Trying to Squeeze In a Few More Hikes! September 19, 2008

It’s hard to get motivated to go hiking now that most of my friends have left the Y, but I did manage to make myself get out twice more. I’m glad I did because both hikes were really worth the effort.

On August 8, I went on a hike to Black Lake in the glacier gorge area of the national park. I had been on half of this trail already to get to Loch Vail, but I chose it because I knew it would be heavily populated. To my surprise, there weren’t nearly as many people as I thought there would be. Sure, I did pass my fair share of people, but you could see that visitation in the National Park had already dropped off significantly from August to September.

The trail at 7:30 in the morning was completely fogged over, which was a first for me. It was very peaceful though, walking through the clouds early in the morning, listening to the sounds of the forest and the nearby river. Once I got to the junction to turn to Mills Lake, I realized that I had hiked above the clouds and was now basking in the morning sunshine. Only about a mile further was Mills Lake, one of the larger lakes in the park. There were a few hikers sitting on the bank relaxing, so I continued on after snapping this picture. After all, this lake was not the reason I went out hiking this morning!

After Mills Lake, the trail got tricky. Lots of stairs, lots of elevation gain. Needless to say, I was pretty tired once I reached the top. Once I ate lunch, drank some water and recovered my energy, I shot this video for you guys.

Just yesterday, September 17, I was fortunate enough to get to go hiking with MK on a Y hike! MK is the hike master I did Timber Lake with on the west side of the national park. Because there are so few guests at the YMCA now, it’s hard to get the hikes to actually “go” because you need at least 2 or 3 people to sign up. MK hadn’t lead a hike in 2 weeks, and the day before, she had one guest signed up for her Wednesday hike and needed one more. The destination: Little Yellowstone Canyon. I thought this hike would be perfect, since Jason and I decided to drive to The Grand Canyon instead of Yellowstone on the trip home from Colorado.

MK is so much fun to hike with and really knows a lot about the plants, animals and history of the area. She also has a keen eye–I almost missed my chance to take a picture of a moose, but MK caught it! Moose are definitely a benefit to hiking on the west side of the park because it’s the only place where you’ll see them.

The trail was pretty moderate and the pace very casual. When we made it to Little Yellowstone Canyon, we were a little underwhelmed. We didn’t think this could be it, so we continued on until we ran out of trail and hit the Grand Ditch. Realizing that we were at the Canyon before, we turned around, hiked back to it and had lunch. Above is a picture of me at the Canyon.

On the way back we hiked past the site of Lulu City, which was a large mining town in the 1870’s. The only remains of the town (which used to be more than 100 block in size) were two old cabins. The city sat on a beautiful river bed though and would be a nice destination hike for beginner hikers.

After Lulu City, we stopped by “marmot city”, which isn’t an actual location on the map, but that’s what MK calls it because there are always marmots on these rocks. Sure enough, we saw plenty of them! They’re so cute!! We had a lot of fun watching them play with each other and roll around in the grass.

About an hour before reaching the trailhead, the storm clouds rolled in. We were hearing thunder about every 5 minutes, and it was getting closer. MK always hikes with poles, and she noticed that I had started lagging behind her a little. She said to me, “Karin, are you getting tired? Is the pace to fast?” I replied, “No I’m just giving you and your lighting rods a head start in front of me.” We laughed, both knowing there was an element of truth to that statement. We ended the hike just at the right time because as we reached the car, it started hailing.

I only have two more days off before I leave, so I’m still going to try and squeeze in a few more hikes before I leave. I have my eye set on Lawn Lake which is a beautiful lake that flooded about 20 years ago, and Chasm Lake which sits below Longs Peak, the tallest mountain in the park.

Heeeeeere fishy fishy fishy!!!! September 18, 2008

I don’t know if anyone here remembers that Sesame Street sketch with Bert and Ernie.  The two friends are sitting out on a boat, Bert has a fishing pole and is trying to catch fish.  He turns to Ernie and says something like, “Ernie! How do you expect to catch any fish without a fishing pole?!”  And Ernie says, “I just use my special fish call.  Heeeeeeeere fishy fishy fishy!”  Whenever he does the call, a fish just jumps up into the boat.

Well, I learned on Monday that there’s a LOT more to fishing than just saying “Heeeeeeere fishy fishy fishy!”  The Sasquatch Fishing desk inside Sweet Memorial closed about three weeks ago, but this great new guy named Dan came in to provide fly fishing trips.  All the kids at the fly fishing desk before were college students and had to go back to school, but Dan is a retired helicopter pilot from Texas and loves to come to Colorado in September to fish. One day while we were chatting in Sweet Memorial, he asked me if I would like to learn how to fly fish.  Always up for trying new things, I said sure!

