Sunday, December 20, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The San Luis Valley, Sand Dunes, Sangre de Cristo Mountains
A mind-boggling array of beautiful landscapes
(by mark)
We successfully completed our first camping trip in Colorado! No bears and no mountain lions. Though we did get to see a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep.
We traveled down to the San Luis Valley in South Central Colorado to meet our friends Chris and Jamie for some backpacking adventure. This expansive valley is flanked by the San Juan Mountains to the west and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east. Sangre de Cristo translates to “Blood of Christ”—legend has it that a Spanish priest laying on his deathbed saw the mountains lit up by the setting sun and uttered those words with his last breaths. Anyway, nestled up against a dip in the “Sangres” is the Great Sand Dunes National Park. And GREAT these sand dunes are! A confluence of wind, water and towering mountains caused sand to pile up at the foot of the range, creating the tallest sand dunes in North America, with the tallest topping out at 750 feet above the valley floor. We spent a night camping at edge of the forest along the dune field and enjoyed the scenery of the setting sun over the dunes.
After our night near the dunes, we embarked on a more ambitious hike up to South Zapata Lake, an alpine lake above treeline at an elevation of about 11,800 feet. Our hike started at about 8,900 feet, and we climbed nearly 3,000 feet over about 5 miles to reach a wonderful campsite at the edge of the forest. The next morning we walked up to the lake. This hike and campsite afforded some fantastic scenery. We hiked to several alpine lakes over the winter, but this is the first time we have ever camped in an alpine environment and the first time we’ve seen an alpine lake in the Spring. The scenery was awe-inspiring, including the many wildflowers, which Cassie plans to write about in a future post.
After hiking back down the mountain, Chris and Jamie headed for home in Texas and we headed for the town of Alamosa for a hot shower and a bed to sleep on. The view across the valley was quite spectacular.
We returned to the dunes the next morning to hike up to one of the highest (but not the highest, which would have been a much longer hike). The place is really a moonscape on earth. Amazing.
Here are 60 more pictures from our trip. Or click here for a larger version.
(by mark)
We successfully completed our first camping trip in Colorado! No bears and no mountain lions. Though we did get to see a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep.
We traveled down to the San Luis Valley in South Central Colorado to meet our friends Chris and Jamie for some backpacking adventure. This expansive valley is flanked by the San Juan Mountains to the west and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east. Sangre de Cristo translates to “Blood of Christ”—legend has it that a Spanish priest laying on his deathbed saw the mountains lit up by the setting sun and uttered those words with his last breaths. Anyway, nestled up against a dip in the “Sangres” is the Great Sand Dunes National Park. And GREAT these sand dunes are! A confluence of wind, water and towering mountains caused sand to pile up at the foot of the range, creating the tallest sand dunes in North America, with the tallest topping out at 750 feet above the valley floor. We spent a night camping at edge of the forest along the dune field and enjoyed the scenery of the setting sun over the dunes.
 |
| From Sand and Sangres June 2009 |
After our night near the dunes, we embarked on a more ambitious hike up to South Zapata Lake, an alpine lake above treeline at an elevation of about 11,800 feet. Our hike started at about 8,900 feet, and we climbed nearly 3,000 feet over about 5 miles to reach a wonderful campsite at the edge of the forest. The next morning we walked up to the lake. This hike and campsite afforded some fantastic scenery. We hiked to several alpine lakes over the winter, but this is the first time we have ever camped in an alpine environment and the first time we’ve seen an alpine lake in the Spring. The scenery was awe-inspiring, including the many wildflowers, which Cassie plans to write about in a future post.
 |
| From Sand and Sangres June 2009 |
After hiking back down the mountain, Chris and Jamie headed for home in Texas and we headed for the town of Alamosa for a hot shower and a bed to sleep on. The view across the valley was quite spectacular.
 |
| From Sand and Sangres June 2009 |
We returned to the dunes the next morning to hike up to one of the highest (but not the highest, which would have been a much longer hike). The place is really a moonscape on earth. Amazing.
 |
| From Sand and Sangres June 2009 |
Here are 60 more pictures from our trip. Or click here for a larger version.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Bike to Work (by Cassie)
I started commuting to work by bike about a month ago. I do it primarily for exercise (sorry to disappoint the hard core environmentalists out there) and putting in miles to train for the longer touring rides that Mark and I want to do this summer. I had to chuckle at my mom's reaction when I first told her about riding my bike to work -- "Was this Mark's idea?" Actually, I told her, I wanted to bike commute for a long time but was daunted by heavy traffic, sketchy city neighborhoods, and a busy schedule. But now, being free of all those barriers, I decided to give it a try.
