Rock and Trail Tales

Coming toward the end of my quest, I lose all semblance of novelty in an effort to get a hike in every day for a month. To be fair, I had never started a hike from a cemetery... Fun walks, pretty flowers and stress relief abound!

Three more local hikes: Long Canyon/Green Mountain popsicle, Gregory Canyon to the Rangeview Trail and the summit of Flagstaff Mountain, and the classic, simple prairie and foothill loop on the Homestead and Big Bluestem trails.

A few more local walks on this episode, and even some repeated trail miles keep my streak going from April 6th to the 12th.  More loops around, Bluebell, Enchanted, and Kohler Mesas, two climbs of Flagstaff, and a spin just down the block to a little pond suffice to get me out each day.

With the seed planted, a rainy, snowy few days see to the seed's germination! Short walks around the CU South Campus, down Boulder Creek, up the McClintock Trail and across Kohler and Bluebell Mesas.

Who are we, and how have we become so?  What combination of demography, geography, human interaction, opportunity and innate character have convolved to create us, and how is that nature now manifest?  I contend that habits and routines offer the most loyal definition of one's current state. And only when habits are broken and routines interrupted can we introspect meaningfully and choose a new pattern. On today's episode, we go back to where it all began for me: Rosedale Park, NJ. With a simple misty morning walk, I begin a new, postoperative routine with a simple, though ambitious, goal. I aim to hike every single day in April and reclaim the obstinate passion previously displayed in 300+ day climbing years now denied to my temporarily gimpy body.

One burly hike today: it's a spectacle shaped pair of loops that summits Anemone Hill, Mt. Sanitas, Flagstaff Mountain, and Green Mountain.

One Sunday stroll in South Boulder is the sole sojourn on this episode. On a beautiful day, I head around a set of loops and spurs on the ponderosa and prairie covered flanks of Eldorado Mountain.

Two walks today: one is perhaps my favorite local loop and the other perhaps the most local (read: closest to my office).  First is the old Gregory Canyon-Bear Canyon Loop where my rehabilitating ambition is checked by bullet-hard, 4 foot thick ice drifts near the summit of Green Mountain. Then, sufficiently humbled and stoked, I get out for a short hike to Woods Quarry from the McClintock trail.

Two windy walks round out my mom's visit/nurse duty.  First we head up to the area burned in the Fourmile Canyon fire of fall 2010 and take the short trip to the summit of Bald Mountain.  Then we head north to Lyons and shuffle around the Eagle Wind trail in Rabbit Mountain Open Space.

Unseasonably nice temps let us walk along the banks of the Big Thompson River to The Pool in Rocky Mountain National Park and next to, beside, and in Fourmile Creek on the Anne U. White trail.

Another suite of easy walks this week as I slowly get back on my feet after surgery.  Come along up Sugarloaf, beside Boulder Creek, and around the prairies of Flatirons Vista and Marshall Mesa.

A suite of the four least exciting walks I could find get me off the couch and my mother- participating in post-operative recuperation- out of the apartment.  We cover maybe 8 miles total on four walks along South Boulder Creek, Dry Creek, the shores of Walden and Sawhill Ponds, and the Sage/Eagle Loop in Boulder Valley Ranch.  It beats the heck out of sitting on the couch!

The afternoon before surgery, I bump up to Green Mountain's west ridge for great views and stubborn, deep snow drifts.

With shoulder surgery looming, I blow out of the office a few afternoons in the preceding weeks for quick local jaunts. Here are two fun, breezy strolls on Shanahan Ridge and South Boulder Creek.

Here are two fun, local walks within two miles of downtown. First up: a loop over Enchanted Mesa, down Skunk Canyon, and back up Kohler and Enchaned mesas before a descent along Bluebell Creek.  A month later and under the weather, I cruise around Wonderland Lake and up the mouth of Fourmile Canyon. Keep your eyes peeled for old episodes being uploaded to the new site. Any requests to rockandtrailtales@gmail.com