6 - 7 - 8: This, That and All of the Above

6: Museum Jamboree (Friday)

[From Tammy - Welcome to my first attempt at online blogging. Read at your own risk. Hehehe...]

Friday we slept in and went to breakfast at the Huckleberry in Louisville, where the menu inspired Tom to solve another clue to the group crossword puzzle (latke). We then headed to Denver to tour the Capital building and its dome (or more accurately, a dome instead of a dome). The stonework at the Capital was beautiful, stain-glass windows were pretty nice, and architecture was rather cool. Angela quizzed Tom on the US presidents, where he only missed James Polk’s first name.

Had lunch at Wolfe's Barbecue, a small restaurant operated by an older gentleman. After that, I was convinced that Colorado had better barbecue than Arkansas. We read the Onion and caught up on the Olympics. Tom’s cousin Angie dropped by. The group then split up to explore the Botanical Gardens and Art Museum. The gardens were closed, so we ended up at the History Museum. The History Museum was very well done, with detailed coverage of Colorado history, pueblos, 10^th mountain army division, and an awesome room that depicted timelines of Colorado and US key historical events. Simply, Tom was “in his element”. We were kicked off of the museum at 5pm, but all agreed that we could have spent more time there (well, if my brain wasn’t full already with random facts). To the others’ credit, I’m told that the Art Museum was awesome too.

Later we went home, grilled some brats and burgers, and played Tigirus and the Euphrates and Pepper, and checked out our backpacking pictures the rest of the evening.

7: Rafting and Crab Rangoons (Saturday)

Serena and I (Tammy) braved the rainy, cold weather and got up early to go rafting by Ft Collins. (Frankly, I question if I even slept that night.) The water was a bit tame due to low levels, but there were a few rapids that made it all worthwhile. Imagine floating down the river, watching the water flowing amidst the rocks, and mist floating down from the mountains. Let’s just say, it was another day of wonderful scenery. And, we both didn’t lose feeling in our fingers or toes (unlike my Tyrol experience), so all was good. Oh, and I was grateful Serena waited until after I climbed into the raft to inform me of her experience going down a 22-foot waterfall. Otherwise, I may have chickened out of it.

After rafting, we found a lovely Thai restaurant that had the most amazing crab rangoons on the planet. Anyone traveling to Ft Collins has to try Toy’s Thai Café. We then crashed Justin’s place (thanks by the way) to clean up, and watch the Italian job on Justin’s laptop. Knowing that the rest of the group was not due to come back from Colorado Springs until 7 or 8pm (which I accurately assumed 9 or 10pm), we ate dinner at California Pizza Kitchen (another yummy restaurant), strolled around the local shops, and bought some books at Borders.

We met up with the rest of the group later that evening for some more card games and to debate how much hiking we could cram into our final day before our flights left. (Yes, I admit, I was a stickler on arriving at the airport early…BTW, don’t expect that to change anytime soon.)

So, what did the rest of the group do that day? That’s for another post. They had grand plans to do a 14-er, but that plan was squelched due to the rain. They headed to Colorado Springs, much to Tom’s delight, to see the coin museum. I never heard what else they did that day…

8: Going Home (Sunday)

Amazingly, we all managed to get up early and headed out to Red Rocks to see the Amphitheatre and hiked another 4-5 miles. (Does that make a total of 35 miles now?) We ate lunch in Boulder at Noodles & Co and a place that I suddenly forgot the name. (Can you guess where I ate?). We said goodbye to the Colorado group and headed off to the airport. Tony got stopped by security, but managed to lay on the charm and was allowed to proceed to the gate with us. Tom, Serena, Tony, Angela and I played more Pepper before boarding the plane. All I’ll say about the plane was that Tony was obviously bored (ask Serena about the pillow incident). We arrived home around 10pm after a long wait for the hotel shuttle and one last drive-thru stop at Culvers.