Since the distance from Fort Collins (where we live) to Greeley where I work is roughly 30 miles, I started with a modified commute. I can drive to Windsor (15 minutes from Fort Collins), park at the trail head of the Poudre River Trail on County Road 13 and then bike the 18 or so miles to work almost completely on the bike path. It is a beautiful trail -- even the few sections that pass by mines, factories and light industrial areas.
The designers made the trail so that the concrete curves and follows the shape of the river in most places -- this makes things a little more slow going for me since I don't corner very well on my bike -- but I am usually not going very fast anyway. Going slow gives me time to look at the scenery -- snow covered Longs' Peak, the river, and the amazing variety of birds (eagles, hawks, pelicans, flycatchers, turkeys, pheasants, herons, meadowlarks ...) that live in this area of grassland. I am pretty sure the habitat surrounding the river is the equivalent of the Old Country Buffet if you are a bird -- bugs are abundant. On one section of the trail, I have to take a deep breathe, shut my mouth tight and squint hard for about 100 yards to avoid getting bugs in my eyes and teeth. Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do about them getting in my ears.
I found out that I should not take the warnings about falling rocks and high water lightly. Yikes! (Believe it or not, this pile of rocks that fell in the morning was completely cleaned off the trail by the afternoon.) Yesterday, I waded through several spans of shin-deep water that covered the trail in low areas -- between the snow melt and lots of rain that we've had here the river is running high.
Also, I have learned that just like some of the drivers that I see on I-25 when I am commuting by car, some of the animals are becoming familiar faces. Almost every morning I have been commuting, I run into the same AWOL cow that has managed to find his way to the outside of the pasture fence and onto the trail. The first time I was a little scared to pass AWOL cow, but she seems rather indifferent to me now. The baby cows seem pretty curious about bicycles, though. They usually stop and stare and stare as I go by.
There is also a skittish coyote that lives in the fields around the Lafarge mine near Greeley -- the prairie dogs and bunnies in the neighborhood are none too happy about it either. When the coyote shows up, the prairie dogs stand up on their mounds and all sound the alarm call (which sounded something like a dog bark to early settlers -- so that's why they are called prairie dogs.) A researcher named Slobodchikoff has done studies that suggest prairie dogs have a complex communication system to describe predators and alert each other to danger that resembles language. There are five kinds of prairie dogs: white-tailed, black-tailed, Gunnison, Utah, and Mexican. I am pretty sure the prairie dogs living around the trail are black-tailed prairie dogs. The small blur below is a prairie dog (in case you were wondering).
When I am biking on the trail, the surroundings often remind me of being near the beach. Maybe it's the huge sky, the constant wind, or large numbers of pelicans, geese, and other water birds -- I am not sure. (As it turns out, Colorado has been covered by shallow seas for a lot of its geologic history. )
Yesterday I made the full one-way 30 mile trip to work -- it took me about 2 and a half hours. Yes, I am not quite competing with Lance Armstrong at that pace -- but I bet I could
kick the butt of most of the four-wheeled commuters that pass me by. Biking to the trail from our house is not hard since Fort Collins has an extensive network of bike lanes. My goal is to make the round trip to work by bike at least once by the end of June.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Fort Collins Mountain Biking.
(by Mark)
A little update for my mountain biking friends (and anyone else who cares to read). One of the great things about Fort Collins is that miles upon miles of trail sit just outside of town. It's about 2 miles from my front door to the closest trailhead. Last week I went out for night ride with one other guy at Horsetooth Mountain Park. I drove to this trailhead because it's a little sketchy to ride the necessary roads at night. The trailhead is about 11 miles away and gives access to about 30 miles of singletrack with 1500 foot climbs. We did an 11 mile ride with lots of climbing. It was cold and dark, so no pictures, but here's the track displayed in Google Earth.
Yesterday I went out for a long ride with a few folks I've met through a local mountain biking forum. This ride involved a lot of pavement, but it got me to some trails I hadn't seen yet. The trails extend south from Horsetooth reservoir and include city and county "open spaces" (i.e., parks). Here's the track from this ride.
The trails here are very different from the trails back east. First there are far more vistas to enjoy. For example:
Also, there's more climbing (duh!). The climbing was really hard when we first got here, but I think my lungs are adjusting to the altitude. But it's still a challenge...here is the profile from the ride (courtesy of my beloved GPS)
Finally, the trails are sandy with a lot of loose rocks. I wouldn't say they are more technical than east coast trails, but the loose soils and sand emphasize different skills.
This climbing and terrain make for a good time--new challenges and new sites. But overall it's really cool to be able to access this stuff with a short ride on pavement or a short drive. The city and county are committed to encouraging outdoor recreation and they do a lot for the mountain biking community. Very few trails are off limits to bikes and you can access some beautiful areas on two wheels. At the same time, they actively manage the trails by closing or rerouting trails that are damaged by erosion (which is good for the trail and good for local streams and water supply).
