I’m a Mad Hiking Machine July 26, 2008

Approximately 30 miles of hiking in 4 days–I think this is a new personal best.  On Monday, I hiked 10.5 miles to Timber Lake on the west side of the National Park.  Tuesday, I had to work, but I lead a Beaver Walk that was 2 miles. On Wednesday, I did my first “C” class hike to Spectacle Lakes which was 10.5 miles.  Lastly, Thursday morning before work, I hiked 7 miles to Bridal Veil Falls with my coworker Larissa.

All of these hikes were very different, but all very enjoyable.  I had been wanting to do the Timber Lake hike ever since my plans to do this with a group of coworkers fell through.  I did this hike with hike master MK and two other YMCA guests.  It was great hiking in such an intimate group, and we all traveled at the perfect pace.  MK was very excited to do this hike because when her father visited the park in 1968, this trail was the one hike he did.  She had me take a picture of her by the trail sign, the same spot her father had been photographed 40 years earlier.  We did this hike in 5 3/4 hours, including stops and our lunch at the lake.

One of the hikes we lead in the program department is called a “Beaver Walk”.  On grounds, we have a few beaver damns and lodges, so we go on a short hike to explore their habitat and educate the guests about the beaver.  I’ve lead this hike about 5 times now, and it hasn’t gotten old yet.  The other day, we actually lucked out and saw a beaver in daylight.  Usually you can only see them around dusk.

On Wednesday, I had originally planned to hike to Pear Lake in the Wild Basin area of the National Park.  However, plans for that fell through.  Pear Lake was rated a “D” and the only other decent hike being lead out that day was to Spectacle Lakes, which was rated a “C”.  I decided to bite the bullet and attempt this hike.  Boy am I glad I did!  The hike was moderate until we reached Ypsilon Lake where the trail ended.  After that, we scaled a waterfall for 1/2 a mile to reach Spectacle Lakes at the base of Ypsilon Mountain.  The water was a beautiful blue, and the canyon echoed like no other place I’ve found in the park.  I was definately sore after this hike, but it was worth it.

Lastly, on Thursday I hiked with my friend Larissa to Bridal Veil Falls in the Lumpy Ridge area of the National Park.  I love Lumpy Ridge because of all the interesting rock formations.  I also love waterfall hikes.  I figured this hike had to be a winner, because it was both in Lumpy Ridge and the destination was a waterfall.  The hike was extremely easy–we hiked 3.5 miles in 1.5 hours.  This was my first time hiking with Larissa too, so we got to know each other a lot better on this hike.

Meet the Sweeties! July 24, 2008

The other day, the entire Sweet Memorial Staff got organized and decided to take a staff photo before all of us start leaving. There were so many cameras, that by the end of the line, people just started making funny faces. That’s ok, because I think it shows off more personality. I’d like to introduce you to the “sweeties”, as we like to call ourselves.

TOP ROW (from left to right)

Keith–Our newest staff member. This is his first season volunteering with his wife at the YMCA, but he has vacationed at EPC for numerous summers with his family. His daughter actually worked at EPC for two seasons in Sweet Memorial. He’s recently retired from his job as a newspaper editor where he worked for over 30 years.

Jessie–One of our “senior staff”. This year, Jessie received her five year pin for working 5 years at the YMCA. During the non-summer season, Jessie works in the day care. Both Jessie and I share a love of nerdy things like computers and comic book movies, and we have a lot of fun hanging out together in and out of work. Jessie graduated from Purdue and is from Indiana.

Emily–The customer service queen. Emily attends College of the Ozarks in Michigan and is majoring in Health and Wellness. She is originally from Branson, Missouri. She has a lot of customer service experience, because back home, she works at Dolly Parton’s Roundup Rodeo as a guest relations manager.

Robbie–The other intern. Robbie is from Chicago and is also majoring in Recreation and Parks Management. This is his third summer at EPC, and last year he was an intern in the L.T. program. He is very religious, and comes from a large family. Robbie, as you can see from his picture, can be a goofball.

