June – End of Month Mileage Update

Closing out a big month with a total of 146.63/miles that I have walked/hiked this month. Total since I began tracking on March 1st, 2008 is 351.33/miles. On average I walked 4.89/miles a day. I hope to be able to continue this type of routine in July.

I do have some travel time planned this month but it’s for pleasure so I should be able to make the time. Most of my outings for the next two weeks will be urban and country walks. I will be sure to keep tracking my miles and update my blog while I am out.

Oil Creek Tunnel

Today’s hike was pretty cool. I got a chance to check out the Oil Creek Tunnel. It was started in the 1890’s to build a route through Pikes Peak in order to be able to get back and forth to Cripple Creek. The best article that I have found to give you some history about the tunnel is: http://www.skyrunner.com/story/oilcreek.htm .

I left the house at 6:20am to be able to be one of the first on the Pikes Peak Toll Way. I arrived at the toll gate, at about 6:40 and was already about the 6th car in line. One of the reasons why I don’t spend more time on the Peak is the number of people and that you can’t get into the park until 7am, which is a little late for me.

The toll charge is normally $10 per person. A little secret let them know your going fishing. You will save your self a few bucks. I passed the toll gate and headed up to the Elk Park Overlook. It’s about 14/miles from the Toll Gate. When I reached the Glen Cove gift shop area, they had the road blocked off. Turns out that were letting race cars use the upper portion for tire testing. Race cars, you ask, well the Pikes Peak Hill Climb is coming up towards the middle of July.

I was the only car up their as no one else had driven up this far yet. I parked and got out and talked with the Ranger. Told him I wanted to get to the Elk Grove Overlook. It was only about another mile up the road. He let me through and said if I went any further they would kick me off the mountain.

Got to the parking lot, loaded up and headed off down the trail. It was windy and cold this morning, glad that I had dressed appropriately. It’s a relative short hike, 5/miles round trip. You start above tree line for this hike. Catch the Elk Park Trail (aka Trail #652). It is a gradual decent and then gets much steeper in sections. So at least with this hike you start it going down with all the work, being on you way back up.

When you catch the Oil Creek Tunnel Trail (aka #652a), you may have the chance to run into some snow still hanging around from winter. Follow the trail the best you can, it’s not very well defined in sections.

I wish today I would have had a buddy with me. The tunnel is 1800ft deep into the mountain. I probably was only in about 250/ft. I had a headlamp on my head and another attached to my breast strap on my backpack. Coming out of the tunnel is running water, actually a pretty decent stream. At least with another adventure seeker I may have made it all the way to the end.

American Goldfinch

I came across the colorful fellow on my way home from work this week as I was going through Bear Creek Park.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Goldfinch

Life Taken

I have to say I have seen some pretty wild shit in my 43 years. And today once again I learned the meaning of survival of the fittest. Ok, so we all have to eat, but it really hits home when you actual see nature in action. This evening at about 5pm the wife and I were out in our front yard. Today was overcast and very cool for June 28th. She was watering the plants (aka Deer Food) and I was on my way to the garage.

When out of no where, from across the street a hawk came flying directly at us. As it approached the yard it swooped down and in a cloud of feather snags one of the baby robins that was sitting on the ground, hunkered down in the grass. Neither of us new the baby robin was there. When the hawk hit the baby robin, feathers flew everywhere like a smoke bomb had gone off. As quickly as the hawk had hit the robin, it was on its way back across the street with the baby robin in its talons. On its tail was the mother robin who had realized what had just happened. And in an instant the hawk was gone.

All that remained was a circle of feathers lying on the ground. At first it was very shocking and a little hard to believe what had just happened. We looked around for the other babys or feather piles, but didn't see anything. I have looked the last couple of days and have not seen anyone in the robin nest.

Afterwards we ate a smoked brisket that I had started at 6am this morning. We all have to eat.

New Life

I searched the web to see if I could find the most common month in the year that animals are born. I couldn't’t really find anything or at least not what I was looking for. Not being a subject matter expert, I am going to take a wild ass guess that it is June.

