Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Front Cross vs Rear Cross

Some more practice yesterday, some more craziness from Strummer.  The cold has kicked his speed up to 11.  I don't have video of the most challenging part which was a line of staggered jumps to a curved tunnel.  I kept getting too far behind, Strum curled into me and got the wrong tunnel entrance.  Even with a rear cross I couldn't get him into the correct entrance to save my life.  Finally had to use his name and a rear cross.  Not the end of the world I suppose but I wish he'd pay attention to my motion instead of locking onto the tunnel from 2 jumps away.

The only video that came out halfway interesting was part of an exercise that we did with front crosses then rear crosses.  I like the rear better between the first red and yellow jump but I don't like the rear between the red and perpendicular white jump.  It took me a while to get the timing down but by the last rep I finally had a good front cross between the panel and the red which allowed another front between the white and the blue as well as a better turn over the white.  I could have executed the rear between the red and white a little better by maybe hanging back towards the tunnel a wee bit longer so I could have some motion going into the cross.  For one of the reps I'm at a complete standstill and this causes a dropped bar as poor Strum keeps looking at me for some direction and loses focus on his jumping.


Practice 11-29-2010 - Front Cross vs Rear Cross from colliebrains on Vimeo.


Four more days until the trial, not sure if I should squeeze in one more dogwalk practice or go to a course run through or give it all a rest.

Little stinker destroyed the squeaker in a brand new rubber chicken in the space of about a minute.  I don't know why I give him toys, he's a destructo machine.  But he's obsessed with these stupid rubber chickens, something about the texture of the rubber and the weird noise they make, different from a regular squeaker.  My training partner has one and he was so obsessed with it that I bought him his own.


 Lola loves the darn thing as well.


But we're on chicken #3 because they keep doing autopsies and removing the squeaker.  That's it though, this is the last one I'm buying.  I can't even believe I bought #3 as it is.  What my life has come to.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Would you like some stuffing with that helping of reality?

Somebody was a wee bit wound this morning out at the practice field.

I like a spot of agility, I do.

Somebody started moaning in the car a good mile or so before he got to the practice field then barked his fool head off because he got left in the car while I walked the course and other dogs were having their turn.

It's my turn.  Always.  I'll repeat this as loud as I can to anyone who'll listen for as long as it takes.

There was a full course set up at the practice field for the first time in ages so I thought I'd give it a whirl since we have a trial next weekend and I haven't done a full course probably since our last trial 5 weeks ago.  'A great opportunity to see how our training will hold up in the ring' is what I was thinking.  I was also thinking it would go well given all the training we've been putting in.  It was a masters level course but not all that hard.  Our regular training partner was at the field with her 2 dogs as well as someone with a fast sheltie who Strummer didn't know.  Three dogs people, two of whom he knows well, that's all it took to send his brain to crazyland and back several times over.  We had a missed dogwalk contact, missed weave pole entry, knocked bar and OMG the teeter!  Scary launch off the teeter, he didn't even try to wait for it to tip.  Not all that stuff was in the same run, I redid a few places to try different handling options or to correct an error but still.  What was going on with his teeter??!!

Yeah, well, I'd like to see you up on that teeter.  Especially when you're so excited you could pee your pants.

Guess we'll be working on teeters this week.  And oh yeah, dogwalks.  $##$@@#$$ing dogwalks.  If you want to become manic depressive I suggest you take up running dogwalk training.  Actually it wasn't that bad, again probably 70-80% success rate and I even got a front cross in with the tunnel looming on the other side of the dogwalk exit.  But those few misses, ugh, feels like this should be more than trained by now.  I was working on it at the start of the week and thought for sure he'd finally had a 100% success session but darn it when I checked the video he'd had one slight miss.  It was so close, he just missed his striding a bit and hit his front paws just off the bottom of the plank, so so close.  Those are the hardest misses to train for because they're so hard to see.  I had to put the video in slow motion to be sure.  And if I continue to reward them we'll never get that perfect session.  More plank in the backyard work this week as a refresher.  And the teeter.  Sheesh, it's never ending.

