Here was the view this morning on Segment 2 of the Colorado Trail. The wind chill was nicely below zero with high humidity, which made for some gorgeous ice on the trees in the early morning sun.
Skiing in a Surgical Mask
Copper Mountain requires everyone to wear a mask this winter, so we went with surgical masks. Here I am at 12,000 feet on Copper!
Don't Trip Over the Deer
I went out for a trail run yesterday and almost tripped over this little guy.
Some Bad Air
The following photo was taken from about 10,000’ on Mount Evans, looking north. Notice the scum of bad air from the Cameron Peak Fire in the distance.
We are Allowed One Vacation
We finally got in a short driving trip at the end of September and cruised through the Colorado National Monument, before returning to our COVID seclusion. Here is a photo of one of the side canyons in the Colorado National Monument.
Good Food and Good Signage
This is an excellent bistro in Palisade, Colorado - and I love their parking signs.
And That's it for Foliage
This has been an awful year for foliage viewing in Colorado, since the lack of rain has made the aspen leaves drop off early, and with little color. Still, I spotted this small stand of aspens in the Denver foothills that looks reasonable.
Mountain Biking in a Time of Forest Fires
We currently have four forest fires in Colorado, all dumping particulates on the Front Range area - which means mountain biking with a surgical mask. I find this to be a slow form of strangulation, but at least it’s exercise.
Had to Deal with this on Denali, too
I was just biking the Equestrian Trail near Sedalia, and noticed this sign. Not entirely sure how the equestrians can be expected to comply, but the trail was fairly clean. I had to deal with a similar requirement when climbing Denali, but not for horses…
Where is the Monsoon?
Colorado is normally on the receiving end of a seasonal monsoon that runs from mid-July through late August. This year? Not so much. Here is the view from a high point on the Front Range, with hardly a cloud in sight.
A Fine Day on Georgia Pass
Here we have a great July day at 11,800’ on top of Georgia Pass. This is one of the great mountain bike rides in Colorado, from Kenosha Pass to Georgia Pass and back again, weaving through a few dozen Colorado Trail hikers along the way.
Half Marathon #50
That’s 50 consecutive months of half marathon trail runs! Some were a bit rough, especially in January and February when there may be a foot of snow on the ground and the weather is brisk. Here I am at the turnaround point on the Cub Creek trail, at about 10,000 feet elevation on the side of Mt. Evans; the lightning storm started about a half hour later.
Half Marathon #49
The streak is still alive, at 49 consecutive months of half marathon trail runs. We have now flipped over to the muggy summer months, with crowds of face-masked hikers and bikers even on the more distant trails. Here is a view of a rock spire in the back corner of Staunton State Park.
Seriously?
I don’t own an e-bike, but this sign at the entrance to some Forest Service land seems like a bit much. An e-bike has a battery-powered assist mode, so I guess that makes it a motorized vehicle. Tough luck for anyone who just spent a few thousand dollars on an e-bike and wants to use it on national land.
Half Marathon #46
The streak is still alive, with 46 consecutive monthly half marathon trail runs. The following photo was from deep in Staunton State Park this morning - almost totally dry; should look a bit different tomorrow, when it may snow anywhere from 8” to 12”.
Glacier National Park in Winter
In February, you can only drive 11 miles into Glacier National Park from the park entrance. Here is the view from near the entrance, with great reflections in the lake water.
Montana Backcountry Skiing
We were backcountry skiing in the Stillwater State Forest, north of Whitefish Montana, under unusually blue skies. Here is Melissa blasting through some creamy powder, followed by a typical view of trees blanketed in heavy snow. Also, notice the backcountry refrigerator full of beer and our cat getting a jump-start from another cat.
Crazy great skiing
The snow forecast for Steamboat on February 13th was for 5”, and they got 8”. And where we were, at Buffalo Pass (four miles north) they got 18” of powder. Which looks like this…
Deep powder yet again
It just keeps dumping in Steamboat. Here we are a week later - same old, same old.
Mega Powder!
Here are multiple shots from our recent cat skiing trip to Steamboat. There was A LOT of powder.