Larissa–The flatlander. She hails from a small farming town in Kansas, and knows more about farming than anyone I have ever met. Larissa is the most enthusiatic hiker I know here at the YMCA and is trying to go on as many hikes as possible before she goes back home to Kansas. Larissa is also one of the most considerate people in Sweet and always tries to include others in social events and activities. She’s a great friend.

Caroline–The girl with the cute accent. This sweetie is from Minnesota and just recently graduated with a degree in Communication. She interested in going back to school to study a newly developing field called “health communication”, which I think is very interesting. She is really fun to hike with and a great conversationalist.

Ian–The baby of the family. Ian just turned 19 last month and is the youngest member on staff. Ian loves to run and does all of the hardest hikes in park. I also envy him because he has a bottomless stomach and can eat anything without gaining an ounce. Great sense of humor, especially with his childhood partner in crime, Matt, who is also on the sweet staff. He is from Maryland.

MIDDLE ROW (from left to right)

Rojean–The glue that holds us together! Rojean has been working at EPC for 17 years and will be retiring this October. She is one of 3 year round staff in the department. Rojean is one of a kind because she is very organized and type A when it comes to her work, but is also very personable and friendly. She manages the cashiers in Sweet, and I think it says something about her management skills that all but one cashier has returned from last season.

Me–The BEST intern. By the way, I had my midseason review today… all positive notes, no negative. I’d say I’m doing a great job here! Oh, and I’m the only Californian on staff.

Terri–The quiet and lovable friend. Terri is very soft spoken, but extremely intelligent and always kind to others. It’s impossible to dislike her. She comes from a small town in Illinois. This is also Terri’s 5th season as a Sweet Memorial cashier at EPC. I have hiked with her twice now, and it’s such a pleasure to be in her company. Terri is now finished with school, and is applying for an internship with Amnesty International. I really hope she gets the position.

Crystal–The bubbly sweetheart. Crystal is from Texas and proud of it. She is very good with children and also possesses a witty sense of humor. Crystal came to the YMCA for the summer with her boyfriend (ironically named Jason) who works in the golf shack. They are a very sweet couple. Crystal comes from a Recreation family. Her mom majored in it, and now she is doing the same.

Alison–the well rounded, all smiles gal! Alison has been working at EPC for about a year now, doing all kinds of jobs. During the fall she worked in Outdoor Education and now for the summer she’s in Family Programs in Sweet. She has a lot of knowledge to share with everyone on staff, and is always willing to help out the team. Alison is one of the few staff to live off campus, and was kind enough to open her house up to us this past weekend for a summer luau party. She built a very long slip-and-slide going down the hill in her backyard. Alison is also from Minnesota and went to college with Caroline.

Letitia–the creative cat. Letitia is from Arkansas and is majoring in Graphic Design. She has an addictive, bubbly personality and gets very excited over simple pleasures. She also designs all of her own hair and jewelery accessories. She has the best fashion sense of anyone in Sweet! Letitia is one of our cashiers.

Bethany–the cheesy chick. This is Bethany’s second summer her at EPC working at Sweet as a cashier. She met her boyfriend up here last summer, and they have been reunited this summer as he is working in town at a candy store. Bethany is from Wisconsin, and of course, loves cheese. She also has a great sense of humor.

BOTTOM ROW (left to right)

Lauren–the giving friend. Lauren is one of our volunteers this summer, and works in special education back in Indiana. She is always kind to everyone and truly lives her Christian values. She is a friend to everyone, and we will all miss her. Lauren is the reason we organized to take this picture–she wanted a group photo before she went home.

Nathan–the funny fellow. Nathan is by far the funniest person in Sweet. He can brighten anyone’s day with a silly joke or funny face. He is also a very talented photographer, and very good at his job. Nathan was the Spring intern in the program department, and decided to extend his contract to work through the summer. He assisted me by co-hosting the talent show, and the audience loved him.

Matt–the goofball. Matt came out to work at EPC with his childhood friend Ian. When the two of them are together, WATCH OUT! They are a comedy force to be reckoned with. He’s very proud of his fraternity, and loves to playfully poke fun of all the ladies on staff. Matt also loves to lead programs like kickball, ultimate Frisbee, or capture the flag.

