Flood Damage at Chautauqua

Beautiful day for hike to check out the flood damage at Chautauqua.  Hard to get my brain around it.

Enchanted Mesa Trail just up from the auditorium. 

Somehow the stone bridge survived.  There used to be solid trees between the creek bed and the trail.  Looks so weird to me without them.

Can't imagine what it must have sounded like when all that rock came crashing down.

Trail to nowhere.  The logs scattered around used to form the steps of the old trail.

The huge boulder on the trail must have come from up above to the right.

Closer view of the boulder.

And looking up at the area that it probably came from.

It was a beautiful day with little splashes of color here and there.

Stink Canyon

Well, Skunk Canyon actually but someone decided that if he couldn't find any skunks, he'd find something to roll in to stink himself up.  There's a reason his #1 nickname is Stinkpants.

He was not wearing that same grin on his face after his shampoo and blow dry when we got home.  No tip for me as his stylist, just stink eye, pouting and the silent treatment.

Other than that it was a beautiful hike up Enchanted Mesa/Skunk Canyon.

There were lots of pinecones to chase.

And pretty views for the humans.

Still some snow on the higher peaks.

Classic Flatirons view.

This short hike usually takes 1 hour 10 minutes (less than an hour if I run it) or so but Strummer managed to stretch it out to 1 hour 35 minutes with his sniffing and rolling and peeing on every last yucca plant in sight.

I'd had a much harder workout on Saturday though and was looking to take it easy.  Two hour mountain bike ride on the Dirty Bismark trail.  Took some extra trails to make it longer than normal.  A beautiful day on that trail too.

Some snow on the Continental Divide.  Probably won't last too much longer.

Classic view of the front range/flatirons.

I did the loop in a clockwise direction for the first time which meant I had a not so very fun long steep climb up a wide gravely trail but it was good practice for the Buffalo Creek Xterra which has a much longer, much steeper much less pleasant climb up a steep jeep road at the end of an already very long bike course.  On the other hand it meant I got to ride down those fun trails shown in the photo above.  Whee.

After 2 hours/16.6 miles of that I threw on my running shoes and did a short 2.6 mile loop on the Marshall Mesa trail.  I managed to twist my ankle and fall about 30 seconds into the run because there's a bunch of rocky, uneven slickrock right at the trail head.  There is a nice smooth, dirt handicap ramp but I was too much of a genius to go down that.  It took a couple of minutes until I could bear weight on it but I shook it off and finished my run no problem.  It wasn't physically hard but I was mentally tired but the run went quickly (38:30 mins.) and my ankle was fine.  Until I got up at some wee hour in the morning and couldn't bear weight on it again.  Then got up a few hours later and it was fine.  Hike today was no problem.  We'll see how boot camp and agility go tomorrow.  In the meantime I think I need to revisit some of my ankle strengthening/balancing exercises from when I sprained my ankle.  I've twisted both ankles while simply walking several times in the last couple few weeks.

Lory is supposed to open in a week.  I want to go up and pre-ride the Xterra course (race is first weekend in June) and try out the trails using my hardtail (ie no rear suspension) mountain bike since it will be lighter and the trails aren't that technical.  But I'm not looking forward to seeing the burn area.  The media was allowed in 3 weeks ago and there are some photos and video here.  I've seen a more recent photo and it looked like things were starting to green up so hopefully it won't be too horribly depressing.  Fires are good for the grasslands in general but not when they get too crazy.  Hopefully with all the moisture we've been getting the park will spring back by June and be even more awesome.

Winter Park, Mesa Trail, and some weave practice

My contract work is mostly done for now.  There will probably be little bits of mop up work as time rolls on but for the most part I'm on vacation.  How long that vacation lasts remains to be seen but for right now I'm so tired and burnt out that I'm not going to think about it for a bit.  Going to cram everything I can into what's left of the summer.

Starting with a trip to Winter Park where I got nice and dirty riding my bike.

They'd been inundated with rain so parts of the trail were way muddier than I've ever seen them.  But the wildflowers were out of hand, going crazy all over the place.  And yeah I know I have gnarly knees.  Those knees have seen a lot and have earned every scar and wrinkle.

