After the Rain

Mother Nature, reminding us whose boss.

I start at 31st and Kiowa where the creek, usually dry, comes down through Pleasant Valley.

Then it's over to check out Fountain Creek next to Highway 24.

Then down the trail to 26th St. but not continuing under the bridge.

A few days later I hike the Section 16/Palmer Loop which is in pretty good shape and the little trickle of a creek is flowing nicely.

Shirley and I venture up High Drive.  No matter how much gravel you pile on.....

 This is a serious road rut.

And, this is just a plain old washout.

Can't say they didn't try.

The water is paying no attention to the little check dam at the top of Bear Creek Canyon.

This morning I take a ride up to check out Gold Camp Rd. which is closed.

Another good day to be above ground.

My kind of road.

Ride on...

Even the first tunnel has a stream running through it.  But, the best part is the sound of the water in the tunnel.  Because of the echo it sounds sort of like distant traffic noise but with more consistent with very subtle, constant changes in pitch.

Here is the washout that will keep Gold Camp closed for awhile.  Bushwhack it, no problem.

Upper Helen Hunt Falls--check out the Rooster Tail!

Coming down High Drive is like riding in a river bed--maybe it is.

Back on a single track, social.  Humm, no erosion.

And, on down a recently designed/built trail.

This temporary lake even has some ducks who seem very happy mucking up the weeds.

Did I mention--autumn is in the air.

54/14

After 49 years I finally summit all the fourteeners with Little Bear.

September 9/8/13

 On a beautiful fall day we drive to the SW corner of the Colorado Sangre de Cristo mountain range, crawl up a couple of miles of jeep road filled with baby head, river rocks and start our tromp up the Holbrook Creek jeep road 5 miles to Lake Como.

 We hike past the infamous Jaws I, II and etc.

Jaws II is most famous, having a memorial plaque for a 4-wheeler who went the wrong direction at a critical point.

 After a couple of hours, Little Bear, on the left, comes into view.

 Our route is up and over the saddle on the right then just under the ridge and a scramble up to the summit.

We set up the trusty 2-man on gently sloping ground.

A plaque, close to our camp, for a 10 year old who died 25 years ago--?

I take an evening stroll to the base of the scree/talus/boulder field that will take us to the saddle predawn tomorrow morning.

Also, home to about the fattest marmot I've ever seen.

An evening t-storm brings this double rainbow with the lower arc seeming to terminate in the side of Little Bear--has got to be a good omen.

Bear bag in hunter safety orange.

5:45AM on the boulder field approach to the scree gully.

Dawn, past the top of the saddle.

The start of the traverse to below the summit in the center.

And up we go through the Hour Glass aka the Bowling Alley.  Fun class 4 scrambling on good rock.

Above the Hour Glass with an infinite selection of bowling balls.

Class 3 to the summit.

I just drank the bubbles.

Happy climbers.

Sand dunes and Sangres to the north.

The problem with the Hour Glass.  Here we waited for nearly 45 minutes for those coming up behind us so as not to possibly bombard them.  

 A beautiful, windless day near the summit of a 14er--can't really whine.

 

 This rappel rope helps hasten passage through the Hour Glass since we now have climbers above us.

 These tie-offs, for rock hits, make a body repel less than smooth.

 Shane, Craig and Beth starting off the saddle down the scree gully.

The long, long road back to the SUV.

Drinking the stuff around the bubbles.

37th Annual Colorado Balloon Classic

We remember going to this event when Maia was a toddler and one of the pilots went up riding on his horizontal gas tank, like a horse.  Ya don't see that anymore.

 

It's a dawn event and we start out on our bikes in the warm and trafficless early morning.

We get here as the sun rises and balloons are already being inflated.

It's not long before they're launching.

There's a lot of noise and excitement walking around the balloons as they inflate and we soon forget that it's 7AM.

Over the years the perimeter has evolved into a kids carnival with something new every year.

As the first balloons launch we walk over to the lake shore.

The balloons fly low over the trees

over us

and do the Splash and Dash in Prospect Lake.

Some skim the surface for 100 feet or so before sharply rising.

This year, because of the ever varying air currents, one balloon was able to circle back and do a second dip.

 Each of us has his favorite.

There's always a few show boaters.

Shouldn't he be in California?

I don't know why my videos go silent and speed up when I up load them but I like this one, anyway.