Mileage

While spring is a ways off up here in northern Colorado, Wonderful Guy and I have made use of the warm-ish weather on the weekends, and put in some training hikes.  We have explored some new areas in this effort, as well as hitting an old favorite.

Reservoir Ridge (2.2 miles)

Eagles Nest (4.8 miles)

Good to get out, good exercise and warm-ups to more vigorous outings when the weather warms, and Best Dog Ever has had a grand old time.

And I have whacked off 10 miles from my goal of 40 miles so far!

Hiking Season

And all that that implies.

(Clicky for biggy) South Trail at Lory State Park

While March has been very dry, which means for us no snow, it also means, we are able to get out a bit earlier for our walk-abouts.  These fellows stood still long enough for me to change lenses last weekend.

Unfortunately, no snow also means we are very behind in our precipitation, and there have already been some wildfires.  I heard that we are at conditions we were at in 2002 when Wonderful Guy and I started hiking together.  Before we were 'Wonderful Guy and I'...back when we were just talking.  And hiking.

But what are you going to do about the weather, except talk about it?  And enjoy what one gets?

Where Have I Been?

I visited some alpacas, met up with Liz from Lizzzknits (again!) and see that guy in the back?  I bought his first shearing.  I will have it in about a month, completely processed into roving.  No washing or handcarding this go round.  He is the prettiest greyish whitish black, and that is the official description.  Stay tuned.  There just might be opportunities for the finished yarn.  I am just sayin...

Wonderful Guy and I headed to the mountains to view the glory that is Colorado in the Fall.  Aspens are at peak in Rocky Mountain.

I fought this pretty guy for my sandwich and brownie.  Seriously.  Such a beggar bird.  Swooping down for my peanut butter and jelly while it was in my hand.  Please!  Don't feed the wild things.  It is compelling, I know.  But not good for them or for us.

We picnicked by Bierstadt Lake.  It was a perfect September day, with bluest ever skies, and greenest evergreens.

And some reds, too.

I do believe I might have some interesting things to share, and some time in which to formulate these thoughts, and some additional time in which to put these thoughts into electronic format in this next week.

Ya'll come back, y'hear!

R is for…

Renamed.

While Eldest Daughter was visiting a couple weekends ago, we made it a goal to hike…alot. And we did.

Our first day’s outing took us to a county park favored by the locals for it’s availability, dog-friendliness, and multi-use trails.

Wonderful Guy and I had hiked Horsetooth Mountain Park earlier this year, taking the Falls trail, and seeing lots of good flowers. That is an easy trail, but rewarding, especially when there are lots of flowers, and when there is lots of water coming over the falls, both of which we saw.

This Saturday, we hike Horsetooth Rock (R!) which is longer. And steeper. And more notable, as one can pretty much see Horsetooth Rock from anywhere in our little burg, and certainly from our house.

Which brings me to ‘renamed’. Like many landmarks, Horsetooth is not the original name.

According to Native American legend, Horsetooth Rock is what remains of the heart of the Great Red Warrior slain by the Great Black Warrior in a long ferocious battle.

And the information at the top of the trail and base of the rock reads: “Bands of Native Americans lived and hunted in this area as early as 10,000 B.C. Longstanding legend tells of an evil giant who terrorized the region. A strong, heroic warrior killed the giant by slashing out his heart. The rock is said to be the heart of the giant.”

So rock, renamed, renewed, relax, after our home renovating, it was a grand day for a great hike.

And with my R, I believe am still close to on schedule with this.

Really remarkable.

The view from the top.  Yes.  The top.

Autumn Gold

Aspens at Bear Lake

My weekend was crazy busy, and I start this week with a list of things to catch up. I might just by Friday…catch-up, that is. Maybe.

It was a good, full weekend.

Friday evening I worked at home getting some around-the-house chores done, and grocery shopping, both in preparation for a retreat on Saturday (putting the eating in retreating) and knowing that there would be no time to do it the rest of the weekend.

I spent Saturday in a planning retreat with fellow members of a board on which I serve. Downside to that was we were indoors all day during a beautiful fall day. I went out to get something from the car at noon, and just turned around, went back inside, telling myself, ‘don’t even think about it…’

Hallett's Peak

After our meeting on Sunday, another brilliant day, Wonderful Guy and I headed to Rocky Mountain National Park with some friends for a hike, and a look at the aspens.

They had their best dress on, the aspens they did!

We hiked to Lake Helene, successfully finding it this time. This was one of the first hikes Wonderful Guy and I took together as friends in 2002, and when we tried to hike it again last year, we took a wrong turn….twice! On two different days!! We had warm, sunny weather until we reached our destination. I had the chance to say ‘the sun sure feels good on my back’ before it started to sprinkle, then came the graupel.

It wasn't all gold!

It was not just a passing thing. If we had not had wet weather gear, we would have ended up wet and cold. Temps dropped to the high 40’s! Halfway down, though, the sun came out and temp came back up.