On the plus side he was able to hold his start line stay while the sheltie was flying through a tunnel right next to him.  He also left me once while we were working on a short sequence to go chase the same sheltie through the tunnel but he made his own decision to come back and play with me before he got close enough to interfere.  At least he's finally to the point of preferring to play agility with me rather than go off chasing another dog.  He even left the enticing sight of a BC herding sheep in the field right next to us to goad me into more agility.  Such a funny boy.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Ghosts of Thanksgivings past

We returned to Hall Ranch this week but this time on foot for a 4 hour, nearly 9 1/2 mile hike with  1300'-1400' of elevation gain.  No dogs or bikes allowed on this trail so again I've hardly ever been on it even though it's a mere 20 minute drive.  I think I've been on it twice before in the 15 or so years that the trail has been there.

Nighthawk trail

How cool would it be to have photos in my blog of actual wild turkeys on the day after Thanksgiving?  So imagine my delight when I heard the telltale sound of gobbling right off the trail at the start of the hike.  AND I had the nice SLR camera out hanging on my neck, turned on, lens cap off, all zoomed in and ready to go.  How often does that ever happen??!!  But where were the turkeys?  Even though the gobbling was loud and there was a lot of it I couldn't see any birds.  They're hardly stealth creatures and they don't move fast or with a whole lot of conviction but despite scouring the trail up and down neither Jonny nor I could find so much as a feather.  I concluded they were ghost turkeys of Thanksgivings past.  They returned one more time to haunt us about an hour further along the trail.  I kept eye and ear open for them the entire hike and camera at the ready but the best I could do was some deer.



Yeah, I know, big whup.  You wanted to see wild turkeys.  Me too.

It was a beautiful hike though, even if the ghost turkeys gave us the slip.






I didn't bring food with me partly because I thought we were going on a short hike and partly because I forgot so after 4 hours I was a bit dizzy and bonky by the end but I managed to get back to the car and home without passing out.  I had plenty of water but I was careful not to drink too much of it.  I'm certain the passing out incident I had this summer was due to too much water and no electrolytes since I was only out biking for an hour and 45 minutes.

We were originally planning on snowshoeing up in Rocky Mountain National Park but it was supposed to be a nice sunny warm-ish day in town and I couldn't bear the thought of driving up so high and freezing my buns off.  I love skiing and snowshoeing and being in the high country in winter but I'm not quite ready for it just yet.  There will be a whole winter of snow and cold ahead of me, no point rushing into it.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Regulating puppy mills is Un-Amurican

Only the Daily Show could find a way to make Cesar Milan look good.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Big Red Dogs
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I thought Anita Andrews from the 'Alliance for Truth' was hilarious.  Until I discovered that the Daily Show didn't make her up for the skit.  She's for reals folks.  You know you're in trouble when Cesar Milan is the voice of reason.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Who knew I was so fascinating?

I often look up from my computer to a scene like this.


I'm sure many of you experience the same phenomenon.  I find it unsettling.  How long have they been staring at me like that?  And what fascinating thing do they suppose I'm going to do that requires such rapt attention?  I feel like I should jump out of my chair and burst out in song and dance or suddenly produce a flurry of tennis balls and frisbees.  It's a lot of pressure. 

Sometimes I'll look up and they'll all be sleeping, seemingly out cold, then as soon as I so much as turn my chair to get up their eyes simultaneously spring open and the stare fest commences.  Perhaps they're hoping to hypnotize me into giving them bones or an extra meal or a trip to the coffee shop for a latte and chocolate croissants.  With extra bacon.  Maybe I should try to hypnotize them back.  Or just make good with the bacon and they'll leave me in peace.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Hikies and some agility

Strummer went for hikies on the South Mesa Trail today.

Ooooh, arty
Or maybe it had something to do with once again not noticing that the camera settings wheel had shifted to some crazy manual setting.  The only photo that turned out halfway decent was this one.


Which is a shame because at the start of the hike a front moved through and the cloud formations moving through the mountains were amazing.  Unfortunately all my shots were way overexposed.  I was able to fiddle with a few but this was the best I could do.