Paul–the boss. Paul Taylor. He started at EPC in March and is slowly getting used to his new position. He is very supportive and always says please and thank you. Paul also co-hosted the talent show with Nathan and me.

Well there you have it! Those are the Sweeties! The only person that’s not in the photo is Jamie, but you can read about her in the “I heart Boulder CO” article. I’ll leave you with one of my favorite picture… Forth of July cupcakes on parade!

I’ve been workin’ on a Talent Show, all the live long day! July 21, 2008

For one of my intern projects, I had to organize the annual staff talent show. This show has been an EPC tradition for many years now, so I definitely felt the pressure to make this show is as good, if not better, than all the previous years. At first, I had a hard time finding people to audition for the show. By the first day of auditions, only 6 acts had signed up. I was really concerned we wouldn’t get enough participants, so I made a large poster and put it up in the staff cafeteria saying: “Missed Monday Auditions? Tryout on WEDNESDAY!” Well, I guess this worked, because by Tuesday evening, every audition time slot had been filled.

All together we had 18 acts. The show had singers, songwriters, rappers, dancers, international staff acts and more. There was a lot of variety, and the talent was vast. The dress rehearsal went very smoothly. I emceed the event along with my coworker Nathan (who is hilarious) and my boss Paul (who practically begged me to emcee the event). For intermission, we presented an 80 slide powerpoint featuring different photos taken by staff in the National Park. I figured photography is a talent too, and this was another way to bring a different flavor to the talent show and involve more staff.

Well, the show went off without a hitch! I got so many compliments from people saying how much they enjoyed the show and that they liked it more than last year’s. All of my hard work was worth it, and I actually had a lot of fun putting together the show. I didn’t have a chance to record all of the acts on my camera, but I did record a few highlights. They are featured in this 10 minutes video below. I hope you enjoy this mini show!

3 Lakes, 1 Ellusive Pool, and Too Many Boulders To Count! July 15, 2008

Another day off, another opportunity to go on a hike. After talking with one of the hikemasters, Tony, I decided to try my first level “D” hike with him today. Just so you know, all hikes in the national park are rated from an “A” (hardest) to “H” (easiest) level. Before this, the hardest hike I had done was to Sandbeach Lake, which was rated an “E”.

Today’s hike was to Pool of Jade, which isn’t even on the park map. I decided to do this hike however because it was only 6 miles, and I heard there was some bouldering during the hike, which sparked my interest. Also, this hike pasted by three lakes in the park that I had not seen yet.

We got to the trailhead around 7:45 and started the very easy hike past the three lakes: Nymph Lake, Dream Lake, and then Emerald Lake. Nymph lake looked similar to Cub lake because they both have lily pads. In fact, they are the only two lakes in the park to have lily pads. Dream Lake was crystal clear, and we could see green cutthroat trout swimming in the water. I think Dream Lake is now my favorite lake in the park. Both are pictured below.

The third lake was Emerald Lake. This is where the trail ended and the hard part of the hike began. On it’s own, the hike to Emerald Lake should have only been a “G” hike. However, the boulder ridden terrain up to the Pool of Jade was classified as a “C”. These two letters combined made Tony rate the hike a “D”. Below is a picture of Emerald Lake. As you can see, there are many boulders on the lefthand side of the picture. THAT is what we climbed up. We climbed further than you can even see on the picture.

I guess the video I shot while we were bouldering pretty much sums up the rest of the hike. The distance from Emerald Lake to Pool of Jade was only 1 and 3/4 miles, but it was all in boulders. Almost no one in our group (including myself) had experience bouldering, so it went incredibly slow. It was nerve wracking at first, especially since a lot of the boulders were loose or rocked from side to side. I eventually got the hang of it, but bouldering itself is very exhausting. There were also many spiders on the rocks which only added to the peril we were putting ourselves in. In short, our group hiked so slow, that we didn’t actually make it to Pool of Jade. Two people from our group did run ahead, and said it was another 200ft from where we turned around… which irks me still… but we had to turn around because we heard thunder, and we were significantly above treeline. Plus, it was almost 1:00, and we had originally estimated to be back by 2:00. We got back to the YMCA at 5:30. The hike was definately the most challenging I’ve been on, both physically and mentally.