I had written about the robins nest earlier this month and have been checking the nest each morning and night. Well this morning I got my first glimpse of the newly born chicks. From what I can tell their are three of them so far. This is the best photo I could get. This is from this morning and I took several this evening but the lighting I needed was gone. I hadn't looked at the pics from this morning, the sun was in my eyes when I took the shots and didn’t expect them to look all that great. This one actually came out pretty decent and I cropped from the original to get the one shown.

Around the first of the month I was walking to work through Bear Creek Park and I came across two coyotes on the right side of the trail about 30 yards away. And from the left side of the trail, down by a creek, I could here young pups crying. I stopped and watched the coyotes on the right and then they began howling. I guess I was blocking their way back to the pups.

Since seeing the coyotes I started carrying the camera because I wanted to get a picture of one. Well that was about two weeks ago and I haven’t seen any since. The morning that I did see them I had to be to work early and was probably one of the first on the trail. Another reason to leave early and be the first one out!

And finally, on Monday of this week I came across this little guy, which is probably about two weeks old at most. The doe actually had two fauns, but I was only to get a picture of one of them. I had seen them about a week ago in our neighbor’s yard across the street. The neighbor actually feeds the deer and this is about the fourth year in a row that fauns have been born in his yard.

Yeah their really cute when they are young and have spots. Oh so precious, well guess what they need to eat. All of your nice little perennials and annuals are all up for grab on this smorgasbord of colorful vegetation. Money well spent at your local greenhouse so that you could feed these cute little bastards.

St. Mary’s Falls and up to Mt. Rosa

I had set the alarm for 4am as I wanted to be out the door early morning. Two reasons, first I wanted to get done before it rained and secondly I like being the first one on the trail. It’s nice to not run into anyone and you have the best chance of catching wildlife before they get scared off. The only problem with being first is you get a face full of annoying spider web. Spiders string from a tree on one side of the trail to the other. The strand of web is so fine, you don’t see as your walking, you just feel it on you face.

The alarm went off but I didn’t get out of bed until 5:20/am. Got dressed, double checked my pack and hauled ass out the door. I reached the Gold Camp Road parking lot at about 5:50/am and was on the trail by 6:00am. As I had planned, I was the first one up their and no other cars were in the parking lot yet.

When I packed last night I reviewed the map and decided to do the St. Mary’s Falls trail #624 up to Road 301 and then catch trail #672 that leads up to Mt. Rosa. By adding about 1.8/Miles to the trek, you can take the trail off of #672 that leads up to the summit of Mt. Rosa. You will be able to identify the summit trail as rocks outline a T shape intersection. I had passed it before, but this time decided to make the effort and it was definitely worth it. Then planned to finish trail #672 and catch the Pipeline Trail 668 to Seven Bridges and back to Gold Camp Road.

Trail Outlined in Red

According to my map, trails #624 and #672 are flagged as difficult. Hence part of the reason why I chose to go this way. It’s pretty much an up-hill climb and a couple of sections with multiple switch-backs up the mountain. You will definitely work up a sweat and if you don’t then “you the Man or Woman!” I stopped at the base of St. Mary’s Falls and snapped a few photos. As I continued up trail #624 I am pretty sure that I saw a large Elk. It was much larger than any of the Deer that I have come across and it addition the rack on him was much larger. That’s when I stopped and pulled out the camera and just decided to let it hang around my neck so next time I would be ready.

After passing the top of the falls, I found another small trail that lead down to the creek. It was mainly an animal trail but those are the best for exploration. Once down to the stream I found what was once a make-shift shelter that someone had built. No idea how old it was but it was pretty cool. I snapped off a few and headed back to the trail.

From trail #624, I reached Road 301 and turned right. You only need to go about 50 yards and keep looking to your left. You will see a couple different sets of rocks piled upon each other. Usually stacked about three high. Look further up from the piled rocks and you will see the trail sign. As you start up trail #672, you realize what you are in for. The first section is pretty tough and will take your breath.

After trudging up the loose gravel and larger boulders that make up the trail, you come out into an open area that flattens out. You actually have some pretty great views from this area to the west with Pikes Peak being visible and is great photo opportunity. Large dead tree stumps scatter the area, most are white/very light in color. Actually there is lots of dead tree debris up most of the trail. This section has fewer living tree’s, with some wide open space. As you follow the trail you will see to your left a formation of rocks that someone has placed. The rocks are placed in a large circle with rocks running across the north/south east and west. In the center is another smaller circle of rocks. I took two photos; you would have to look at them to get the idea. I have no idea if it was made by Indians, Hippies or some Cult, but it’s pretty slick to come across and wonder.

