Walters Brewing

Hello Everyone!  I hope that you had a good weekend.  It's 6:30 PM MST on Sunday July 31st.   Figured I would catch up on my activities for the weekend.

Candy's sister and brother in law arrived on Friday.  Friday evening Candy cooked up some baked chicken with green beans and potato's.  Both of the boys showed up, so we had a full house.   We sat out back and then had dinner.  After cleaning up everyone headed home or to their hotel.

Saturday morning we loaded up in the Avalanche and drove down to Florence CO.  They have numerous antique stores and a couple nice restaurants.  We spent most of the day walking up/down main street and checking out the various shops.

I found a couple of cool items.  The first item was a Fishing Machine.  I had never seen one like this, but a very similar idea to the Ronco Pocket Fisherman.   I got it for $8.00 dollars.  When we got home that evening I tried it out and it works great.   I need to restring it and will take it with me next time I head out.  If nothing else it will be a cool conversation piece.

The next item I picked up is also pretty cool in my opinion.  I picked up two steel sheets of un-rolled beer cans from the Walters Brewing Company in Pueblo Co.  Being that it was a Colorado brand and that it was out of business in 1974 it seemed pretty cool to me.  I figured I will frame the sheets and it can be my version of a Warhol.   Should look pretty good up on the shop.  Not sure what I will do with the second sheet.  In total their are 35 cans per sheet.

   
All in all, had a great day.  It was a lot of fun to walk through all the shops and see so much history.  How this little town in Southern Colorado can have so many full antique shops is pretty unique.

Today we drove up to the top of Pikes Peak.  We hand Candy's Sister and Husband with us.   Candy and I loaded up a cooler with some of Friday's chicken, potato salad, cookies and some other stuff we had at the house.  Made sure we had plenty of water for everyone and a couple of soda's.

We stopped at Crystal Lake and did a little walking around.  Took a couple of pictures and walked a little around the lake.  It was a pretty busy day with lots of park visitors.  Luckily the traffic wasn't bad.   We made our way up to the top and looked out over the mountains and down to the plains.   Grabbed some almonds and checked out the gift shop before making our way back down.

On the way down we found a nice picnic area with tables and stopped and had our lunch.   As we were eating the chipmunks came out and I was able to snag a couple of pictures.

I think we got home about 1:30 PM.  Our guest left and I took a quick nap.  

North Catamount Reservoir

Right after church we came home, changed, grabbed our gear and we were out the door.    The night before we had been looking at my map trying to figure out a place to go and wanted to get back on Pikes Peak so decided on the N. Catamount Reservoir.   Thought we would hike around the lake and if we were up to it, go as far as Raspberry Mountain. 

Since we were getting a later start in the morning we packed our lunch to have a Picnic on the Peak.   We packed ham sandwiches, trail mix, pretzels, izze’s and a couple bottles of water.

We left the house and headed up Highway 24 and we were at the toll gate by 11:30.  At the toll gate they had both entry lanes open and we were probably 5^th in one of the lines.  I was surprised by the amount of activity and people.   I don’t know why it is tourist season and we are happy to have you here!  Drove up Pikes Peak Highway and made our way to the North Slope Recreation area where we parked at the damn on N. Catamount.

Threw on the pack and turned on the GPS so that we could track our route.  Picked my playlist Hiking up the Hill on the IPod and away we went.   It was a great day to be outside and especially outdoors up on mountain.   The temperature was in the high 70’s and with a breeze. 

Headed across the damn and picked up Catamount trail.  Traveled a short distance and caught the Mackinaw trail that runs along the reservoir.   Wow, the reservoir was way down, I am guessing but probably 20ft maybe more.   Guess we didn’t get as much snow as we needed this last winter.  Thinking about it, we didn’t get much at all along the Front Range and we haven’t had much rain this spring or early summer.

From the Mackinaw trail you have some great views of the north side of Pikes Peak.  We found a nice stump in the shade, stopped and had a sandwich and took a little break.