Big Bluestem Trail




Later in the day we went out to the practice field for a short training session.  I've been working my way through a Backyard Dogs article from Mary Ellen Barry from Oct. 2008.  Weaves and tunnels and serpentines and even a threadle-fun.  It's taken me 3 practice sessions to get through all the exercises though to be fair one practice session consisted of 1 rep then I had to flee for the car because a fast moving storm with rain and crazy high winds surprised me.  Then session number 2 involved sharing the field with a friend's Aussie puppy so I was more focused on making sure Strum behaved than I was on the exercises.  He was such a good boy, so focused on me and wanting to play at agility rather than obsessing over the other dog.  I can't even remember how the exercises went because I was so pleased with his behavior.  I know I sound like a broken record but it took me forever to get him to a point where he could even be in the field while another dog was training let alone off leash and doing agility himself.  The puppy did really well also, came over only once I think and Strum barely batted an eyelid.  We've had a couple sessions now with other dogs (mostly pups/young dogs) in the training field doing their thing while we do ours.  SO happy to finally reach that point.  I don't completely trust him and I'm sure things would be different with a high drive dog racing around a course but it's a start.

It's been a month or so since our last trial and I'm hankering to get in the ring again but it's 2 weeks until our next trial.  I've been putting in a fair amount of practice and I'm eager to see how it'll transfer to the ring.

Hall Ranch

It was a bit nippy but otherwise beautiful day at Hall on Friday.


It was a shortish (one hour 20 minutes) ride and harder than it should have been.  I've been keeping to the shorter hills in town because of my back/neck but the chiro cleared me for Hall which has significantly steeper/longer hills than what I've been doing.  It's just under an hour of almost solid climbing then a 20 minute descent for me if I do only one loop.  A few months ago 2 loops were no problem, now one loop sends my quads to screaming.

I returned to the pool this week too and that wasn't pretty either.  A little over 20 minutes was all I could stand.  I think I'll have to return to masters and work around the group because swimming on my own is so boring.  It'll be even uglier but at least I won't be ready to drown myself from the tedium if I swim with the group.



I know I should take advantage of the dry trails while I can and do more biking today but I think I'll treat Strum to a nice hike and some agility practice.  I'm such a wimp with biking in the cold, so much easier to keep warm while hiking.

In other news I made some cream of tomato soup with bay and tarragon.  I didn't burn the house down but I did make a hell of a mess with the blender.  I did nearly blow us all to kingdom come trying to make tea on Friday but let's not dwell on that.  Turns out I don't care for bay and tarragon.  Maybe by the time I eat all this soup I'll develop a taste for it.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Nerdfest

Thursday's practice was a course courtesy of AgilityNerd.  My training partner made some adjustments because she had only one tunnel and no tire so we had a teeter in place of the #13 tunnel.  Also we turned the threadle at 7-8-9 on Exercise 2 into a serp because I was more interested in practicing serp's.  We took a few other liberties here and there and made up a third exercise.  The video starts with Exercise 2 then goes to Exercise 1 then goes to our made up course.  I'm not going to try to replicate the course map, the modifications we made should be obvious from the video.



I broke up the course into smaller sequences to work on the stuff I had issues with.  The video is heavily edited, I figured over 5 minutes of handling exercises was too much for anyone to bear, including me, so I put together a sampling of how it all went.

In short I found a front cross after the 7-8-9 serp/threadle (we did it both ways) worked better than a rear cross on the flat between 9 and 10.  I wish I'd taken a little more time to handle 12-13-14 in Exercise 2 as a serp.  I tried it once and it went horribly wrong and felt awkward so I put in a front cross after the #12 teeter and then a rear between 13 and 14 and that worked no problem.  I have a bad habit of turning into the dog on the serp to get him to turn and come into me and I'm trying to break it.  I try to handle most serps with a cross somewhere if I can but sometimes it makes sense to handle it all on one side so I need to practice it.

The send from the A-frame to the #7 jump was a challenge for Strummer as well and it proved important for 7-10 because if I stepped in too far to get the #7 jump then I was too far behind to handle the serp and get the front cross in between 9 and 10.  Eventually he got patterned to it but those sends are a continual weakness and I'm forever working on them.  He's come a long way but we have a ways to go.

The tight course was fun for a change, we've been doing more open courses that require running because we both have a DOCNA trial coming up.  Thanks to AgilityNerd for a fun, Nerdful morning of agility.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Funny coincidence

How funny that Silvia Trkman's latest video has the same soundtrack as the second half of the Danny MacAskill biking video that I just posted two days ago?  I guess great minds think alike.  It fits the dog agility/tricks video just as well as the trials biking video and both are so much fun to watch.