On Sunday evening, I went out to a private lake with him and watched him fish.  He was talking to me the entire time about technique, how to find the fish, and how to lurer them in. Monday was my day off, so we met up again and he taught me how to cast.  It’s a lot harder than it looks!  Your timing has to be perfect.  Dan was amazingly accurate with his fly rod, and after about an hour of practice on land, he took me back to the private lake to test out my new skills.

I had to put on a pair of waders, which are like waterproof overalls with waterproof sock attached to them. I asked Dan, “Do I look like a fisherman?”  “Fisher PERSON!” he corrected me.  I put on some boots and we waded out into the lake onto the sandbar.  Dan put a dry fly on my line, which means the fly floats on top of the water, rather than sinking.  I did my first few casts, and my line got tangled a few times, but Dan was patient and always helped me out.  I was having a hard time casting the line out far enough, so Dan cast a good one for me and handed me the pole.  Then, I felt a tug on the pole so I lifted it to a 45 degree angle like I had been instructed.  I reeled in my first fish, which was a rainbow trout!  I’m pictured with the fish down below.  After we got the picture, Dan took the fish off the hook and put it back in the water.  The trout didn’t move, and kinda resembled a dead gold fish floating in an aquarium.  “Uh oh!” said Dan, “I may have to revive him!”  I started to feel really bad.  I didn’t mean to KILL the fish, just catch him.  “How are you gonna do that? Mouth to mouth?”  “No, you just gotta give them a little nudge.”  He poked the fish a bit and sure enough, it swam away to the darkest part of the lake.

I wasn’t completely satisfied  with this catch because I didn’t cast the line.  I stood out in the water for another two hours, seeing fish all around me, but I couldn’t catch them!  Meanwhile, Dan had caught three really good sided brown trout.  I decided to change locations, and moved to a different sandbar a little closer to Dan.  The sun had set behind the mountains, and it was starting to get cold.  I wasn’t going to budge though until I caught a fish on my own.  I saw a ripple come up from the water–the sign that a fish is near.  I cast my line out to the ripple and VIOLA!  A perfect cast!  A moment later, I felt a tug on my line.  “Dan!! I got one!”  Dan ran over to me as I easily reeled in the fish.  I could tell as I was reeling that this wasn’t going to be an impressive catch… I had caught a 7-8 inch brook trout!   Oh well… I told Dan to hold it and I took a picture of him with my first REAL catch.

We had stayed out at the lake for so long, that we had missed dinner at the YMCA.  Dan said, “How does Pizza sound?”  He took me out to dinner, he said, to celebrate my first catch.  We went to Poppy’s Pizza, the same place I went with Mom and Dad for my birthday.  At dinner, he told me about his days as a helicopter pilot, his travels around the world, his world records in fishing, and some fishing shows he shot for TNN.  He also told me a lot about his 4 daughters, who are all doing very different things, but are all very happy and successful.  He said he was never disappointed that he didn’t have any sons, but his own father was.

I really enjoyed his company, and it came at the right time, since most of my peers have gone home already.  Dan gave me a pair of polarized sun glasses (because you need to have them to see the fish under the water) a box of flies (including the one I caught my first fish with) and then the following day gave me a book about all the fly fishing lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park.  I told him that I appreciated his kindness more than he would know, and will always remember my first fishing experience and the pro who taught me how.

3 New Hikes to Report On September 2, 2008

I’ve decided that because I only have a month left here in Colorado, that I need to utilize every free opportunity I have to hike. On my last three days off, I have done just that. Last Sunday, I went on a lovely hike that was recommended to me by Keith, one of the volunteers in Sweet. This trail is called the Fern-Odessa loop, the trail that my residence was named after. I got to do this hike with one of my good friends from Minnesota, Caroline.

We started around 7 because Caroline had to work that afternoon. The trail was 9 miles total, but only the first three were uphill. This was a very engaging hike because there were just so many points of interest along the trail. We hit on this hike Lake Helene, Odessa Lake, Fern Lake, Marguerite Falls, Fern Falls, and The Pool, all in just 9 miles. This hike was also fun because we didn’t have to backtrack at all. We started at Bear Lake Trailhead–the same place I started the 18 mile traverse hike–and ended at the Fern Lake Trailhead. The reason we were able to do this is because the National Park has a hiker shuttle. Once we finished at the Fern Lake Trailhead, we just hopped onto the shuttle and rode back to our car at the Bear Lake Trailhead. This was by far one of the prettiest hikes I have been on thus far.

