mullerb's musings

A slow but enjoyable one. 70F and sunny and just a bit of a east wind to make the warm up for real on the way out. First time out in 2 weeks!

Dazed and confused after 2 weeks of being sick, I managed to pull out of the driveway and head, once again, across the state on I-70 to canyon country. All thanks to Rachel, of course, and her logistical skills getting things packed. We headed past the usual turn offs for Moab and instead drove a full 8 hours to get 20 odd miles down Notom Road in Capitol Reef NP. Talk about washboarded tracks. And then, to cap off the eve, the remote little campground down in the middle of the remote end of the park, was full! A bit of a surporse, that. But out there, it really doesn't matter. We crashed below the Waterpocket Fold, ready for an early morning drive up the Burr Trail's switchbacks. Such a cool area! We ate breakie near the Upper Muley Twist trailhead then biked the 3 miles to the actual trailhead. The 9 mile loop is just amazing. Half of it is along the crest of the Fold with amazing views of the eroding mesas and washes leading up to the base of the Henry Mountains to the east....

After 3 days cooped up in a manager retreat with a colleague hacking up a storm, it was inevitable. At least I didn't go to Cancun and kiss a pig to get this one. Wait, Cancun! I'd kiss a pig for that :-) 2 weekends of dragging ass and 2 weeks of muddling through work or working from home due to a temperature. Finally hit up Dr. Zacharias to listen to the lungs. He gave me a much better than 50% chance of having walking pneumonia. 4 hours after taking the first zypro, I was on the mend. And 24 hours later, good enough to pack the van for a 3-day weekend in Utah...

A short out and back along the dams. Darn, I wish the gate were open later than 6PM!

Leave it to Heidi to chase me out of the office...A fine day with low, overcast skies and temps in the low 40's. Lots of talking (on her part) and lots of huffing and puffing on mine. Not the fastest reunion ride in the world but still a nice 19+mph average. We had to detour around construction closures on 63rd which actually made for a nice jog to the east and around on Oxford (dirt) to 75th then back on Monarch to 63rd. That short stretch of dirt made me yearn for a cross bike :-)

Chris Weigand (Colorado Front Range Paddlers) has the girls hooked on kayaking again! This was their second rolling session and about the fourth session with Chris this spring. They've been been on the Platte River slalom course few times as well, braving cool late winter/early spring temps and low water. But having lots of fun and getting enthused about the whole thing. We got Seth to come along today as well. All three kiddos are within a hair of nailing a roll! Should be fun to see them in another week or two...

Rach and I left the kids to wallow at home with homework and R&R on Saturday morning. Low gray skies with a fresh 3 inches of snow coating the hills. Drove over to the Dowdy Draw trail head to explore the North and South Spring Brook Loops and the Goshawk Ridge Trail. These trails were just recently opened by the Boulder Mountain Open Space folks. Nice to cover some new terrain! The area is nestled up against the flanks of Eldorado Mountain and Mickey Mouse Wall. Other than the Goshawk Ridge Trail itself, these trails are open for mnt biking - can't wait for the snow to melt the soils to dry out again! Should be a nice after-work ride. We covered around 8 miles or so by maxing out all the loops and side trails.

Dan and I had sort of planned to head out to Moab for a short Fri-Sat mnt bike trip. My schedule and the weather nipped that one. Instead we skipped out on work on Friday anyways and hit Loveland. Fresh snow falling all day on top of 6 inches of fresh. I was way wishing I had grabbed my board! I haven't been on it since I crunched my shoulder 2 years ago and this would have been the perfect chance to get back into it with soft and fresh conditions. Argh. The tele'ing was grand anyways though so no complaints.