The hidden waterfall July 10, 2008

Terri and I decided last night that we were going to try and find the illusive McGregor Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park this morning.  This waterfall isn’t on the main Rocky Mountain National Park map–in fact, the only way we knew about it was from YMCA records.  Even so, we knew that the trail was no more than 3 miles long one way, so we should try and find it, just for kicks.

We started at the Lumpy Ridge trail head, which is the same place where we started the Gem Lake and Balanced Rock hike.  The first point of interest on the trail was pieces of what appeared to be either an elk or deer skeleton on the side of the trail.  From what I gathered, it looked like the spine, two leg bones and a pelvis.  The bones were picked clean already, and I took a few pictures of them.

As we went further down the black canyon trail, we could start to hear the sound of water.  As the trail continued however, the sound of the creek went away.  Terri trusted her instincts and decided that we should turn around to go back.  It was good she trusted her gut, because she was right on. We had walked too far on the black canyon trail and needed to cross over onto a different road.

We crossed a field where we saw dirt road that seemed to be leading to the water source.  After we walked down the road, we finally found our first sign leading towards McGregor Falls.  We were still skeptical however that we were even going the right way, after already once walking completely in the wrong direction.  As we were hiking, a very strange bird that looked like a chicken jumped out at the bushes at us.  In five seasons of working at the YMCA, Terri had never encountered a bird like this.  It was very close to us, and almost seemed to be defending it’s territory on the trail.  We took some pictures, then slowly and carefully crossed it’s path.  It was very bizarre.

We had talked about turning around for some time now, but we kept saying, “Just 10 more minutes of hiking, then we’ll turn around.”  I’m glad we were persistence because just about 300 feet up the trail from the strange bird was McGregor Falls.  It wasn’t the biggest waterfall I’ve ever seen, or the prettiest, but there was something very special about this hidden falls that not many people have laid their eyes on.  We bumped into zero hikers going to or from this waterfall–do you have any idea how rare that is in a National Park?  Terri and I took turns scaling up the falls and we took pictures of each other on the top, looking rather triumphant.

Beautiful hike overall, with numerous kinds of wildflowers and wildlife.  This hike was an adventure, and not overly strenuous.  It was only about 6 miles (with the getting lost and backtracking).  Lumpy Ridge is turning out to be one of my favorite places in the national park.

Laidback vs. Hardcore Hiking July 8, 2008

So far during my stay here at YMCA of the Rockies, I have been very selective about the hikes I choose to go on. I like to hike alone, set my own pace, take time for pictures, and not worry about slowing down a group. This is what I called “laidback” hiking. The majority of other staffers here at the Y view hiking in a different way. They enjoy waking up before dawn so there’s no one on the trail, taking large fast strides, and conquering most challenging points of interest in the park in lightning speeds. This is what I call “hardcore” hiking.

I had no plans for my day off last Wednesday, so I decided to sign up for a guided hike by one of the YMCA’s hike masters. For those of you who don’t know, the YMCA has a hiking club, where members can track their miles within the national park. Awards or badged of honor are given to members at 100 miles, 500 miles, and 1,000 miles. One of the hike masters, who has been guiding hikes for over 30 years, has more than 10,000 miles to his name.

The hike I signed up for was Loch Vail, a moderate 6 mile round trip hike with about a 900ft elevation gain to a beautiful lake surrounded by snow capped mountains. Our hike master was Katie, who works part time for the YMCA and is an intern at Rocky Mountain National Park full time. I had seen her coming in and out of Sweet Memorial before, but we had never had the chance to talk. We got to exchange stories about being recreation majors and I learned a lot about her job in the national park.  She even offered to teach me about different flowers and plants around the YMCA grounds so that I can become a better teacher. I will definitely take her up on that. Below is a video of the Loch.

While this hike was rather moderate, we had one older lady in the group who had never hiked before. This significantly slowed us down. It took us six hours to do six miles (including our break for lunch at the Loch). I didn’t even feel like I broke a sweat.