Because it was Caroline’s last week in the Rockies, she too had caught the hiking bug. The very next day, we decided to hike the oldest trail in the park, appropriately named the Ute trail after the Native American tribe of the same name. The plaque at the start of the trail on top of Trail Ridge Road reads as follows:

Several cultures have passed this way. Prehistoric people hunted elk, deer, and bighorn sheep in this area. Thousands of years later, Ute and Arapaho Indians walked this ridge in moccasins while journeying between their summer and winter hunting grounds. Trail Ridge is named for the narrow footpaths they left. Indian trails like this led trappers and prospectors across the Rockies in the 1800’s. In 1933, motorists driving along newly completed Trail Ridge Road crossed over this path. Today hikers can still walk along this historic Ute Trail. Take a few minutes to follow the footsteps of those who came before you.

We figured this trail would be cake–all downhill, and only 6.5 miles. The first 2 miles of the trail were the best. We were above tree line, and had spectacular views of the park from all directions. The alpine tundra is a very delicate and marvelous ecosystem, so we made sure to stay on the trail in order to protect it. After the first two miles however, the trail got rough. Besides being the oldest trail in the park, I’d have to say it is also the least maintained trail in the park. It was a very steep decent on loose rocks and gravel. Both Caroline and I wiped out a couple times. This part of the hike slowed us down significantly, and we were even worried we may not get back to the YMCA in time for Caroline to go to work. We were both in pretty bad moods, and the unusually hot sun wasn’t helping matters. The final 1.5 miles of the trail flattened out as we entered Beaver Meadows. We picked up the pace and made it back to the car, exhausted and happy it was over.

Reflecting back on this hike, I guess it was a good thing that Caroline and I did it, because then we could share our experiences with other hikers. My next day in at work, coincidentally, I had two different guests ask about the trail and I was able to give them my honest opinion: “You’re better off walking the two miles out on the alpine tundra, then backtracking to your car. That’s the best part of the hike, and the rest isn’t worth it.” Keith, who had recommended the Fern-Odessa loop, had also been considering doing the Ute Trail. Our experience however encouraged him to pursue another hike.

Just today I did a solo hike to Estes Cone in the Long’s Peak area. I wanted to do this hike for two reasons. First, I hadn’t hiked in the Long’s Peak area yet, and secondly, I also wanted to see the Eugenia Mine which was on the way up Estes Cone. Well, the mine was a disappointment. Not just to me, but to the miners who dug it centuries ago. It was pretty much just a bunch of boards over an old hole with a sign next to it that said Eugenia Mine, at the turn of the century, produced more dreams than gold.

I had heard from others who had done this trail that the last part is extremely steep, and boy were they right! You can see in the video below just how steep it actually was. How did the hike go? Watch the video to find out.

So, didn’t make it all the way, but I think it was the right decision to turn back. In fact, right after I shot that video, a group of 6 hikers were coming down the mountain. I asked them how it looked up there and they said “The clouds are coming in from the west, and they don’t look good. That’s why we’re coming down.” I guess hiking with hikemasters has really paid off! For a frame of reference, here’s a picture of my car in the parking lot, and Estes Cone in the distance. Also, note the ugly clouds looming above the mountain.

An 18 Mile Adventure Across the National Park August 20, 2008

Yesterday was one of the best days of my life.  Yes, I’m hurting a lot today, but it was all worth it.  Everyone here has their “big hike”.  This one was mine.  An 18 mile trek from one side of the National Park to the other.  This hike starts at Bear Lake, summits on top of Flattop Mountain at over 12,000ft, and then descends across the national divide and into the valley, ending at Grand Lake.  I completed this hike with two of my coworkers and friends–Larissa and Ian.

We had to start early in the morning, so we agreed to meet in Howard Lobby at 5:30AM.  I was the first one there, and Larissa quickly followed.  She then told me a funny thing that happened to her last night.  “Ian knocked on my door at 5AM, wearing full out Joker makeup!  He asked if we were still going on the hike!”  Apparently, Ian went to a party the night before our hike where the theme where everyone at the party painted their faces like the Joker from the movie The Dark Knight. Larissa said that we were still going, but that he should go back to his room and wash his face.  Even so, when he came to meet us in the Lobby, he still had the dark black circles around his eyes and the red joker smile across his face.  Larissa and I chucked to ourselves and decided it was good enough.  We hoped into Larissa’s car and drove to the Bear Lake trail head.