Lake Helene

Another great day in the mountains. I loved it. Six more miles, too, for the hiking log.

Notchtop

Today we saw...

We hiked the South Mesa trail, south of Boulder. We had a plan, but made a turn different from the plan. We went longer than the plan, but saw lot of fun stuff.

A creek we crossed right at first.

The Flatirons.

Two birds in a dead tree...one is a hummingbird! See almost in the center...the other is unidentified...

Two deer in the brush (brown spots on either side of the tree). We also saw a coyote at the end of the hike, but no photo of that one.

And lastly...wild iris!

There were many other wild flowers. It was a great hike for that, but after six and a quarter miles, sunburned and sweaty, I am ready for a shower, putting my feet up, and some knitting...on the socks of magickness. (I got past the gussets on the way to Boulder, and am on the foot now!)

We went hiking...

Even with the windy and rainy weather over our long weekend, Wonderful Guy and I got in two hikes, one to Pawnee Buttes, and one to Rabbit Mountain. Both were suggested in a “Best Wildflower Hikes” book he gave me back for Christmas when we were just keeping company.

(That reminds me of that first Christmas and trying to figure out the appropriate gift. I decided on a print from a photographer friend of the Tetons in winter, and two books on hiking. And I received from him….two prints from the same photographer friend and a book on wildflower hikes!)

But I digress…our hikes were very windy, but full of flowers. Pawnee Buttes is out on the windswept prairie, and with weather moving in, we didn’t tarry much for photo ops. I got a few, but haven’t really studied them. Rabbit Mountain, however, was a sunnier day, less prairie-ish and more foothills-ish. The flowers were showier and plentiful.

I spotted my first spiderwort of the year, and in climbing to get a shot of it, found my first snake of the year. Not big, not dangerous, but still….surprising.

We spotted this butterfly and Wonderful Guy got several in-focus shots. I just love my little digital camera!

Wildflower Roll Call: Wallflower, spiderwort, candytuft, butter and eggs, penstemon, wild geranium, erigeron daisies, cinquefoil, salsify, prairie verbena, copper mallow, purple ground cherry, and meadow arnica.

A Goal of 100 Miles

Lake Helene, at the base of Notchtop, first hike of Labor Day Weekend, 2002

The year of the Dee-vorce, I set a goal to cover 100 miles hiking that spring/summer/fall. I got a pretty good start on that, but then a series of circumstances slowed me down, ranging from travel to a whopping virus to the X finally moving out (another story for another post). Come Labor Day weekend, I had only totaled up 60-some miles.

The divorce recovery group in which I had participated the previous winter had continued to get together for dinners, birthdays, hiking, skiing, keeping up with each other and sharing experiences. One of the group held a birthday get-together Friday of that Labor Day weekend, and I announced to the group, that if any were interested, I was going to be hiking all three days, in an effort to rack up more miles toward my goal of 100. I told them where I was going, and when I would be leaving from my house.

Next morning, the only one who showed up was Wonderful Guy. (He was seeing someone else at the time, but she was working on some consulting projects on the weekends, and not really a hiker.) So off we went. All three days. We had shared a lot previously of our personal stories as part of the group, and knew each other’s background and history. Our stories had much in common in, which allowed us to understand what the other was talking about in very clear ways. We walked and talked and took photos, and we joked, then we talked some more. And we laughed together with each other. Finally laughing again. That felt good.

The weather continued to be dry and clear, and I wanted to get in more miles. His friend was still working on weekends, so he hiked with me over the next few weekends, too. We were already good friends, as only people get when they have shared some of the worst times of their lives. And we became closer friends. I decided I would tell him of my first venture back into the ‘dating world’. Yes, I had a blind ‘coffee’ date set up, but hadn’t told anyone. I was very apprehensive this first time out. Wonderful Guy told me how for his first ‘coffee date’, they had ended up at different coffee shops on opposite sides of town, and what an opportunity for growth that was! I was horrified!

Well. Guess what happened to me? Yep. Same thing. I was glad I had shared with someone and it was good it was with Wonderful Guy. Eventually, it was a comfort...

Then this other person he was seeing decided that she wanted something different, and our hikes together became even more of a time of sharing and learning, and it was mostly me doing the learning from Wonderful Guy. His insights on compassion and healing and unconditionally loving were mighty astounding. (He said he learned things from me, too, but..yeah..you know…whatever…)

We hiked every weekend day through September. The jackets and warmer clothing came out and we hiked into October. The 100 mile mark came and went. 125…130…150… we were still walking and talking…and sharing a dinner here and there…and a motorcycle ride or two, to be truthful.

Pretty soon we came to the conclusion that we were enjoying each other’s company way more than anyone else’s that we were having coffee with, or dancing with, or sharing nachos and margs with. What we were sharing with each other was way easier than figuring out ‘dating’ all over again at our age.

Or maybe what we were sharing with each other was just the best way ever to build a relationship…with a foundation of honesty, of friendship, and of acceptance for who the other person simply is.

