tree line. I actually went pretty slow at first, but then started resorting to descending the mountain using some of my skiing techniques, primarily facing my feet sideways and turning back and forth.

To get down from Torrey’s Peak, one must return to the saddle area between the two peaks, and then follow another trail down towards the parking area. This lead us down the mountain on a slightly different path.

We actually had to trudge through an area with residual snowpack. While I do find it interesting to ponder why part of this mountainside still has snow and other parts, facing the same direction do not, this was my least favorite part of the hike. It was real slippery and we were descending. I consider hiking and skiing (or snowshoeing) to be two different activities, and usually plan to avoid hiking on too much snow. This snow is still melting obviously, and some small streams of water from this snowmelt were observed further down the trail.

After another area of switchbacks, the descent got less steep, and the rest of the hike was somewhat uneventful. We got back to the parking lot around 2:30 P.M., about an hour before thunderstorms erupted in the area, but apparently there were already storms elsewhere in the area. What was amazing for me to see, were people starting their ascent up the mountain after noon. We wanted to tell them to turn back and wait for another day, but I am never sure what to do about that. As someone who is typically not a fan of unsolicited advice, I am hesitant about giving it to people, even in the case where their idiocy is blatantly obvious. A general rule about climbing “14ers” is to get there as early as possibly, preferably before 7 A.M. (which we did not quite make). If arrival before 9 A.M. is not possible, it is probably not worth it to go. I learned this within a month of moving to Colorado, without even seeking this knowledge. So I find it hard to believe that someone would try to scale this mountain starting at 1 P.M. on a day with greater than normal monsoonal thunderstorm likelihoods.

It was wonderful to have completed this, my first “14er”, and traversed this rite of passage. Having done this will give me something akin to the Colorado version of street-cred. With two other first timers amongst us, we took some “graduation photos”, with the mountains we had climbed in the background. I actually billed this the “14er Class of 2013”, but I was possibly a bit warn out and light-headed when I came up with that one. At this level (still over 13,500 feet), there is 35-40% less oxygen available than at sea level.

Does this make me a true Coloradan now? No. It actually makes me something more akin to a true Colorado transplant. One of the things I have learned over the past year is that it is the transplants that are the ones obsessed with skiing, hiking, and all of the mountain activities in general. The only people I have met over the past year here that do not ski have been Colorado natives. But, what makes someone a true Coloradan? One could argue that those of us that are going out and experiencing what Colorado has to offer are the truest Coloradans there are. It is in the same vein that some argue that some immigrants can be counted amongst the truest Americans there are. Of course, there are valid arguments on the other side, but as I have viewed tons of Colorado Native bumper stickers over the past year, I do find it hard to accept that being born in a certain location is a prerequisite for belonging there.

The Action Story

Learning about the world and about ourselves through travel and experiences

Category Archives: Personal Development

Places of Questionable Significance

Bergen Peak; Beating the Weather

A Whole Different Kind of Camping

Two Ways Up Lookout Mountain

A Bike Ride to Roxborough State Park

An Overlook of the City

The Last Chance Of The Year

A New Activity

A Rite of Passage