The sun was just coming up as we started our hike.  It was the coldest I had ever been this year in Colorado.  Luckily, Larissa brought an extra hat and gloves that she let me borrow.  We knew the first 5 miles of the hike were going to be the hardest, as we had to climb Flattop Mountain.  We started off at a good pace, probably hiking two miles per hour.  As we got above tree line however, I started to feel the effects of the altitude.  I was having a really hard time catching my breath and it was very difficult keeping my balance.  Since it had snowed a couple of days ago, there was also a lot of ice and snow along the trail, which didn’t make things any easier.  Ian decided that he was going to run ahead to the top of Flattop, but Larissa stayed behind and helped me along.  Larissa kept asking me, “Are you sure you’re going to make it?”  I answered, “I’m determined to make it.  It’s all downhill after this mountain.”  And sure enough, we did make it. It took us an hour longer to summit than we had anticipated.  I was worried Ian would be upset me with, but when we found him at the top of the mountain, he was asleep on a rock!  He was grateful for the nap and feeling more energetic for the rest of the hike.  A hiker passed us on top of the mountain and we asked her if she could take our picture (you may be able to make out Ian’s makeup if you look closely).

The next part of the hike was the most fun.  We followed the North Inlet trail down the backside of Flattop into the valley below.  There were breathtaking views all around us, and the freshly fallen snow only added to the beauty.  Running around the rocks were cute animals called pikas, which were too fast for me to get a picture of.  The trail was very well marked with carins (pronounced like my name), which are piles of rocks hikers construct keep other hikers on path, and to protect the fragile tundra from being trampled.  The carins on this trail were very tall, in some cases four feet high–very unusual. Below are two pictures of Ian and Larissa, each with carins behind them.  They remind me of prehistoric goal posts.

We were all in a great mood already, and then Ian spotted a  rare site–a herd of bighorn sheep! We continued on the trail until we were about 80ft from the herd.  We sat down, snapped pictures, and observed these fun animals for at least 20 minutes.  The horn of the bighorn sheep never stops growing and is made of keratin, the same material in our fingernails.  We could tell some of these sheep were very old by the size of their horns.  I took numerous pictures, but here are a few of my favorite.A

As we descended into the valley, we bumped into about 20 park rangers who were renovating parts of the trail.  We said “hello” and “good work” and continued on our way.  The more we elevation we lost, the more the scenery changed.  We went from alpine tundra to bushy chaparral to pine shaded forests in about two hours.  The final eight miles of the trail was all forest, but it did walk along a heavy flowing river. As we got more into the west side of the park, we could see how the pine beetle epidemic has really killed many of the trees.  They say that in about 5 years, 80-90% of the pine trees in the park will be dead.

I’d say by mile 15, we were all starting to go a little crazy.  Larissa and I started humming catchy theme songs to famous movies, which I’m sure annoyed Ian.  I also started a game I like to play with people while hiking called “Would You Rather”.  I would ask “would you rather…” and then pick two situations that could never happen in real life.  For example, one that started a lot of light hearted conversation was “would you rather have the ability to breath fire, or tickle people with your mind?  Both of these super powers can be controlled.”  Larissa would want to breathe fire, and Ian and I agreed tickling people with your mind would be too much fun.  This game helped us forget about how much or feet hurt and gave us that extra bit of help for the home stretch.  With about half a mile to go, Larissa and I decided to put our feet in the river. The water was icy cold, probably from all the recent snow melt, but it felt so good!

When we finally made it to the Grand Lake trail head, Ian threw his hat in the air in victory!  Now all we had to do was wait for our ride.  Our coworker and friend Caroline generously offered to pick us up.  We really appreciated this, especially since it’s about an hour and a half drive from the Y to the trail head. We all agreed we would go out to eat at a really good Mexican restaurant and we would buy Caroline her dinner.  All three exhausted hikers decided to take a short nap while we waited for Caroline.  However, we were resting on concrete with us our hiking packs as a pillow, so I didn’t sleep at all.  I gave up on sleeping and sat up.  As I did, I looked over towards the trail head, and there was a red fox!  I gently poked Larissa and Ian, saying “FOX! FOX! FOX!”  Larissa and I hopped up with our cameras and followed it down the road.  Larissa was able to snap a picture, but I was too slow.  It was an amazing last chapter to our wonderful hike.  As we chased the fox down the road, we saw Caroline pull up.  Perfect timing! Wonderful hike, wonderful company, and a wonderful Mexican dinner by Grand Lake.  What more could a girl ask for?

Ibuprofen I guess…

A Birthday in the Rockies August 20, 2008

First, I’d like to apologize to all of my loyal blog readers for not posting since last month. They took down the wireless adapter for my cabin because they will be bulldozing it in a few days. I had simply become to lazy to walk down to the administration building to use the wireless access there. Of course, I probably don’t need to be apologizing because the only “loyal” blog readers I have are my parents, and they are the subject of this post.