Shortly after the circle formation and on your left you will come to the T shape rocked outline intersection. Head off to your left and you are on your way to the Mt. Rosa summit. When you reach the top of Mt. Rosa (11,499 ft) you have a great 360% view of Colorado. I have updated the slide show on the blog and commented the pictures that I took. Lying at the top of Mt. Rosa was an 8-inch long tube and about 3-inches in diameter with a cable connected to one end and a screw off cap on the other. The cable was attached to the ground inside a pile of rocks. At first I wasn’t sure what it was, thought it might be a weather measurement tool, to collect temperature, hydrometer or barometric pressure. I had to look, so I picked it up and screwed off the cap and inside found a rolled up logbook and pen. I pulled out the rolled up paper and found the names, dates and residency of folks who had reached the summit before me. So like the others before me I put down my name, date and comment. It was pretty cool!

While at the top I rested for a few minutes, drank some water and pulled my trek poles out to make the hike back down. The gravel is loose and I try to move quick as I come down and they will help you keep your balance when you slip, and you will. Also remember to lift you feet as you are coming down. Rocks and roots stick-up and if you don’t lift your feet, the toe of your boot or shoe will catch and you are in for a header. Another reason the trek poles come in handy as they will stop you.

According to my GPS the entire hike was 15.8/Miles. Total hiking time was 6.5/hours and I had logged about 1/hour of stopped time, for breaks, photos and to catch my breath. The slowest portion was going up trails #624 and #672 as it is a fairly decent incline. The rest of the trails from that point are mainly down hill, so you can move pretty quickly and catch up on lost time.

On my way back down the summit trail to Mt. Rosa I ran into the first other hikers I had seen that morning. I think they were pissed that someone had already beaten them to the top. I shouldn’t say pissed but I am the say way that’s one of the reasons I leave so early. It appeared to be a married couple with their two dogs. I said hello and she said you must have started early this morning. I replied with yeah, I wanted to be the first one at the top.

I didn’t encounter anyone else until I caught the Seven Bridges trail on my way back to Gold Camp Road. I think some of the folks I came across were a little intimidated by me as we passed. I was moving pretty quick and came upon most of them by surprise to them. I had a 15/inch bowie knife strapped on my hip. Wearing an orange beanie with goggles, my hiking boots, hiking pants and a long sleeve spandex shirt with a full pack on.

Firstly the knife was probably a little scary to them and secondly I looked a little creepy like I had just come out of the mountains on a 15.8 mile hike. Most of the folks on the trail are out with their families and probably do two miles in and back. Not only that, I stank from all the sweat. I mean I could smell myself and I am sure as I passed folks that they caught a whiff as well.

Mileage Update

June 20th – 2.83/Miles
June 21st – 2.09/Miles
June 22nd – 15.80/Miles
June 23rd – 5.23/Miles

Total for the Month of June: 119.85/Miles
Total Since March 1st 2008: 324.55/Miles
Total Miles to Go: 770.45

Let's Eat

When hiking on the trail, at least around here. What ever you can do to cut down on extra weight in your pack or your clothing/foot wear definitely makes the hike more fun and a little faster.

I really didn’t have any light weight hiking or camping gear when I started all this about two years ago. So I have slowly purchased over time to replace my six man tent and Coleman cooker for more manageable and light weight equipment.

So let’s talk about cooking and making coffee. I have only done three over nighters, but multiple day trips. When I plan my longer hikes I usually take my cooker and a freeze-dried food with me. For food there are two main brands out there. Mountain House and Backpacker’s Pantry. Both about the same as far as contents and how to cook. Best advice, stick with food you know. The Mountain House Beef Stroganoff with Noodles is decent (http://www.rei.com/product/510134). To cook up these fantastic dinner or lunches all you need is boiling water.