Tipperary Creek Trail

Do I look ready for my race?

Wait, don't answer that.

Flume Trail

The Winter Park area has been hit hard by the pine beetle kill but this view was a shocker to me.

Just last year this part of the trail was dense, dark, shady forest, certainly there were no mountain views.  You can see the huge pile of dead trees and you can see the brown hillsides of dead trees in the photo above it.  It's been a dramatic and fairly catastrophic event to watch over the years, whole mountainsides turned to brown in the space of a few months.  On the plus side there were copious amounts of wildflowers springing up in the new 'meadows' or 'sunspots' I believe is the logger's euphemism for the space left behind after a clear cut.  Unfortunately the beetles have made their way to this side of the Continental Divide (Winter Park is on the other side) and just this past weekend I spotted some newly dead trees on the West Mag trails.  It's just a matter of time until we start seeing the same brown hillsides here.

In the end it was a 3 hour ride and I was tired but it was a great day on the trails.  The Tipperary Creek Trail is one of my favorites but it's a long way to Tipperary and these days I'm less willing to make the 1 3/4 hour trip when West Mag is 40-45 minutes away.  But it's nice to get out of town every once in a while for something other than a dog trial where I often don't get to see much other than the agility ring.

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The day after my encounter with the bear I took Strum for a hike on the opposite end of the Mesa Trail.  There's still a good chance to run into bears and snakes and maybe a lion but I decided to risk it.

Because it's a nice trail and only 20 minutes away.

And Strummy can go off leash

Everything is so lush and green right now.  It's been a nice summer for moisture.

I kept him on leash a good bit of the time in places where bear/lion/snake encounters were more likely or in places where it would be problematic if I did run into something.  He doesn't stray far from me anyway so being off leash for him isn't all that big a deal but it's nice to be able to let him go when I'm hiking down the steep rocky bits so he doesn't pull me.

As it happens the trailhead is right next to the project I've been working on these past months.  They're nowhere near to starting construction on the house renovation which is the part I worked on but they're constructing the riding arena and had just put up 72' long trusses the other day.  I could see them from the trail but apparently they looked more impressive close up at the job site.  Even more impressive is how they got them up the narrow residential curvy dirt driveway/road to the site.  I can't even imagine how that worked.

In all the hike took around 2 1/4 hours, not sure how far that is distance wise but without a dog I can do it in around 1 hour 50 minutes.  It's amazing how much time his sniffing eats up.  But I was tired from the trail run the day before so I wasn't in a hurry anyway.  Sometimes it's good to kick back and smell the pee.

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Last night I finally made it to my friend's house to practice some 'over the top' agility.  She's got a couple of high drive dogs so we took turns running our dogs in the hopes that we could proof for the excitement of a trial.  I'm not sure how helpful I was to her but this was excellent practice for Strummer and finally I was able to get the failed entries that I see in trials but not at the practice field when I go by myself.  There was quite a lot of failure actually but we worked through it.  Sometimes he almost seems to get some kind of loop in his head and he'll repeat the same thing incorrectly over and over.  I have this problem with the dog walk too.  Part of me thinks it's best to stop and give him a break when this happens but the other part thinks maybe it's better to keep working at it until he succeeds and then stop.  I went with the second option last night but I'm not sure that was the best decision.  I know I need to keep at it but sometimes I feel like I'm bashing my head against the wall and need to try something else.  But what else there is to try I don't know.  My friend thought at first that he wasn't collecting but after a while she could see that he was but that he was almost aiming for the second pole as if that's what he thought he was meant to do and I've often felt this as well.  She pointed out that I was being sloppy with my body positioning and that it would help him if I paused and let him get the entry before moving forward.  Sometimes this helped sometimes it didn't, I do this at trials with the same mixed results.  I had been proofing for motion out at the field so I wasn't too surprised.  It's SO nice to have a second set of experienced eyes when I'm practicing though.  I wish I could have returned the favor and been more helpful but it was all I could do to keep Strummer under some semblance of control when she ran her dogs.  Also she wanted me to tug with him and get him riled up next to the contact equipment so she could proof her contacts so I couldn't watch too closely but wow her dog stuck his 2 on/2 off even with Strum going nuts with his tug right next to him.  It's hard to proof for trials when your dog is that good in practice.