Reaching the end of Mackinaw we picked up Mule-Deer trail back up to Catamount.  Catamount is also part of the Ring the Peak trail system, which someday I plan on doing that hike all 57/M in three days. (http://fotp.com/ringthepeak/Trail3-4.html).

We then hiked down Limber Pine trail, which is actually a service road.   It is a long down hill with no traffic.   If you are coming the opposite direction be ready for a long steady incline.   We then reached the end of the reservoir and got off the road and caught the Limber Pine trail that is actually a trail.   We screwed up here as we came across a fork in the trail and one followed the reservoir and the other seemed to move away from the lake.  Well you want the one that moves away from the lake.

After a quarter mile or so the trail following the lake pretty much disappeared.   It was there but didn’t seem to be well traveled.   Being that the lake was so far down, we just walked along bank of the lake back to the damn.

In the fingers of the lake there was lots of drift wood that had collected.

On the GPS I logged 8.4/M so some decent distance.   We both have red faces from getting a little too much sun today, but not bad.

Happy Hiking

Additional Photos

Tunnel Closed

Today Nik, Candy and I headed out to investigate the Oil Creek Tunnel. We met up at 10AM and headed up the 24 to Pikes Peak. Dam they get you with the toll charge, all together it was $36.00, $12.00 per head. So we paid the money and proceeded up the Peak to the Elk Knoll parking lot. It was breezy but not to bad and the temperature was cool. We loaded on the packs and headed down trail #652. There were a couple folks coming up the trail as we started but other than them we didn’t encounter anyone else.

We made our way down and found the junction to take you up to the Oil Creek Tunnel and the old ruins that still remain. We had to make our own trail at one point as the snow banks had it covered. One of the great things about this hike is that you start above tree line and work your way down into the trees and then up against the Peak. So you have a variety of scenery to enjoy as well running water from the snow melt.

As we came around the trail and in view of the tunnel entrance I was getting excited and ready to start digging out the flashlights. All of sudden there it was, a steal barrier that had been installed within the last two years, barring your way into the tunnel. Major disappointment! I am just glad that I had been able to make this trip before and actually get into the tunnel and been able to check it out. So I apologized to everyone, even though it wasn’t my fault but I had built up the expectation of going in. Who knows maybe they were relieved. :-)

We checked out the ruins and snapped off some pictures. Now it was time to start making our way back up the mountain. It is a fairly steep area that you have to go back up and secondly hiking at 12k feet is different than hiking at 6k to 10k feet. You can tell the difference if you are not used to it. The elevation climb is about 900ft and the trail up is about a mile and three quarters. All together roundtrip is 3.5/miles. Not a long hike but a very enjoyable one with a good cardio workout.

I don’t know how many different types of wild flowers we came across but the vegetation was spectacular to look at. Candy really enjoyed checking out the plants and flowers. She got some really good pictures.

Once we got back to the parking lot we drove on up to the Peak. The place was packed! The Cog Railway had just arrived and the parking lot was packed with local and numerous tourists from out of state. I saw license plates from TX, VA, and MS.

All in all, even with the tunnel closed I had a great time.

Happy Hiking

All pictures can be found at: http://picasaweb.google.com/drobincorvette/20100619#

North Catamount Reservoir

This morning I drove up to the North Slope Recreation Area (NSRA), located on the north side of Pikes Peak. When I got to the toll gate for the Pikes Peak Highway I was about the 10th car in line waiting for it to open and was through the gate at 7:20am.

The night before I dug out my small tackle box and loaded it with a few lures. Broke down a rod and reel and loaded them into the pack. I also created a new playlist and downloaded a few new tunes.

North Slope Recreation Area has three lakes, Crystal and North and South Catamount. I decided to go to the North reservoir. I was the third car in the parking area. Threw on the pack, hit play on the IPod and headed across the damn. I then hopped on the Mackinaw trail and followed the shoreline stopping and throwing a few lures along the way. Sadly to report I didn’t have any luck with the fishing today.

I hiked out about 3.5/miles and then worked my way back. Totaled up 7.38/miles when I returned to the truck. I am thinking that next weekend I will go back and just hike around the lake.

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.

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.