Well guess what, they make just such a cooker to boil water for using with freeze-dried or making that morning cup of coffee. I haven’t used any other cookers but I purchased the Jetboil Personal Cooking System (http://www.rei.com/product/760622). Did a little research on the web and found it to be highly rated with numerous positive reviews. I am very happy with it and it has worked excellent each time I have used it. Easy to operate; light weight, only weighs 15 ounces and

fits very nicely into the bottom of your pack. Be sure to use a level service when heating water as when full it can tip if you not careful. Use your smarts and you should be ok. Mine actually came with a red neoprene cozy. I think it cooler looking than the black that is pictured.

If you have ever used a propane grill at home, the concept is the same just much smaller. The fuel tanks are light weight and will boil 11 liters of water for each 100g fuel used. The fuel tanks come in 225g canisters. That should last you for several outings. With all of the freeze-dried foods, all you have to do is boil 2 cups of water. It only takes a few minutes to get the water boiling, so very quick. Hell of a lot easier than trying to build a fire and having the utensil needed to boil water and not burn yourself.

Once you have the water boiling, just tear you freeze-dried food open as indicated on the bag. Be sure not to tear it down to the Zip Lock. Once open poor in the amount of water per the instructions. Zip Lock and let set for the time required. Plan on 9 to 12 minutes for cooking time. You can eat the food right out of the bag as it is made to stand up. Most of them say they serve two, but I can eat it all myself. Again looking for light weight, they only way any where from 4 to 7.5 ounces. Fold up pretty easy when you are loading your pack. Also the cooking bag comes in handy for small trash items like Kleenex and toilet paper. Remember don’t leave anything behind. Carry out what you carry in.

In addition to Beef Stroganoff with Noodles you can get dishes like Chili Mac, Beef Stew, Bacon & Eggs and many others. You can also find all types of energy bars and such not that is supposed to be good for you. Nothing like chocolate though! You want to snack, take a bag of my favorite Peanut M&M’s or little Hershey Kisses with nuts. Just as good for you in my opinion.

My Jetboil Personal Cooking System actually came equipped to use as a coffee maker. I tried it once and made a hell of a mess. Didn’t really look at the instructions. Currently I have a coffee cup with a rubber lid. I keep coffee pouches in the cup along with packets of sugar and cream. Once you have your water boiling just drop in a coffee pouch and add water. Let is set for a few minutes; discard the bag in your zip lock cooking bag when done. Add you cream and sugar and you are good to go. Discard your sugar and cream trash into you zip lock cooking bag as well.

I think I can, I think I can

Tomorrow should be a big day for me. I am about to break two records. The first is crossing the 300/Mile mark since I started tracking in March. I am at 298.6 as of this evening. The second is if I can get at lease 6.5/Miles in tomorrow then I will have reached a 100/Miles for the month.

Tonight I did 5.4/Miles. I did the Red Rock Canyon area. Not sure why I don’t do this trail more often as it is such a pretty area. Traveled light today as I wanted to move quickly, no pack, water or camera. Should have taken the camera.

Overslept and had an early AM meeting or I would have walked to work today instead. It all worked out.

On Monday I came across this bad boy on the trail to work. It was about 6:40am. This will wake you up, when you come around the bend and run into him.

Slammed

I have been slammed at work this week so I have been short on time. Up to 293.2/Miles, and should be able to break 300 this week. Got a cool picture of a big Buck on Monday but haven’t had time to load it.

Thank You Apple

I am a fan of all types of music, so my IPod has just about everything. Currently I have 4901 songs to choose from, plus movies and television shows I have downloaded. Most of the music came from my CD Collection. It took time to get it all loaded, but I haven’t listened to a CD since I did it. Now everything is on the computer and my IPod. (Don’t forget to back up you files!!)

Walking/Hiking with music sure helps pass the miles away. What is so great about it is the flexibility you have. You can create playlist and add all your favorite songs and head out. You can have fun with the playlist names and create different list based on how you are feeling. Feeling mellow with Easy Listing, guitar thrashing Hard Rock to New Wave and Alternative.

Names of Playlist from my IPod:
- Face Down
- Captain Jacks
- Rock My Ass Off
- Up The Mighty Hill

I guess mainly I am listing to Rock/Hard Rock and Alternative. Fast paced with cool grooves to help me up the mountains. Also great for picking up the pace when coming down the mountain.

Not only is it great for the hikes, but is also great for the camp outs. On the two hikes I did to Cripple Creek over the last year it was great to be able to relax and catch a movie on the IPod once settled into the tent. Also very awesome for business travel as you can at least tune out the engine noise and screaming baby’s.

