Sunday, April 21, 2013

Dog Park

This morning we took the brats over to the Dog Park to get some exercise and play around in the water.  They were both pretty happy about it.    We did a couple of laps around and on each pass Roxy would head down to the water.  Mable, she's not so much a water dog, prefers the dry ground.   We go over early so it wasn't to crowded.

We made our way over to Wal-Mart after dropping the dogs off at home.   Picked up some supplies for the week.  After getting back I headed over to the shop to do a little work.   I have one last section of wall to complete and I will be just about done.   Manged to get two studs up and some insulation.  Need a few more supplies.



Saturday, April 20, 2013

Pueblo

We spent most of the day down in Pueblo at the Pueblo County High School for a diving meet.   Clark
ended up coming home with second place.   On his last dive he was doing a new one that he hasn't gotten totally down yet.   He Ended up with a score of 2.0's and that cost him first place.   It's OK, he is already qualified for State.  He has been doing great this year, either coming in first or second in every meet that he has competed in.   Looking forward to the State competition that is just around the corner.

Once we finished in Pueblo, we rushed back so he could get ready for his Senior Prom.   They were headed off to McKenzie's for dinner and then to the dance.   Poor kid is pretty pooped after being up at 6 AM, competing all day and now Prom and being out all night.   I am sure he will deal with it. :-)





Happy Hiking

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Spent the last day getting a new laptop setup.   I don't know what the hell I did to my old one, but I think I have the new one ready so I can wipe and re-install the old one.   On the walking front I have been trying to build up my endurance for running.   Last three days I have been on the treadmill and doing my sit ups and lifting.   Have to keep after it.


Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Always the comedian!

Hard to believe, well I guess not really, it is April 16th and we are getting snow in Colorado Springs, CO.  Not much, just a dusting but the wind is blowing and it is cold out.   It's weather like this that you just want to stay inside and snuggle. I found a picture of your girlfriend and included it for you.  I am not as sore as I thought I would be today.  Guess I didn't really push myself as hard as I could have.   Well that's OK, because I get to do it all over again this evening.


Monday, April 15, 2013

Back Home

Made it back from my road trip this last week.   I didn't really get a chance to walk or work out much, so
pretty much fell off the wagon.   I did get back after it today though.   Did two miles on the treadmill and did some lifting and sit and push ups.   Probably going to feel it tomorrow.

I have been going through my music trying to rate my songs.  It is going to take a while to get this done.  I have over 5k songs and you know what, I like them all.  Different moods calls for different tunes.

Crazy busy at work and that is a good thing.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Five dollars please...

Left the house at about 6:40 AM and drove to the high school and checked in.   My job today was to collect the money at the door for the CMHS Indian Invite.    I was on the schedule from 6:45 AM to 10:30 AM. I had a pretty good time chatting people up as they came in the door to pay.

Clark did great today, he finished with a score of 399.50 that landed him with second place.   Today's meet started with 26 divers and was narrowed down to 12 for the finals.  He has been doing pretty good this year and is already qualified for state.  Hard to believe this is his last year and he will be graduating on May 26th.

Below is his scoring for the last three meets.  Doesn't include today's scores as they haven't been posted yet. Also included a picture of Clark from the meet.




Friday, April 5, 2013

Go Clark


I didn’t walk today, like I should have.   Candy has Friday’s off and we ended up staying up late watching the Hunger Games.   I didn’t get up until 7:15 AM and needed to be in for an 8 AM call.   Hard to do calls, when you are walking and with the background noise it just doesn’t work for me.

On Thursday I did go to the U.S. Forest Service open house where they presented the proposal for the trails and access to the Bear Creek area.   I was very impressed with the turn out, at one point I would estimate there were 60 + people in the room. One thing they strongly recommended was to get your comments in before April 30th.   If you would like to learn more about the proposed changes and to leave comments visit the U.S. Forest Service.   You could really tell what group people were with, motorbike, bicyclist, hikers.  Motorbike folks had on their Fox Head dirt biking shirts, bicyclist had on bicycle shirts and the hikers filled in the rest.  Not sure what they thought of me as I was wearing my Slash T.  I have to say it is a bad-ass t-shirt.