We're going try to practice some more, she lives about 7 minutes away so it's very handy for me and her agility yard is fantastic.  Beautiful lush grass with a gorgeous view of Boulder and the Flatirons below.  Over the top agility at the top of the world I call it.  Hopefully I can get his issue worked out by DOCNA Champs next month.

We've got at least one day of a DOCNA trial this weekend so we'll see if the practice helped.  I only signed up for Saturday but they're taking day of entries so I may go on Sunday too but with 3 days in a row of seminars next week I'm thinking maybe I should give us both a break.

Winnie the Pooh does Chautauqua

I have a couple of days off.  Ah the luxury.  I had a leisurely early morning swim at the Rez with the masters group then an even more leisurely breakfast then decided a steep trail run was in order.  I settled on my old standby Enchanted Mesa/Skunk Canyon/Mesa Trail loop that starts at Chautauqua Park, a mere 12 minute drive.  I takes me just under an hour, I'm guessing it's around 4 miles or so but there are some good steep bits as well as some steady climbs so it's perfect training for my race plus beautiful scenery and most of the trail is in the woods and shaded.

I went back and forth about whether or not I should take Strummer.  Dogs are allowed off leash and he's very good on the trails but this time of year there are rattlesnakes to worry about never mind the mountain lions and bears plus it's a bit hot for him.  In the end I decided I didn't want to have to watch out for him and worry about him overheating.  Sometimes I swear I must by psychic or something.  Because 4 1/2 minutes into my run a guy with a poodle coming the opposite way down the trail is waving his arms at me.  I assume he's a guy I know from agility and start asking him how he is but it turns out he doesn't know me but he does want to warn me about the bear up ahead.  Very close up ahead.  Walking right down the middle of the trail.  I hesitate about going on.  I've spared you the details of how long it took me to park and how crazy crowded Chautauqua was and how oh so wrong I was about how it was going to be empty because it was a weekday.  First of all it's the height of tourist season and secondly nobody works in this town anyway so weekday means nothing to the La De Da Crowd.  Anyway, I've parked in the next county and braved the throngs of tourists, trust funders and kept spouses to get here, I'm not letting a silly thing like a bear turn me back.

I carry on up the trail at a walk and on red alert for Mr. Bear.  I don't see or hear anything for a bit and decide he's probably moved on.  I can't count the number of times someone has warned me about a rattlesnake or bear and then I never see it.  But then I hear a huge rustling noise right next to the trail about 10' away and sure enough an enormous black bear comes out of the brush and steps onto the trail right in front of me.  As he emerges from the brush and hopefully before he notices me I turn around and calmly walk back down the trail.  On the one hand you're not supposed to turn your back but on the other hand I want him to know I'm not a threat and that I'm heading out of his territory.  When he gets on the trail I turn back around and walk backwards so I can keep an eye on him.  He's so beautiful and I feel like I should be more scared but even though he looks right at me he seems relaxed and not bothered.  He slowly crosses the trail and ambles down the hill towards the Chautauqua concert and dining halls, perhaps in search of a cheesy omelette and some classical music.  I was half expecting him to nod and say 'Mornin'.  I can't imagine a more perfect way to see a bear, up close and in the wild but not in a threatening way.  I'm glad I didn't have Strummer with me.  And I'm very glad the man warned me or I would have needed a new pair of shorts.  Of course I didn't have my camera with me.

The rest of the run proceeds without incident.  I see bear poop but no more bears or critters of any kind.  The hills didn't feel too bad on my legs, maybe there's hope for me yet.  Now I have to figure out how I'm going to tire out Strummer for the day.  Maybe I'll risk the rattlesnakes and naked hippies out at the north side of the Rez so he can go swimming.  Heck I've faced a black bear already today, I suppose I can deal with the naked hippies.