My parents came to Colorado to visit me for my birthday!! I drove down to Denver to pick them up from the airport the morning of August 5th. We then drove straight to the US Mint where we went on a free tour. The tour was fun, and mom was able to buy Arizona quarters to give out to friends at church who count the collection with her. We ate lunch at the local Johnny Rockets, and then drove up to Boulder for dessert. Dad had googled a local ice creamery named Glacier Ice Cream, which boasted to have over 80 flavors of ice cream and gelato at one time. I had a blackberry cream pie ice cream and it was delicious! Mom had the same, and Dad had Junior Mint ice cream, with the real candies mixed into the ice cream. That evening, we ate dinner in the Ponderosa dining hall (where I eat all my meals) and then played board games in Sweet Memorial (where I work).

The next morning, we woke up bright and early to go on a drive in the National Park. We drove past the alluvial fan waterfall, where Dad got some pictures. Next stop was Chasm Falls along Old Fall River Road. Below is a picture of Mom and Dad together at the Chasm Falls trail.

Old Fall River Road dead ends at the visitor center on top of Trail Ridge Road. We shopped for a few minutes, but then all agreed to leave because the altitude was making us feel lightheaded. We drove down Trail Ridge Road, which is the highest continuous paved road in North America! We ate lunch in the Ponderosa, then took an afternoon nap. That evening, we went into town to celebrate my birthday. We ate at Poppy’s, a local pizza place that reminded us of California Pizza Kitchen. It was a very good birthday.

The next day we decided to take it easy, as both of my lowland parents were having trouble with the high altitude. We started the day by playing miniature golf–I beat dad by two strokes. After that, we went into town to see a matinée of Forever Plaid. The show was exceptionally good for a locally produced show in a small dinner theater setting. The quartet singers were amazing. At the beginning of the first act, the group sang “Heart and Soul”, and then casually asked the audience who knew how to play the top part. I raised my hand, and the next thing I knew, I was pulled on stage! I played the top part of “Heart and Soul” and then danced with the quartet on stage. To thank me for participating in the show, I received a certificate that makes me an honorary “Plaid Performer”, and also some floss covered in plaid fabric. What a great birthday present!

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.

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.

I heart Boulder, CO!! June 24, 2008

On may days off, if I’m feeling overwhelmed by the high amounts of fresh air, pine trees and snow capped mountain views, I take a drive down highway 36 towards my new favorite city… Boulder, Colorado! I’ve been twice now. The first time was about two weeks ago. I went by myself and spent my time shopping at the largest REI I’ve ever stepped foot in. I also picked up a Starbucks and hit up the local Target for a few necessities I had forgotten to pack. Everyone in the this town is physically fit and openly friendly. I had conversations with the barista in Starbucks, and chatted with the cashier in Target. I like visiting a city that has all of the stores we have in San Jose, because it makes me feel like I’m at home.

The second time I went to Boulder, I went with Jamie, one of the cashiers I work with at the Sweet Memorial Building. She said she was interested in going because her parents were thinking about moving to Boulder and she had never been. Our first stop in Boulder was the 29th Street Mall, which is a large outdoor shopping area with many stores like the ones at Valley Fair in San Jose. I was surprised that a city like Boulder would have an outdoor shopping mall, as the city gets quite a bit of snow in the winter. However I found it just as beautiful, if not more so, than Stanford Mall or Santana Row.

After shopping at Macy’s, Jamie called her dad and asked for some suggestions on where we can have dinner. Her dad recommended the Dushanbe Teahouse in the downtown area of Boulder. We had a bit of trouble finding the place, but it was definitely worth the hassle. This teahouse was actually imported in pieces from Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The indoor decor was lovely, but as this was the first warm day Jamie and I had experienced all summer, we decided to eat outside in the garden. We were surrounded by beautiful flowers and were seated near a stream that ran through downtown. I drank a red iced tea, which was very refreshing. For my main course, I had a Mongolian tofu stir fry, which was healthy and satisfying. Below are pictures of my dinner, and Jamie and me.

After dinner, we went window shopping on Pearl Street, which is at the heart of downtown Boulder. There were street performers, quaint restaurants, breweries, and lots of neat stores. The vibe of downtown reminded me of San Francisco, only much cleaner, flatter, and less homeless. It was starting to get late in the evening, so we couldn’t stay too long–we still had a 1 and 1/2 hour drive back to Estes Park. I can’t wait to go back and explore Boulder some more!