Looked online tonight and see that the Walter Publishing Company used my letter to the editor in both the Cheyenne Edition and the Woodman Edition.  Will be interesting to see what backlash this causes me.

I have to go folks, need to be the high school at 6:30 AM to start getting ready for the swimming and dive meet.   Clark will be diving tomorrow and he graciously volunteered me to work the door.  Wish you luck tomorrow buddy!

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Hood Walking

I didn't get out and walk this morning, so I ran out after work.   Cruised through the neighborhood this evening and made a 3 mile loop.   It was a little windy this evening, but over all nice to be out.

OK, so I feel better, I sent my letter and bitched about the trail closures.  I know it probably wont do any good, but at least I got it off my chest.   The Forest Service is holding a meeting on Thursday and I figured I would go check it out and make one more attempt to get my voice heard.    I am thinking about taking a week off work and spend my time hiking these trails, for what I guess will be one of the last times.   Not sure when they expect to close them, but I imagine it will be soon.

The letter I sent to the Forest Service may show up in the Gazette as well as the Cheyenne Edition.   I submitted it to both papers trying to get the word out.   The Cheyenne Edition editor wrote me back and said that it may be in this weeks publication.



Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Bear Creek Watershed Assesment


Mail this letter to bcc@fs.fed.us and save the trails in your backyard!

Dear U.S. Forest Service:

I would like to express my concern and objections to the recent changes that are being proposed by the Bear Creek Watershed Assessment as it relates to the Greenback Cutthroat Trout.  For the last 5 years I have spent my spare time hiking many of the trails that are possibly closing. Most of my hikes and time spent in this area can be found on my blog (http://hiking-co.blogspot.com/) that I started to document the area and other things I find of interest. I understand that erosion from the traffic of some trails may be impacting the Trout, but I have some arguments that I hope can be seen as valid.

I have reviewed the proposed transport system as provided by figure 4 of the Bear Creek Watershed Analysis, and I have a few comments that I would like to share. My biggest issue with these changes is that all or portions of trails 622 .A, 668, 720 .A and 701 are looking to close. These changes will severely impact the amount of looping trails hikers will have access to. With the proposed changes, we are now limited to one major trail (667) and one loop consisting of trail 668, 701 and 720. As a hiker, it has been great to have options that do not cover the same ground over and over.

In addition, the remaining open trails are all almost motorized, leaving very little trails to non-motorized use. It seems that with the changes, the motorized users have access to almost all the trails, while hiker-only trails are limited to portions of sections 666 and 622. The trails that are looking to close see foot traffic as well as motorcyclists and bicyclists.  I can see where closing these trails to motorcycles makes sense, as they can cause major erosion, but I struggle with how the hiking community has to be impacted as well. I often come across families who are out enjoying the beauty these trails offer.

If trails 720.A, 668, 622.A and the lower portion of 667 and upper portion of 666 could remain open to non-motorized use, hikers would have more options for enjoying the beauty of the area. In addition, hikers would not have to contend with dirt bikes on these trails.  Foot traffic causes very little if any erosion compared to motor bikes and bicyclist. I understand trying to be fair, but look at the amount of trails that are for motorized use and the very limited amount of non-motorized trails. I believe that some concessions can be made on the trails mentioned above. I encourage leaving the trails open to foot traffic and then revisiting the issue in a few years. I am sure we will find that hikers and trout can co-exist.

As it relates to High Drive, I would encourage closing this road to vehicles. I often see people speeding down this road and kicking up dust, and endangering hikers and other motorists along the way. It is a beautiful drive, but it can be just as fun to walk, hike or bike if people so choose. Therefore, I urge you to reconsider, or at the very least, take into consideration how much pollution motorists make as opposed to hikers. I and others feel it will be a real shame to see this part of our beautiful nature area taken away.

Regards