This is definitely a biking heaven.
A little update for my mountain biking friends (and anyone else who cares to read). One of the great things about Fort Collins is that miles upon miles of trail sit just outside of town. It's about 2 miles from my front door to the closest trailhead. Last week I went out for night ride with one other guy at Horsetooth Mountain Park. I drove to this trailhead because it's a little sketchy to ride the necessary roads at night. The trailhead is about 11 miles away and gives access to about 30 miles of singletrack with 1500 foot climbs. We did an 11 mile ride with lots of climbing. It was cold and dark, so no pictures, but here's the track displayed in Google Earth.
Yesterday I went out for a long ride with a few folks I've met through a local mountain biking forum. This ride involved a lot of pavement, but it got me to some trails I hadn't seen yet. The trails extend south from Horsetooth reservoir and include city and county "open spaces" (i.e., parks). Here's the track from this ride.
The trails here are very different from the trails back east. First there are far more vistas to enjoy. For example:
Also, there's more climbing (duh!). The climbing was really hard when we first got here, but I think my lungs are adjusting to the altitude. But it's still a challenge...here is the profile from the ride (courtesy of my beloved GPS)
Finally, the trails are sandy with a lot of loose rocks. I wouldn't say they are more technical than east coast trails, but the loose soils and sand emphasize different skills.
This climbing and terrain make for a good time--new challenges and new sites. But overall it's really cool to be able to access this stuff with a short ride on pavement or a short drive. The city and county are committed to encouraging outdoor recreation and they do a lot for the mountain biking community. Very few trails are off limits to bikes and you can access some beautiful areas on two wheels. At the same time, they actively manage the trails by closing or rerouting trails that are damaged by erosion (which is good for the trail and good for local streams and water supply).
This is definitely a biking heaven.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
We need some stinkin' showshoes
In our previous outing to the high country, we decided that we didn't need snowshoes. We were able to hike just fine because of the packed snow, but we had to turn back once we encountered soft snow. Yesterday, we went to the Never Summer Mountains, near Cameron Pass, for some hiking, and this time, we rented snowshoes.
It was a good thing we did rent snowshoes. Cameron Pass is on the Continental Divide in Northern Colorado. There was probably 3-5 feet of snow, mostly packed down from previous snowshoers and skiers, but not always. The snowpack was really incredible. It snows a lot up there.
Our hike took us from a trailhead on Route 14 to Lake Agnes, surrounded by the amazing Nokhu Crags. The weather was spectacular--warm, no clouds (or snow), bright and sunny. As we made our way toward the lake, we were treated to continuous views of the Crags and other peaks.
This is a popular place, and there are two backcountry huts for overnight stays in the area, so we encountered a lot of people. No solitude here, but the scenery is worth it nonetheless. Just as you get close to the lake, there's a small ridge you have to get over. Climbing up steep hills in deep snow seems like it would be quite difficult, but with snowshoes, it's now problem at all. Sometimes we stayed on the beaten path, sometimes we branched off and broke our own trail through the snow.
Finally, we emerged from the last bit of forest and arrived at the alpine lake. The sun was bright and warm so we stayed a while to enjoy the scene. A sampling of the MANY pictures we took:
Those strange rock formations called the Nokhu Crags played spectacular games with the sunlight. Unfortunately, we are mediocre photographers so we didn't really capture it very well. The peak itself is a sedimentary rock formation created when this area was under an ocean millions and millions of years ago. Erosive processes created the many shapes and continues to change the mountain to this day.
The more we visit sites like this, the more I understand why mountains inspire thoughts of the transcendent and sublime. Mountains are inviting with their spectacular displays, but at the same time, they can be very inhospitable and often dangerous. I'm currently reading a biography of Gifford Pinchot--the nation's first professional forester (sort of), first chief of the U.S. Forest Service, and early pivotal figure in the conservation movement that would eventually become modern environmentalism. Pinchot was inspired by scenes in the Adirondacks, the Sierra Mountains, and other places. He had legendary disputes with John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club. I can't say my visits change my views of their disputes and the modern environmental controversies we face, but I understand better why the emotions inspired by these places can be potent forces for good or bad. Pinchot and Muir developed a great friendship that was destroyed by their disputes over conservation issues, especially Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park. A valley that was eventually dammed to provide water for San Francisco.