It's Such A Gorgeous Sight

I’ve lived in Boulder over 16 years now and sometimes I still can’t believe how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful place. Three weeks in a row of agility trials has left me a bit burnt out so I decided to give it a rest last week and try to get my butt up into the mountains a bit more. Saturday I went for a run on the Mesa Trail, or more accurately some of the lesser used trails that branch off of it. I started off at the back door of Chatauqua away from the maddening crowds of tourists and wound my way up the relatively quiet Enchanted Mesa to the nearly deserted Skunk Canyon. The wildflowers on Enchanted Mesa were spectacular, I’ve never seen such a huge display of color bursting out everywhere. Coming up to the top of a hill I was greeted by a postcard view of the Flatirons with wildflowers as far as the eye could see just as the line ‘it’s such a gorgeous sight’ from The Cure came trickling through my headphones. Yes Mr. Smith I do agree though I’m sure this scene it not at all what he had in mind when he penned the song.

It’s a steep but short descent down into Skunk Canyon then another steep climb out to join up to the Mesa Trail. I had the joint to myself, running into just one person running with a dog. I turned off the MP3 player to enjoy the sounds of the birds and the peacefulness of the woods & the canyon. I can hardly believe all of this is only a 12 minute drive from my house and I don’t come here nearly as often as I should.

I headed south on the Mesa Trail to a steep descent and decide to head back. I’m trying to be sensible about adding on mileage esp. when it’s hilly trails. I went back north on the Mesa Trail and turned off onto Enchanted Mesa which is less crowded and nicer than the Mesa Trail. The whole thing took an hour and a few seconds which is what is normally takes me when I’m not in super great shape. I’m not pushing for speed at all on runs where I’m trying to build distance but I have been trying to push the pace a little on my shorter early morning runs these days.

I was kicking myself for not bringing my camera so I came back on Monday with Jonny & Strummer for a leisurely hike. The pictures didn’t come out as nice as I’d hoped but I still can’t figure out my stupid digital camera for the life of me. I’ve been thinking of getting a nicer one and a friend who just bought a fancy Canon brought it over to my house so I could try it out and the pictures I took still looked like crap. I think I need to break down and sign up for a class but yeah I have time for that.

Sunday Jonny & I went up to Buffalo Creek/Wellington Lake so I could pre-ride the bike course for my triathlon next month. It’s only 10 miles and as it turns out about 7-8 miles is on dirt roads. The few miles of single track are smooth and completely rideable though there are some steep climbs with a few tightish switchbacks. It’s a beautiful trail though a bit eerie as it climbs through an area that was hit by a terrible wildfire some years ago. There were some wildflowers and groundcover that have regrown but the burnt out trees remain. It was pretty cool though I’m concerned about passing during the race since it’s very narrow in places. I’m afraid I’ll end up with a trail of riders stuck behind me because there’s nowhere to let them pass and I’m not stopping on a steep narrow hillside anyway.

The singletrack is in the middle of the course and the first 3 miles are a steep descent on a dirt road that’s mostly in good condition but has some bad deep ruts and is partly washed away in places. It was no problem riding it on my own but with other riders there it could get tricky to pick a line past the ruts. The other problem with this is that I have to come back up the same steep dirt road at the end of the ride. Did I mention this road was steep? It took me 34 minutes to climb a measly 3 miles. I said a lot of bad words on the way back up. The best part is that I get to run afterwards. Better start doing some hill climb bricks. Not that that’s going to help all that much at this point.

Since the course was only 10 miles and we’d driven nearly 2 hours to get there we decided to do some extra credit on the Colorado Trail. Beautiful sweet singletrack as far as the eye could see, I’d much prefer riding this to the horrible steep dirt road but it’s completely not practical for a race. Oh well. This will be an experience but I doubt I’ll repeat it next year. I’d rather ride my bike for fun on really nice trails all summer than race on dirt roads.

The photos were all taken from Enchanted Mesa trail in Boulder with views of the Flatirons (with wildflowers in foreground) and Skunk Canyon. I apologize for the hodge podge layout, Blogger does that and I don't know how to control it (doesn't look that way when I lay it out). You can click on any photo for a larger view.