Climbing a mountain is one of the most often-used metaphors in literature, but for good reason — it’s a good metaphor for life. There’s a goal, challenge, and (hopefully) victory — and of course, the view from the top.
One of the great things about Memorial Day Weekend — aside from being a tribute to America’s fallen heroes and having three days off work — is that one can almost count on gorgeous weather, especially here in northern Colorado. So to kick off the traditional start of the summer season, Leah and I went for a hike and had a picnic atop of an icon of Fort Collins — Horsetooth Rock. Continue reading »
Considering all the excuses reasons Alyssa was coming up with to (unsuccessfully!) squeak out of the Race for Literacy, you might think she would have been perfectly content to stay inside with her legs propped up on a sofa while eating frozen yogurt.
“It hurts way too much to run on pavement,” she said, “and I don’t want to be too thrashed to do my weight workouts this week. I desperately need to get back to those since I’ve had to bail the last couple of weeks due to a really tweaky neck, and a back that I might have overdone something to in the yoga workshop, and then this week being so busy. You can tell I’m not so much of a runner anymore if I’m prioritizing my squats and deadlifts over a race.”
But no, you will never catch Super Woman lying still, plus Alyssa is the type of gal who’d wear a down jacket with flip-flops while enjoying that cup of cold, organic froyo. I.e., she doesn’t always make a whole lot of sense, but this may be one of the reasons all of her friends find her so endearing.
“How about the waterfalls hike at Big Basin? it’s 11.5 miles and strenuous…” Continue reading »
It may have just been a case of heightened expectations. It was also possible that the fish had breakfast, brunch, lunch, and a mid-afternoon snack already and were not simply hungry. In any case, it probably was Not a Good Idea for Tanya to tell me about her excellent angling skills or about all the fish she could “see” in the Curecanti Creek while we hiked on single-track 50 feet above. Because it made her all the more vulnerable to my claims that she was simply delusional. Continue reading »
Around this time of year, the topic of fourteeners frequently pops up in random conversation among Coloradoans. After all, Colorado has 54 peaks above 14,000 feet and August usually means ideal hiking weather. So it wasn’t exactly a coincidence that Julie, Lisa, Tori and I were all eager to bag one of these summits. Continue reading »
The initial idea was to climb one of the 54 Colorado Fouteeners, but with the snow from last weekend’s storm smothering mountaintops like whipped cream on a sundae, Anna and I decided something more mellow — i.e., lower — would be better.
Hence, we drove out to Lumpy Ridge east of Estes Park for a hike of just under eight miles up to Balanced Rock and back. Continue reading »
The snow from the last two days was melting quickly and the trails in the hills of Fort Collins were turning into a muddy mess, looking not too different than a chocolate sundae with whipped cream dripping off the sides. No matter — it was reasonably warm, only party cloudy, and Tori wanted to see her prairie dog friends in the Coyote Ridge Natural Area a home-run baseball hit behind her home.
We were not disappointed — plenty of “p-dogs” were out en masse, either sunbathing or running around. Here are some photos from this three-mile hike. Continue reading »