My Top 25 Most Played:

Everybody’s Screaming – Lostprophets
As I Bleed – Bipolar
Paralyzer – Finger Eleven
Make You Smile - +44
Who’s on your side – Pennywise
Misery Business – Paramore
That’s What the Little Girls Do – The Knack
For the Movies – Buckcherry
A Day to Be Alone – One Less Reason
Crushcrushcrush – Paramore
How Far We’ve Come – Matchbox Twenty
My Disease – Bullets and Octane
A Favor House Atlantic – Coheed and Cambria
Broken – Seether
Everything – Buckcherry
Lawless and Lulu – Buckcherry
Chemical Dream – Bipolar
Where the River Flows – Collective Soul
Face Down – Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
I Don’t Wanna Be In Love – Good Charlotte
Life Is Beautiful – SIXX:A.M.
Lit Up – Buckcherry
155 - +44
Afraid – Josh Todd
A Boy Brushed Red…. Living In Black and White – Underoath

Red Robin

I checked on the Robin this evening around 7pm. She was in the nest all tucked in. Today was overcast and cool. This morning when I walked to work it was very nice out. I looked out the window later that morning and we were having light rain showers. This afternoon was cool, damp with light sprinkles. I think the high was 58.

If you would like to learn more about the American Robin the following URL
http://www.wbu.com/chipperwoods/photos/robin.htm gives a great description.

Only walked to work and had a ride home this evening. I did manage to get 3.36/Miles in today. This brings my total up to 278.04/Miles.

Lazy Days

Well, I didn’t get any walking/hiking in this weekend. Late Friday night we went bowling. Started at 9;30pm and finished up about 11:30pm. Bowled four games total and Saturday morning had a sore back and arm.

On Sunday I was just lazy and decided to work around the house and try to get some jobs I have put off for a while taken care of. Got up at 5:30am and went out for a little vette ride. I did drive up to Gold Camp Road via Cheyenne Road. No traffic and it was a great ride. Then headed over to Starbucks and loaded up on caffeine.

I spent most of Father’s Day replacing sprinkler heads and re-routing pipe. I needed to move some heads around after the fence went in. I dug a 20ft trench and them made the parts list and headed over the Home Depot. Had to re-place a few heads and had a leak and spliced in a new piece of pipe. Anyway that all done so I don’t have that nagging at me.

Friday I did walk and I got 5.09/Miles in. This brings me up to 274.68 since March 1st, 2008. I need to step it up this week after a nice little break. I only need 6.62/Miles and I will have May’s record broken.

I think the Robin has laid her eggs. The male was pretty happy to see me digging. I did come across a few worms and so did he. Every time I headed off to get a tool, when I came back he was picking the worms from the fresh dirt. I caught him taking worms up to feed the female. By the time I got back with the camera he was shy, but the female stayed put.

Natures Beauty

Found this on the porch this morning on my way out the door.

It's Another Day

I continue to plug away. I was able to get 5.14/Miles in yesterday and today I was able to get 8.09/Miles in. This brings me up to 269.59. I should be able to top my number for May by the weekend if I can keep at it.

My cover came in for the hammock. I haven’t tried to use it yet. I will try this week if time permits and maybe shoot a video of how to set it up, and make it my first attempt of show casing a video on YouTube. I should be able to link the YouTube video into the blog.

I am still debating with myself on the hike to Saint Mary’s Fall/Mt. Rosa this weekend. I think I have the OK from the boss; I just need to figure out when to go. I figure it will take about 3 hours to get to my camping spot. I was thinking about leaving later afternoon on Saturday. Be at camp by around 5/6pm. I will need a ride to the trail head and then head out from there. In the morning will hike the rest of the route and be back home around 9/10am. Guessing it is about 12 miles altogether.

Other Hiking topics that I plan on sharing in the weeks to come:

First Aid Kit
Hygiene
Overnight Pack
What Music is on my IPod?
Gun Safety and when it makes since to take it with you.

What pants should I wear?