Post trip comment: You wouldn't believe how many people told me that they were happy to see that I didn't fall or get pushed off of a cliff. Hmmm, what does that say? Angela, maybe our posed picture was too convincing... :)

"Game Night Reunion"

Since seven "game night" group members have moved away (four of them to the Boulder, CO area), we decided we should have a reunion in Colorado! Ben can't make it because of a trip to Africa this summer, Terry & Anna are 'resting' after their Honeymoon, but Tony, Tammy, Angela, Serena and Tom plan to fly out in mid-August for a backpacking/climbing/hiking/exploring trip!

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 (feet, that is)

1:

Tuesday was all about getting there. The Coloradoans had figured that there would be fewer people in the back country (west side) of Rocky Mountain National Park, so we crossed the Continental Divide (and saw elk on the mountain as we passed!!) and landed ourselves at the North Inlet trail head. Our site was six miles in, and while there was a wee bit of climbing, over all it was a pretty mellow trek in. We stopped to play in some falls and generally took our time getting to camp and setting up. After a good meal and more “getting comfy” (this would be our camp site for 2 nights, which is kind of unusual for us), we wrapped the night up playing Terra – a card game where everyone usually loses. We held it together, though, and Patrick won. :-P

2: Day Trek Wednesday

Since we were in the same site for both Tuesday and Wednesday nights, Wednesday was about exploring the area. We headed up to Lakes Nanita and Nakoni – a decent climb. It was GORGEOUS! The alpine flowers are in full bloom and the views were outstanding. On the way out, Tony scoped out a waterfall, and on the way back he, Tom, Justin and I (Angela) found our way down to and into it! Chil-ly! Tom and Justin actually played in the river quite a while, going down stream to a different landing and then coming back up again. We wanted to get in an early evening as Thursday would be the most aggressive climbing and distance – AND we’d have packs on. So even with a game of Euchre between Justin, Tony, Serena and Angela, we were all in bed by 9:30.

3 – 4 – 5 Hiking out Thursday

Thursday’s hike was the most challenging for us flatlanders. We climbed – via many switchbacks – beyond an elevation of 12345 feet over Flattop Mountain. We were in the tundra, well above the tree line, and there are no words for the barren loveliness of the peaks, valleys and lakes we could see in every direction. We also saw a small herd of bull elk here, which was far more exciting than the previous day’s elk because if we hadn’t paused for a breather, we never would have seen them peering down at us and our trail. After lunch, we headed down, down, down the mountain seeing picas, marmots, ravens, and beautiful hidden lakes as we switched back and forth. We couldn’t believe how many people there were on this side of Flattop, and were so glad we’d spent the majority of our time in the back country. After re-grouping with our vehicles, and getting on the outside of some good burgers and Mexican food, we headed back to Patrick’s place and crashed.

[Click here for the story in pictures!]

L-e-va-tion

Elevations gained by this group on various days (according to Tony - who is not sure about Sunday as he was out flying):
sun 6500
- a day hike in Chatauqua Park
mon 11047
- a day hike in Brainerd Lake State Park
tues 12230 (car)
- crossing the Continental Divide on our way to the start of our backpacking trip
wed 11120
- day hike back to Lakes Nanita and Nokoni from our backpacking base camp
thurs 12345
- backpacking out over Flattop Mountain to finish the 3-day mini trip.

We're back, we're exhausted, we had an amazing time! More later....

all about Monday

Today's update will be quick because 1 - it's late and 2 - we have an early start tomorrow! But do not be deceived; a short update has nothing to do with the quality of the day. 'Matter of fact, it was outstanding!

Morning: Tony took us for flights parallel to the Rockies west of Denver. We got to see the rocks where we were climbing yesterday, as well as the towns we've been hopping between: Denver, Louisville, and Boulder. Oh - AND the mountains! When the haze cleared, we could even see Pike's Peak!

Afternoon: Hike around Brainerd Lake State Park. We made it to Lake Isabel and nearly to Isabel glacier. The wildflowers were profusive, the lake beautiful, the mountain streams delightful, the mountains awe-inspiring. We actually made it above the tree line to 11,047 feet before a crashing storm (we must attract them?) with pea-sized hail (with a few mutant baseball-size ones thrown in for good measure - ok, so they felt that big) chased us down and out of the park.

