Happy Anniversary

I was looking back on the early days when I started blogging about the hiking I have done and realized that at just passed my two year anniversary. Where does the time go! I was a lot more active and more descriptive with my entries in the early days. Because I had a goal and it was all new to me.

I started keeping track of my miles again as well as what I have been eating and drinking. It’s been good for me as it has got me back the trails. With the weather warming up that’s made it easier because you just want to get out and enjoy the sunshine.

Today I did the treadmill for my lunch break and got 2/miles in. I had a 7:15AM call that I needed to do be on so I ended up driving and getting in at 6:30AM. It takes MS Windows a good 10 minutes to boot up and had to do a quick review on some work items.

For the month of June, I am up to 51.5/miles. So far so good, just need to keep it up. But it has been tough with a lot going on at work. I have a big weekend planned. Thinking about doing Oil Creak Tunnel on Saturday and for Fathers day I thought I would head up St. Mary’s Falls and if I have it in me keep going up to Mt. Rosa. This one will be a long one if I do the loop but I think I am ready.

Another Great Day in Colorado!

I left the trail head at 7:30AM and headed down Gold Camp Road to Trail 622 (aka Seven Bridges), to Trail 668 (aka Pipeline Trail), to trail 720 to 667 (aka Jones Park) then looped back down to Gold Camp Road. Total miles today came up to be 9.08/Miles. Hiking time was 3 hours and 30 minutes plus I had 38 minutes of stopping time to take pictures and get a drink of water.

It was overcast this morning and the clouds were hanging low around 8K feet. I didn’t snap two many pictures on Seven Bridges as I had done it just the weekend before. But I did have the camera ready for any flowers, birds or other critters that I came across. I moved up the trail pretty good today. Might have been that I did it the weekend before or the fact that I have been walking to work again everyday when I can.

It was nice and cool this morning with the low hanging clouds and it had rained last night. The vegetation was loving the wet weather and there were so many wild flowers in bloom. I snapped this picture of some wild iris’s growing in a meadow of Aspen trees. I have also included a close up.

This picture is of another Chipmunk that I came across. They are so funny actually little camera hams. They will sit on the branches and let you snap as many pictures as you would like.

This is a picture of a nice little water fall on trail 667. I actually hung out here for about 10 minutes and had some turkey jerky and a little water to drink. While down in the creek I had 5 dirt bikes come by on the trail. I don’t think they had seen me as I was about 10 ft. below the trail in order to snap this picture.

I have to say riding dirt bikes up the trail looks like a damn blast! After seeing them I started toying with the idea of putting my old 75 Ford Ranchero on Craig’s List and seeing if I could sell it or trade it for a decent dirt bike.

One other cool thing you will spot is this old mining tunnel. I don’t know how far in it goes as I have only stepped in the entrance to snap a picture. If I had someone with me I might have the guts to go in a little further.

Well that’s about it for this trip. Need to figure out where I want to go next weekend. I may head up to Pikes Peak and hike the Oil Creek Tunnel trail again. If you would like to view all pictures from today's hike you can find them
here: http://picasaweb.google.com/drobincorvette/20100613#

Happy Hiking!

Another Day

Took the long way to and home from work today and managed to get 7.3/Miles in. We will see if I can do the same route tomorrow. I need to make sure to take the camera with me tomorrow as I missed some good pics tonight.

a good week

So far this week I have gotten 21/miles in. Need to keep plugging away!

Seven Bridges

Above are a few pics from today’s hike up the Seven Bridges trail. We had a group of 5 today and were able to get 7.5/miles in. Everyone did a great job and had a great time. I know I did. We started from the trail head about 9:45AM and we back to the vehicles just before 1:00PM. We moved at a pretty good clip up and down.

The trail was seeing a lot of action today. The way up we didn’t really run into any people but on the way down there were several groups of hikers and families. I feel bad, a group of three ladies we passed on the way down asked how much further it was. I let her know that they had about another two miles or so to go. She said they were going to go for it and had some peanut butter sandwiches they could snack on along the way. I commented that the Bears love peanut butter and she about shit! I told her I was kidding and continued down the trail.

The trail is in good shape as are the bridges. The creek was running strong and could be heard through the canyon.

If you would like to see all of today’s photos you can find them here: http://picasaweb.google.com/drobincorvette/20100606#

Passerines

I really enjoy watching the Finches eat from the feeders. The feeders look like tube socks but they are a mesh with small holes that the Finches can pick the thistle through. I guess you could use tube socks if you had to. Today I spotted a pair of yellow Finches eating and drinking from the fountain. From what I have read the Finches are part of the Passerines family of birds. This means that they can perch securely on twigs, reeds and even grass stems.

Oh and their singing ability is incredible. They have a complex syrinx which is more highly developed than it is in other birds. Most passerines have its own distinctive song and sounds uttered within a defined rhythm and structure. I need to get some recording equipment and go out and record them singing so that I can play it back and see if I can attract other finches. These photos are from this evening.

667, 666

Yesterday I got a nice little hike in. Totaled up to 13/miles and was a really good workout. Left the house at 6:30AM and headed up the Bear Creek Trail and then up Mays Peak and over to Captain Jacks. I then took trail 667 and then down 666 and back to the house. The first 7/miles were the toughest as it was a 2K elevation climb.

I managed to walk to work this morning but had to get a ride home. The wife was leaving town and was having laptop issues so I need to get home quick to get that resolved.

Below are a few pics that I snapped along the way.

Enough with the wind

I wish the wind would go away. I plan on heading out in the morning and hate eating dust from the trail. Not sure where I am going to go yet. I should have gone today but I sat down and turned on the TV and VH1 Classics is playing 80’s music from A to Z. I haven’t moved in 2 hours. Hey you gotta love the 80’s.

More Birds

Black Billed Magpie

I came across this monster this morning while walking to work. A common and very conspicuous bird of western North America, the Black-billed Magpie is found in urban as well as rural areas. Its bold black-and-white pattern and long tail make it easy to identify.