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.
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 »
Good thing Tori was in town this weekend. Otherwise, instead of hiking a few miles on rolling, snow-covered trails at Lumpy Ridge, Nick might have coaxed me into running 10.
Or maybe even more. Continue reading »
Of all the climbs in the world, the most significant to me is the one towering over Fremont, California, a town of 200,000 where I lived for seven years. Mission Peak, after all, is where I’ve hiked a couple dozen times with 40 lbs on my back to train for Mt. Shasta and Mt. Whitney, and gone up during the middle of the night to celebrate the Winter Solstice.
It’s also a place where I have (randomly and not-so-randomly) encountered old friends. And so it felt entirely appropriate to go hiking there with Bandy, an ol’ buddy from high school, during a brief visit to the East Bay one weekend in September. Continue reading »
