mullerb's musings

Monster run/hike for me. Rach and Kelly are in Aspen and Leah is at a sleepover. Got up at 5 and to the Hessie Trailhead by 5:50. Still dark for those first 20 minutes of hiking! Got to the pass by 8am! That's around 7.5 miles with a 2300ft gain in 2hours. Not bad for an old fart! Uli Steck was inspiration :-) Around to the south along the divide and dropped down to Bob and Betty Lake then down the long and boring King Lake Trail. Didn't see a soul until shortly before getting back to the intersection near Lost Lake trail. From 2010 Droid Pics and Vids

Thought about heading up over Lee Hill but too hot and sunny and once I got on 36, too focused on making a headwind to stay cool. Darn chipsealing on 36 is a bummer! For 3 miles or so just north of town, it's rough and it creates friction. The new stuff on Nelson is much smoother.

An early Sunday AM jaunt to the mountains in lieu of a local road ride. The winter weather will take away these opportunities before too long... A great day! With a pretty stiff ride up to the Flats via old town Eldora. That climb up the old forest service road is gnarly: rocky, loose, dry, south-facing, continuous. It keeps you on your toes. I got frustrated a few times with having to jump off the bike on the loose stuff. Could have probably ridden the whole thing if I had swerved off into the woods along side the road instead. There are lots of little inconspicuous tracks in the woods in places that may or may not connects and parallel the main dirt track. Who knows. In any case, the climb to the top is worthy; the views are awesome and there was nobody around. I checked out a side trail at the very top of the climb that shows a connection on the map I was using but that led to a dead end and an extra mile if loose riding/pushing up a steep hill. Oh well, it was a great vantage point...

Shortish ride since Tues is Monday and PMG was calling. First ride in almost 2 weeks!!!

Friday late PM departure to drive 6 hours north: Friday eve: camped at Wind Cave NP Saturday: Cave tour in the AM and a hike on the prairie in the PM Saturday eve: Camped at Grizzly Camp and Picnic Grounds near Mt Rushmore Sunday: Mt Rushmore in the AM and a hike up Little Devils Tower in the PM Sunday eve: Camped at Bismark Lake NF campground Monday: Jewel Cave loop hike in Hell Canyon and cave tour

Helped get Mom situated after her surgery. Flew in early Sunday, Aug 29 and flew home Wed, Sept 1 in the eve. Mom is recovering well and Dad is coping just fine. I squeezed a short exploration of Mingus Mtn in on the way up while driving via Prescott. Awesome overlook up there! And on Wed early AM, I drove up W Mingus Ave from the airport as far as I comfortably would go before parking and hiking/running a couple of miles up hill towards the towers. Gotta come back with a bike!