Because I did so well on the Loch Vail hike, I decided to accept an invitation from Nathan (last semester’s intern in the program department) to go on my first “hardcore” hike to Sandbeach Lake. I admire the strength it takes to be a hardcore hiker, I just didn’t know if I have it in me. This hike was 9 miles round trip, with about a 2,000ft elevation gain.

My alarm went off at 4:10A.M., I threw my clothes on which I had laid out the night before, grabbed my pack, and headed down to the Administration building where I was meeting the group. One of the reasons we were leaving so early is because two people in the group, including Nathan, had to be back at work by 1:00PM. We took two cars down to the trailhead in Wildbasin–it was so early in the morning that the ranger booth was vacant.

I was hiking with Nathan, Jamie, Emily, and Matt. Jamie started out with the lead, and started swiftly, like I expected. After about a mile, I had to pull out my inhaler and take two puffs. After Jamie, Matt took over the lead. His pace was even faster. I don’t think my medicine had had time to kick in fully yet, because I started wheezing pretty badly. Nathan stopped with me and told me he understood because he had asthma as a kid. I asked if I could lead the group for awhile, and they all agreed that was a good idea. I did feel pressure to keep the pace up because they were all right on my heels, but I finally fell into a rhythm and my mind zoned out. We got an incredible cardio workout and I was drenched in sweat by the time we reached Sandbeach Lake.

Unfortunately, the weather was not as kind to us as we had hoped. It was freezing cold up by the lake with chilly winds. I had brought a windbreaker, and I put it on when we got to Sandbeach Lake, but my shirt and thermal were drenched in sweat, so I had trouble staying warm. Apparently everyone else was cold too, so we decided to head back early. I only snapped three pictures while I was up there. As you can see, it was pretty cloudy.

Overall, we hiked up 4.5 miles with 2,000ft in elevation in 2 hours and 10 minutes.  We walked down 4.5 miles in 1 hour and 35 minutes.  This hike was much different than Loch Vail.  I definitely pushed myself, but I think it was for the better.  I’d like to find a nice balance of laidback and hardcore hiking the next time I go out.  My next hike will be on Wednesday to Timberlake with Terri and maybe a few other girls.  That hike is 10.5 miles round trip with a 2,000ft elevation gain.

Sweet Memorial July 2, 2008

I’ve been working at the YMCA for over a month now, and I just realized that many of you have no idea where I work! While there are over 200 buildings on the YMCA property, I work in the best one: Sweet Memorial. We’re centrally located on the campus and probably have the third most customer traffic, following behind the administration building and the cafeteria.

It’s our job in Sweet Memorial–also known as the program building–to provide customers and guests of the YMCA with activities and suggestions on how to get the most out of their stay. We answer all questions, and if we don’t know the answer, we find out. We offer family sporting events like kickball, soccer, capture the flag, and human stratego. We run family programs out of this building that teach children about local animals, bugs, hiking, survival skills, and national park plants.

Aside from all the programs, we also give out free maps of the national park trails and give suggestions on where guests or families should hike. My favorite suggestion is to send people to the southern tip of the National Park called ‘Wild Basin’. Aside from trail maps, we also provide information about the National Park shuttle, and the Estes Park shopping shuttle. We give out brochures on white water rafting, and send guests down to the livery on a daily basis.

In the basement of Sweet Memorial, we have a game room with two ping pong tables, two pool tables, foosball and a few other obscure tabletop games. Behind the Sweet Desk, we have dozens of board games and puzzles that guests can borrow, take back to their cabin, and play with their family or friends. We also provide sports equipment like basketballs, soccer balls, frisbees, volleyballs and discs for disc golf.

Typically, I work the night shift four days a week and one day shift on Sundays. One perk of working the night shift is that it’s a lot slower in the evenings, and the supervisors have all gone home. It was about half and hour till close the evening I shot this clip, and it gives a brief tour of Sweet and our staff area. The tape does end abruptly unfortunately, because a guest came in that I needed to help (her name was Karen too!)