Here we are, coming up on six and a half years of friendship, learning about each other, letting each other be themselves, and accepting that for what it is.

And hiking…always hiking!

Moving A Bit Slowly...

..but not because I am older necessarily. Wonderful Guy and I had a very active weekend, with a bike ride, a walk in the open area next to our home, and an almost 5 mile hike. Our 'build-up' hikes have been 'easy' or 'easy to moderate', and probably less than 3 miles. This one was 'moderate to difficult', very steep, and put our hiking chops to the test.

I felt it necessary to ride in this morning, too. Got to get those hours in for the exercise-a-thon. Our team finished last in the standings last week.

There was lots of yard work, too, but not the hauling and digging kind. More in the nature of tricking out the patio with pots of annuals and such. Very pretty!

Thanks for all the birthday well wishing. The weekend was very pleasant. In the past, I tended to have expectations of what others should be doing for my special day. Often, I didn't make these expectations known, believing that 'they should know!' While perhaps it might have been considerate for 'others' to think outside the box of themselves, I have come to believe the truth in this -"Expectations are pre-destined resentments". I have learned that I am responsible for my wants and my needs, and it is not a wise choice to depend on, to expect, others to fulfill those for me.

This is really a very deep lesson, and it involves changing alot of thinking and behavior patterns that have been finely honed over decades, but it was worth the self examination and the work to figure out why I do the things I do.

Life goes much smoother when I give to myself what I need emotionally, spiritually, and physically, without the unrealistic expectation that others 'ought to know'. Just another lesson it took me forty plus years to learn, but now I try to live life on life's terms, and not try to make life fit what I think it should be.

I had to frog the BSJ and restart. But that's okay! It's past the frogging point already.
Pictures of the hike and yard and knitting tomorrow. (Well, maybe not all at once...)

Another Hike

In addition to all the other stuff, and there seemed to be a lot of other stuff, Wonderful Guy and I got a good hike in on Sunday afternoon. We headed to Lory State Park and combined a couple of trails for about three and a quarter miles. Best Dog Ever enjoyed the outing, too.

Wild flowers are coming out. I saw oregon grape, pasque flower, a few wallflower, yellow violets, spring beauties, and some spurge and vetch. Oh, and my first mertensia and clematis hirsutissima (vase flower) of the season! In bloom, of course. I'm a happy camper, or hiker, as the case may be.

Not a bad backyard to play in.

In other news...President Bush is going to speak at the high school commencement in my home town. That is so wierd. I mean, it's been a phenomenal journey of vision and reconstruction since the tornado last May. And I am glad for all the help and encouragement my little hometown has recieved. Oldest Best Friend has cracked me up with some of the stories about the film crews of the Planet Earth series in her home! But to have the president there twice in a year...I am still seeing, in my mind's eye, the town I grew up in, with the 100 year old soda fountain, and old movie theatre, and absolutely terrific swimming pool....with the president...and his helicopter...and the secret service guys with their dark glasses and ear pieces....it's just wierd! Oh, but it gets better. The whacko Phelps family from Topeka are going to be there to stage a protest at the same time. Something about Greensburg recieving the wrath of God for Kansas and the nation in the form of a tornado??? Like I said...weird and whackadoo! In my little hometown!

Weekend Update

Wonderful Guy and I had a busy one. Only Step-Son and the Grand-Pup joined us on Saturday for hiking. Before we went to Devil's Backbone, though, I asked to stop at a local alpaca breeder that was hosting an open house, with the expressed intent of purchasing a fleece. Look what I got! We hiked about four miles on Saturday along a ridge called Devil's Backbone. Where the name comes from is pretty obvious. It's the formation in the foreground. The snowcovered peak is Long's. Still pretty cold up there, and that is why we are keeping the early season hikes down low. The day was clear and warm, and we were grateful for the breeze. I saw sand lilies and yellow violets!
When we returned home, I had a chance to clean out a few more beds from last fall's debris. I have lots of perennials sending up new growth. So exciting! This is my time of year, I tell you.

Both kitties found the brand-new catnip, which is the second year for this little volunteer. I read somewhere that only 25% of cats are affected by catnip. Both of mine love it to nibble and roll in.

After our meeting on Sunday, we decided to stretch out the stiffness in the legs with a shorter hike, about two and a half miles, to Horsetooth Falls. It was very windy, but still sunny and warm. Long's Peak again, but with a multitude of terrain in between us and the mountain. I saw pasque flowers, sand lilies, yellow violets, and oregon grape. Wild flowers! Woohoo!

On our drive home, we picked up a forsythia. It is already planted by Wonderful Guy, and I suspect that gives him trimming rights. I started washing my fleece. Another new and wonderful learning experience! I washed about half of it, in case I totally biffed it and felted the whole thing. I laid it out on the back patio in the breeze and sun for a bit, and it seems to be drying nice and fluffy. I am excited to work my carding majick!