The band is the Jezabels and I've never heard of them.  They sound for all the world like the Cocteau Twins to me.  Maybe I'll check out their other stuff.  Or maybe drag out my old Cocteau Twins records instead.

There is more dog stuff coming, honest.  I've got some video of Strummer from practice yesterday and I'll get to it eventually.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

More crazy Scottish bike parkour

Absolutely stunning trials riding set to a backdrop of absolutely stunning Scottish scenery.



I'm trying to figure out how this guy isn't broken into a million tiny pieces by now.  Also I now understand why the RV rental people make you sign a contract saying you won't go on the roof.

Here's a link to one of his older videos that I posted about for those who missed it the first time around.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Practice and next year's goals

DOCNA Champs or Xterra Nationals for 2011?  I keep going back and forth.  Of course they're on the same weekend.  Strum is qualified for DOCNA Champs already and I'd love to go next year and try to make the finals.  Qualifying for Xterra Nationals will be much more difficult and I'll probably have to travel out of state to get enough races/points.  The other problem is that some years it's very competitive, you can't just show up to 4 races and finish, you have to be in the top placements to get enough points.  Other years you don't even have to do 4 races.  Nationals are in Utah next year and I'd love the opportunity to race there.  Who knows where they'll be in 2012?  Jonny laughs every time I bring this up.  'Of course you're  going to DOCNA Champs, isn't it obvious?  Agility is your thing,' he confidently tells me.  He's probably right but still, I can't help wondering what sort of shape I could whip myself into if I had the proper motivation.  Maybe the compromise is to set the goal of qualifying for Xterra Nationals but going to DOCNA Champs.  If I do manage to qualify I won't be taking somebody else's spot, they'll give it to the next person in line if I tell them I'm not going so there's no harm done in trying.  But it's awfully expensive to do 4 races, especially if I have to travel out of state for one of them (points are given for placements and you can enter up to 4 races for points, a set amount of women with the most amount of points in my age group qualify).  And it's a lot of unnecessary pressure.  I love to race but not to the point of the training taking over my life.  Thankfully September 2011 is a long way off.

Meanwhile I've been practicing away with Strummer.  Tuesday was a handling exercise with just jumps.  A huge octagon of jumps and you run from one jump to the jump on the opposite side of the octagon then do a 225 degree turn and run to the jump on the other side again.  Work your way around the octagon with dog on left then dog on right.  The octagon was very big so it was great practice for balancing forward and turning cues.  Strummer and I struggled with it but in the end I had a better feel for my timing and cues.  Then Friday we worked with a single straight tunnel and went through a bunch of the recall to heel type cues that I did back when we were learning jumping with one jump.  Mary Ellen Barry had an article in Sept.'s Clean Run I think (I don't get Clean Run anymore but my training partner had it) and we followed her exercises.  There were more that eventually added jumps in but we never got to those.  Strum whizzed through them with little problem but they were good practice nonetheless.  I was especially happy with how calm he was while my training partner's dogs were running.  Fast dogs charging through straight tunnels are a big trigger for him but I think because we spent an hour and a half doing the same tunnel that he became 'bored' or maybe less interested/obsessed as time wore on.  Was great to see him approaching a somewhat relatively relaxed state by the end of practice anyway.

Sunday I was on my own out at the practice field so we worked on some more dogwalk turns and weaves.  I was hoping that we'd finally had a 100% success rate but looking at the tape I'm not sure.  Two of the reps are iffy and one you can't see if his back feet hit because I'm in the way.  I'm tempted to put it at one hit and one miss for the iffy ones giving us 5/6 or 83% for contact performance.  Then there were two turns that he misread and/or that I miscued.  Mostly I was pleased though, there was no obvious leaping and I felt like he was getting the hang of turning.  I moved the tunnel forward of the dogwalk ramp exit in an attempt to get a not so sharp turn off the dogwalk but he's still turning too sharply and making me cringe.  It's the one place where the running contact is turning out to be less safe for him than the stopped and I'm not sure what to do about it other than not do the move during the games and only do it the couple of times a weekend during Standard and maybe stop entering North American Challenge until I can work out a way to train him to do it safely.  I wish it wasn't such a common move in DOCNA, you can be sure to see it at least once or twice if not more during any given trial.