Evening: Mexican & "Bar" food at two neighboring restaurants, followed by a Haagen-Dazs chaser. We ended on a bit of a low note, with Michelle's car breaking down and with Aaron needing to split so he could get to work in the morning. The evening wrapped up with a shakedown of our backpacking gear and supplies so we can take off first thing in the morning. Our next update will probably be Thursday night once we've returned! [more photos].

a veritable Sundayest of Sundays

Patrick's summary of the day:
- we went out for a hike, and what the the elevation changes and all, some of us almost died.
- one of us nearly pushed Tammy off the cliff and she almost died.
- we went out to eat, and Patrick got dared to slam a shot of maple syrup for $2, did so, and almost died
- we went rock climbing, and the approach alone was "crazy" and some of us almost died
- it started lightning and thundering while we were out on the cliffs, and some of us almost died
- by the time we got back and ordered food and got it, we were so hungry that some of almost died
- we watched a juggling street performer and he put three boxes down and almost died
- some of us played the game Tigris and Euphrates, and everyone but Serena died.

Sounds like a lovely day, hey? [Click here for photos] and read on for the gory details...

This morning we woke up and (after getting ourselves somewhat engrossed in a crossword puzzle that will take us the week to solve), we headed to Boulder. All of us, that is, except Tony, who went to do his check ride. He's renting a plane tomorrow and taking us out 2 or 3 at a time to check out the area from the air. Our first adventure was hiking Chatauqua City Park. We got to Woods Quarry, and a subgroup missed a turn and ended up almost at Royal Arch. The flatlanders really had "fun" figuring out how much work it takes to do the "same ol'" things at a different elevation! Some of us are a tad (more) nervous about the backpacking trip as a result!

We met Tony and Michelle (who'd had to do some work earlier) at the Dushanbe Tea House - an authentic Tajik tea house that was imported from Boulder's sister city, Dushanbe. (I - Angela - was pretty excited about that because it brought back all sorts of memories of my trip to Tajikistan in 2003). Then we headed off to rock climb! After another vigorous (for the flatlanders) ascent, Justin, Michelle and Tom set up the top ropes, and we took at whack at the rock face. Everyone who wanted to got at least one chance to climb - except Aaron! He recently had shoulder surgery and is pretty much out of commission for 2-handed activities (though we did threaten to belay him up the face and take a picture of it!). We were chased out by a drenching thunder storm which made coming down rather interesting, and headed back to Boulder to pick up some amazing take-out Thai and land back at Patrick's place.
The evening wrapped up with Aaron, Tom, Justin and Serena playing Tigris & Euphrates (a game), Tony working on the written part of his test for the flight tomorrow, and Michelle, Tammy, Patrick and I doing various bits of cookie-making, straightening up, reading, setting up pictures and generally decompressing!
All in all, a outstanding day - I think the flatlanders are starting to figure out why this state has drawn in so many of our compadres!

Touching Down in the Mile High City

Yes, we are in Colorado! Tammy, Tony and I (Angela) drove down to Milwaukee last night. Serena drove up from Chicago, and we left VERY early this morning to fly out here. All went well and was fairly uneventful; hooray for Midwest and Southwest. (Though there was no warm chocolate chip cookie on the Midwest flight - what's up with that?!). Justin and Patrick met us, and drove us to Aaron's place, where those of us who haven't yet got to meet Laura (Aaron's girlfriend). Justin's girlfriend Michelle joined us later, so there are 10 of us in all at this point! Later we may meet up with Bill (he's in Malaysia for work right now, and he just got delayed till Thursday :( ) and his girlfriend Cassie, and my high school friend Shane and his fiancee Jana.

Now that we're here, our biggest challenge will be to decide which of the gajillion options we'll be actually going for! Today we grocery shopped (a fairly big undertaking!), played a game, walked to Chipotle and ate in a park near Aaron & Laura's place, hung out at the flagship REI, had delicious homemade pulled pork (hooray A&L!), corn on the cob and watermelon, went for a long geocaching walk, and ended up at Cold Stone Creamery! We're tired, but excited about all that we're going to attempt in the week - stay tuned! [photos]