Ok, hold on, before we get into my pants, a quick update on my mileage status for the month. I didn’t walk to work today. Woke up a little late and had conference call at 8:00am. Getting to work at 8am is not the issue; it’s the 30 minutes in advance that I need to be there to get the laptop fired up running. If you run windows then you know what I’m talking about.

So for lunch I headed out to get at least two miles in. I only needed 1.63 miles to keep on my average of having 5/miles a day for the month. I ended up getting 3.29, bringing me to 51.66/miles for the month and 256.63 since I begin my logging on March 1st.

Only 838.37/miles left to reach my goal for the year! As long as I don’t take a spill in the mountains or taken out by distracted motorist, I should be able to make it!!

So what pants should I wear? Well I can only tell you what I have found to be the best. Over the last couple of years, I have worn jeans, shorts, sweats, just about everything. I found a pair of pants at REI (http://www.rei.com/product/761948) that I really liked.

REI Mistral Pants - They are great for both winter and summer hiking. Water repellent, wind proof, wash well, fit and look great either in the mountains or in the office. The polyester and spandex blend gives them stretch when you’re climbing or stretching to reach that next step. Easy to sleep in and keep you warm at night. I have several pairs and wear them just about every day when I can. If you do a lot of hiking/walking or just occasionally I would recommend you get a pair. Being comfortable when hiking 3 to 15 miles, definitely makes the trip easier.

So the cons to these pants are the price and location manufactured. Pricey at $99.00 a pair (but worth it) and they are made in China.

Goals are good

One of my goals is to see if I can walk/hike 1,095 miles within a 12-month period. I started keeping track on March 1st, 2008. I have a Garmin GPSmap 60 that I carry with me for each hike and each day that I walk to work. I am lucky my office is located 2.5 miles from my home. To date I have 253.07 miles in. I started out strong in March, but caught a nasty bug in early April and it hung with me all month.

March: 103.6/Miles
April: 24.5/Miles
May: 76.6/Miles
June: 64.89/Miles to date

I have kicked June off in high gear. At my current pace I should be able to get at least 150 to 175 miles in for the month. I have been trying to walk at least 5 miles or more daily.

In addition to keeping track of my daily miles I have also tried to keep count of what I eat. It is pretty easy once you get in the habit and definitely will help you with your food choices and portions. Part of the reason I am doing all this walking to get healthy and loose weight. I also really just dig it.


Being that this weekend is Father's Day I may do an overnight trip. I got a new hammock that I have been wanting to try out.

It’s made by Eagle Nest Fitters, Inc. http://www.eaglesnestoutfittersinc.com/. Mine is a Singlenest Hammock. It was purchased from one of the Eddie Bauer stores in town. You had to purchase the straps separately. All together it is about a $60.00 investment. You could use a rope, but the straps seem to work very well from testing I have done in the back yard. The label says it should hold up to 400lbs, so I should be good. The hammock and straps don’t weigh much so it doesn’t add a lot to the overnight pack that I will be taking.



If I do make it out for an over night trip, I am thinking about heading up Saint Mary’s Falls. I was up there this last weekend and scouted out a few places that looked pretty decent for what I want to do. Plenty of fire wood and very secluded so shouldn’t run into anyone. Will need to put my list together of what I am taking with me.

Seven Lakes Region

I am planning a hiking trip from Colorado Springs out to the Seven Lakes Region west of the springs. I have a map that shows that permit access may be required. On the map they provided a phone #, which turns out to be Colorado Springs Utilities. In speaking with them I was told that no permits are available and that access is denied to all. I would like to get out to Lake Moraine as I understand it to be one of the few lakes in Colorado that was damned by ancient glacial action. I will continue to investigate how to get a permit and will update the blog when I find out.

Maps

Since I started hiking the Pike Peak Region I had been on the look out for maps that show in detail the various trails that are available. I have pulled some my maps from http://www.trails.com/ . Nice site and good info but not what I was looking for. I recently was visiting the Garden of the Gods, information center and found a great map of the region. The map is titled: “Colorado Springs Pikes Peak” it is produced by Sky Terrain Trail Maps. http://www.skyterrain.com/.

I now plan on getting a couple of more to have on hand. I like to cut out the sections and laminate them so I have a smaller map to work with. This is also comes in handy as you can highlight your hike for the day and leave it home on the fridge. If for some reason you don’t make it back, at least they know where to find you.