DOGWALK 11-14-2010 from colliebrains on Vimeo.

(click 'DOGWALK ...' link for larger view)


When I arrived at the field I noticed a weird set-up at the dogwalk.  Someone must have been working on running contacts and come up with a unique method.  It's not something I would try myself because it's way too many props for me but I'm always interested in other people's training ideas so I filmed it.


On the one hand it looks almost dangerous but on the other hand I have no idea how the set-up was being used or the size of the dog so who am I to say?  Interesting anyway.

Bundled up for a coldish bike ride yesterday on the trails out by the Rez.  It's harsh going from mid 70s to high 30's but the sun was out and I was happy enough that the trails were dry and I didn't have to resort to the back country dirt roads just yet.

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Picture perfect day

Took advantage of the last 75 degree day I'm likely to see for a while and went for a bike ride on the Flatirons Vista/Doudy Draw/Springbrook trails.  The day was so perfect that even my ancient little point and shoot camera took some nice photos.

View from the top of Doudy Draw of the Continental Divide peaking through.


Start of the Prairie Vista trail at Flatirons Vista parking area

View of the Flatirons from the top of Doudy Draw.  You can see the trail at the bottom, that's where I'm headed, then I'll climb back up to the upper trails that are also visible that comprise the Springbrook loop.

Parts of the trail are wooded.

Springbrook Trail.

Doesn't my bike look happy?

The sign is warning dog owners that their low compliance (59%) with the leash law may lead to their loss of the trail.  The other trails allow off-leash dogs but not Springbrook and half of the loop is closed to dogs altogether.  I predict the other half is soon to follow.  There's also talk of bikes losing their access as well.  Soon it will only be the Abert squirrels on the trail.

And some of the trail is exposed with great views of the foothills and prairie.

Leaving the woods on the Springbrook Trail.

And saying hello to the prairie again.

Look to your left and you have an up close view of the Flatirons.

I love the rich autumn colors.


Heading back on the Prairie Vista trail.  I loved the sight of the oasis of water in the sea of 'dry'.

Say goodbye to the big blue summer sky.

I shot that photo on accident as I was holding my camera in my hand while riding a short way to another photo taking place.  I must have pressed the shutter button on accident.  For some reason I love this shot.  I didn't use any program to alter the photo at all.

I have more photos on my Facebook account.  This link is public, you should be able to view the photos without joining Facebook.

Had a fun practice with Strummer and my training partner at the training field this morning in the sun and got home just in time for the badly needed rain to start.  The dogs loved the cooler temps. (40's or so I'd guess) and it wasn't too cold for the humans with the sun shining.  We'll see if the temps. drop enough to get some snow later on.  Can't remember the last time that the first snow of the season has been so late.

Monday, November 08, 2010

Hogback trail

I can't believe it's been 3 years since I've been on the Hogback trail.  Last time I was on it was just before USDAA Nationals in 2007 and I freaked out because I was sure I was going to be eaten by a mountain lion.  No dogs or bikes are allowed on the trail and since a good chunk of my life involves dogs and bikes and I didn't want to go back up there alone it makes sense that I haven't returned for a while.  But it's so convenient and Jonny and I thought it would be relaxing to do a hike that didn't involve a drive across town.

Luckily we spent the morning cleaning up leaves in the yard so we weren't up high on a ridge when an unexpected storm front blew through at lunch time.  But the storm quickly cleared and we were treated to a rainbow at the start of our hike.

Everything is so dry and brown and while I'm not looking forward to the end of our mild weather we sorely need tomorrow's predicted rain/snow.


Deer are abundant on this trail.  They're abundant in my neighborhood too but it's nice to see them in a more natural setting.

 
Can you see why I was worried about mountain lions on this part of the trail?  It's hard to see but the trail winds it's way between and slightly below the big piles of rocks.  Perfect place for a big kitty to lie in wait.


View of the plains looking east from the top of the hill.  The big blue splotch is the Boulder Rez and the ridge to the west of it and running east/west is the Eagle trail.  Biking/running trails drop down to the north and running only trails are to the south.  All of them allow dogs off leash except for a small bird conservation area around the smaller lake to the west of the Rez.  Probably doesn't look all that scenic from this view but down at trail level it's pretty fantabulous.


I like the solo tree sticking out of the hillside.