Cassie said it best as she took in the scene: "Wow! God is da bomb!" And he/she/it works on a grand canvas, but there are wonderful small works too.
 |
| From Lake Agnes & Nokhu Crags |
It was a good thing we did rent snowshoes. Cameron Pass is on the Continental Divide in Northern Colorado. There was probably 3-5 feet of snow, mostly packed down from previous snowshoers and skiers, but not always. The snowpack was really incredible. It snows a lot up there.
 |
| From Lake Agnes & Nokhu Crags |
Our hike took us from a trailhead on Route 14 to Lake Agnes, surrounded by the amazing Nokhu Crags. The weather was spectacular--warm, no clouds (or snow), bright and sunny. As we made our way toward the lake, we were treated to continuous views of the Crags and other peaks.
 |
| From Lake Agnes & Nokhu Crags |
This is a popular place, and there are two backcountry huts for overnight stays in the area, so we encountered a lot of people. No solitude here, but the scenery is worth it nonetheless. Just as you get close to the lake, there's a small ridge you have to get over. Climbing up steep hills in deep snow seems like it would be quite difficult, but with snowshoes, it's now problem at all. Sometimes we stayed on the beaten path, sometimes we branched off and broke our own trail through the snow.
 |
| From Lake Agnes & Nokhu Crags |
Finally, we emerged from the last bit of forest and arrived at the alpine lake. The sun was bright and warm so we stayed a while to enjoy the scene. A sampling of the MANY pictures we took:
 |
| From Lake Agnes & Nokhu Crags |
 |
| From Lake Agnes & Nokhu Crags |
 |
| From Lake Agnes & Nokhu Crags |
 |
| From Lake Agnes & Nokhu Crags |
Those strange rock formations called the Nokhu Crags played spectacular games with the sunlight. Unfortunately, we are mediocre photographers so we didn't really capture it very well. The peak itself is a sedimentary rock formation created when this area was under an ocean millions and millions of years ago. Erosive processes created the many shapes and continues to change the mountain to this day.
The more we visit sites like this, the more I understand why mountains inspire thoughts of the transcendent and sublime. Mountains are inviting with their spectacular displays, but at the same time, they can be very inhospitable and often dangerous. I'm currently reading a biography of Gifford Pinchot--the nation's first professional forester (sort of), first chief of the U.S. Forest Service, and early pivotal figure in the conservation movement that would eventually become modern environmentalism. Pinchot was inspired by scenes in the Adirondacks, the Sierra Mountains, and other places. He had legendary disputes with John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club. I can't say my visits change my views of their disputes and the modern environmental controversies we face, but I understand better why the emotions inspired by these places can be potent forces for good or bad. Pinchot and Muir developed a great friendship that was destroyed by their disputes over conservation issues, especially Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park. A valley that was eventually dammed to provide water for San Francisco.
Cassie said it best as she took in the scene: "Wow! God is da bomb!" And he/she/it works on a grand canvas, but there are wonderful small works too.
 |
| From Lake Agnes & Nokhu Crags |
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Dear MDTOCO Blog Followers
While the humans have been boring you with tales of their move and recent outdoor adventures (that, I might add, they did not take us on) -- I know that you have been wondering how we (George and Betty) have been adjusting to their relocation out West.
Here is an insider interview to give our side of the story …
 |
| From The Dogs |
George: So, Betty … how are you adjusting to life in Colorado?
Betty: Colorado? When did we move to Colorado?
George: About a month ago -- when the humans drove us around in the car for a week straight.
Betty: Oh. I thought they were just lost. The tall human kept referring to his GPS.
George: It snows here and is cold a lot. How is that affecting you?
Betty: Well, I love the snow. Unlike rain, which is wet and makes me very unhappy – the snow is dry to walk on and is good to eat.
George: So, what you're saying is that what we perceive and experience is heavily mediated through language and concepts that are deeply ingrained in our ways of thinking and feeling, is that right?
Betty: Huh?
George: What about the pink rubber snow booties, Betty? Is that the hot new resort look for 2009?
 |
| From The Dogs |
 |
| From The Dogs |
Betty: I think they are some kind of torture device. Call the SPCA and report this, will ya? Supposedly they help me to walk in the snow and protect my paws from freezing in the cold temperatures. I really don't know what the humans were thinking.
George: Any other comments about your treatment by the humans since moving to Colorado?
Betty: Yeah. How come you get to sleep on the bed with the humans at night and I don't?
George: Um, next question. What are your thoughts about the Obama selection of a White House dog?
Betty: Well, no Obama people have contacted me yet for an interview. I may be interested in the position if their treats are chicken flavored. Of course, I would have to consider the past loyalty of our current humans. Also, I have gotten fond of pooping in their yard and am not sure I would want attention of the media and paparazzi that would come with the White house lawn.
George: Thank you, Betty. Is there anything else you'd like to say to followers of the blog?
Betty: Blog? What's a blog?
George: Never mind. Okay. Now you ask me something.
Betty: You gonna eat that treat?
George: Yes. Now ask me something else.
Betty: You gonna eat that treat NOW?
George: Is food ALL you can think about?
Betty: I thought I was supposed to be asking the questions.
George: Let's go. It's dinner time.
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