I have one more day of sun and 70's then the reality of early winter sets in.

Sunday, November 07, 2010

Last gasps of fall color

Olde Stage Road

Olde Stage Road

Olde Stage Road

Took a little bike ride in the freakishly warm weather yesterday.  The odd day in the 70's in November is one thing but it's been in the 70's or high 60's for so many days now I've lost count.

Olde Stage to Left Hand Canyon and up James Canyon to Jamestown is a classic Boulder County ride and I can do it right out my back door.  I didn't make it all the way to Jamestown because I reached my time limit set by my chiropractor.  Neck is finally starting to feel better and I don't want to push my luck.  But I made it a good way up James Canyon.

Last gasp of color in James Canyon

Olde Stage is steep (17% grade in places) and it was a struggle but I made it both out and back.  Just.  I've been doing more road rides these days because of my neck and it's weird to be back out in traffic on my road bike.  At least these canyons are full of cyclists and the cars know to watch for them on the twisty curves.

A couple more days of sun then it sounds like it may finally sort of maybe rain/snow.  Must enjoy the sunny days while I can.

Thursday, November 04, 2010

Interview with a sheep herding champion

Was surprised and pleased to see an interview with sheep herding champion Patrick Shanahan and his champion sheepdog Riggs over at Coffee with a Canine.  They won the USBCHA National Championships this year.  Short but interesting interview.  I'm not super crazy into herding or anything but I do find it interesting and with Nationals being in Carbondale, CO next year, a little over a 3 hour drive, maybe I'll go watch.  And while my dogs always will come from rescue if we were living in some weird hypothetical world where all dogs had homes and the only way to get one was through a breeder he's one of the very very few that I would consider.

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Red Rocks and Boulder Creek Path

Since Lola can't do agility any more I'm trying to find other fun things for us to do together.  While I'm sure she's not sitting at home thinking, 'Boy I really miss agility', she is pissed off when I pack up the dog bag with toys and goodies and Strummer and leave her home.  And she's not shy about expressing her feelings.  I come home to some sort of mischief she's been into or ransacked cabinets/closets.  So I've been trying to take her hiking, just me and her, once or twice a week in addition to her regular walks and play time.  She's a pain in the ass in the woods though because her prey drive is through the roof so I have to be selective about where she goes or risk getting my arm pulled out of its socket in the pursuit of Squirrel or Prairie Dog.

Red Rocks is a short trail at the edge of downtown that hooks up to Mt. Sanitas if you want a longer hike but there are a bunch of little side trails and I think it's how you get up to the area where the Dome Fire started last week.  I was there the week before the fire started so no smoke in these photos.

Unfortunately I had my camera on some manual settings that were totally inappropriate and didn't realize it until the middle of the hike so even though I had a beautiful sunny day that any moron could take stunning pictures in I managed to take pictures that came out all black.  And of course they were the best shots of the rock formations.  But I caught a few shots on the way back on a different trail after I fixed the settings.

This is the bottom of Mt. Sanitas, not the Red Rocks formations


Red Rocks


Lola having a roll around at Eben G. Fine Park which is right next to the Red Rocks area.


My neck and back are still bothering me from the car crash so the chiropractor banned me from going on any steep rocky trails since bombing down a rocky trail will make my neck worse so I grudgingly headed out for the Boulder Creek Path on my bike.  I normally barely notice it because if I'm on it it's to get to or from a ride that goes higher up the canyons.  Then I realized how spoiled I am because it is a pretty trail.  Below are photos of the Elephant Buttress climbing area which is the south boundary of the Dome Fire.  Again, I was there a week before the fire started.  The fire is behind these rocks and since I'm not a climber I'm not sure if you can see Dome Rock from the trail or if it's behind on the Open Space where the fire is burning.  Currently it's fully contained but I don't think it's completely out.  I drove past the area yesterday and the trails over there were still closed due to the fire.

Elephant Buttress.  If you look closely you can see a climber.



I suppose there are worse places I could ride to rehab an injury.


Edited to add:
Turns out I did have a photo of the Dome

Weird that I was out taking pictures a few days before the fire.  I can't remember the last time I was on the Boulder Creek Path, it's probably been at least a year or two.  And I haven't been to Red Rocks in maybe 10 years even though it's 10 minutes away.