December 22nd through December 25th - Christmas Weekend Fun!

I was fortunate enough to have four days off. It made for a wonderful long weekend.

The festivities started Friday night (Dec 21st) when Wendy G. through an intimate dinner party for Patricia and Nahum. The kicker was that at 8pm, ~20 of our other friends showed up to throw a surprise going away party!

We are sad to see our friends go...but happy for them to start a new life together. They will be missed.



On December 22nd, Wendy G., d-low and myself took for a day of (very cold!) ski touring at Peaceful Valley.

The day was windy and cold, but still enjoyable once we made it into the trees. A pleasant trip in an area that lived up to its name.

Wendy offering some hot tea

The following day a group of us went to Dos Chappell Nature Center on the Mt. Evans auto road.

Most of the year, Mt. Evans is something I avoid: A crowded 14er with a road to the top, noisy and a bit too busy for my taste. In winter? The road is closed, there are less people and it is easy to enjoy some of the unique features of this area.

Bundled up against the cold and wind

It was an easy, if again cold and windy, ski. The bristle cone pines (some of which are 1600 years old!), made for a unique view.


On Christmas Eve Day I joined Wendy D and Wendy G (wow..life is good! ;) ) for some ski touring on the Little Raven - Waldrop Loop at Brainard Lake.

The loop is a challenging, but fun, loop of ~7 miles and maybe 1500' elev gain. Many rolling hills, great powder, sunshine and some awesome company. Not a bad little day.

Wendy and myself later joined Marni and Josh for what they swear is an ancient Jewish tradition: Chinese food and a movie on Christmas Eve.

Speaking of holiday traditions, on Christmas Day my friend Marie again had a Christmas outing. As with last year, icy roads made us go local. The falling white snow, the rolling hills and the cold weather really made it feel like a great Christmas day.


Later that evening, we all made it to Marie's house for a Christmas potluck.

Four days of skiing, good company and (too much!) food. A successful holiday weekend to say the least.

All the photos

December 15th and 16th - Tele Skiing (falling!) and more touring

Another weekend of skiing.

On Saturday, I did something rare for me: tele skiing.

Larger and heavier skis, larger and heavier boots, climbing up to a bowl and then skiing down.

A little different from my main passion in winter. I have not been tele-ing in two years. Needless to say, I did more telemark falling than skiing. :)

Still, it had all the ingredients for a great day in the winter backcountry: Great scenery, fresh powder and good company.

The site chosen was Butler Gulch. We almost went to Jones Pass. The fit of CDT nostalgia was almost too much to take. ;)


It was frickin' cold out (12F at 2pm! God knows the windchill!), so a burger and hot drinks at at a small cafe' in nearby Empire was the ticket for the end of the day.




On Sunday I did an introductory ski touring day. There were eight people signed up, but four bailed out for various reasons. Too much holiday cheer maybe? ;)

And due to some mix-ups, the group of four ended up just being myself and my friend Steph!

So, it was a smaller, more intimate trip. Steph is an experienced alpine skier, but not so much free heel skiing. A little bit of a difficult of learning curve to say the least,
but by the end of the day she was really getting the hang of it. Of course, we celebrated the end of the day with a burger and beer. Gotta keep traditions.

The telemark skiing is fun..but my love will always be ski touring. Give me some wax, some skis with light bindings and boots and off I go. Well, that's my excuse for lacking technical grace anyway!

In all seriousness, ski touring is more like hiking to me. A gentle, meditative and elegant activity that seems out of place with the hectic world we all live in. Something also arcane about just gliding along at a steady pace all day, feeling the cold against the face and seeing the mountains at a subtle and quiet pace.

I love it.

All the photos

Dec 8th and 9th - Days of Powder!

I had intended to hike this past weekend, but the lure of freshly fallen snow called to a few of us.

What can be better than fresh powder, some good friends and the Colorado backcountry?

On Saturday, the usual gang (Terry, d-low, Wendy and myself) went to the Sourdough Trail for an inaugural ski day. A chance to get "the rust out" as Terry put it.

The day was a bit overcast, but still enjoyable. We went were going skiing after all!

Nothing too dramatic. Just a beautiful winter day.

Myself, d-low, Terry and Wendy at the Sourdough Trailhead.

The snow came down quite a bit by the time we arrived in Boulder. A good night to stay home and watch The Wire on DVD!

On Sunday, the usual gang (plus New Hampsha Dave...back for the season!) went on another ski day! This time to the Jenny Creek Trail. The sun broke out, the skies were an intense blue and made for an awesome four hour tour! It was quite cold, but some hot chocolate helped. :)


After all this skiing, some of us went to the Zapins for some latkes and celebrated Hanukkah. Fried potato pancakes and sour cream are about the best thing to have after a day of being in the cold!

As I type this entry, more snow is falling. It's gonna be another great weekend for skiing soon!

All the photos

December 2nd - Eldo Mountain Bushwhack

The foothills west of Boulder are a very visible feature of town. For many miles towards the east, the high plains go forth. Vast, rolling and wide. At the western edge of town? A dramatic and abrupt uplift. You can see with your own eyes where the Rockies begin and the Great Plains end.

Hiking the crest of this ridge is needless to say popular in our little town. On a sunny weekend day, you will see many hikers, runners (and dogs!) on the summits of the peaks that dominate the Boulder skyline.

There is one peak, though, that is at the southern edge of this ridge. A peak that gets little use. For it is a trail-less peak that is not in the Boulder Open Space system.

Eldorado Mountain has been something d-low and I have been talking about for a year. Is it in the HCA? Is it on private land? How do we access it? Etc. It is a mountain we definitely wanted to explore.

So, due to the organization of Mr. DiLorenzo, six of us tackled the peak (Ian, Steve, Ben, Wendy, d-low, and myself) . At 7 miles and perhaps 3000' elev gain we figured it would not be a difficult hike. But we forgot a few things - off trail hiking over talus and thick trees can be slow...when over snow...we it gets dark early. :)

The first part of the hike was easy. We used the popular Rattlesnake Gulch trail in Eldorado Canyon State Park. Besides enjoying some nice views towards the Plains, highlights include seeing the ruins of an old hotel.

After this pleasant stroll, the hike began in earnest. We scrambled up the side of the mountain over the snow covered talus. After some effort, we were treated to seldom seen views of South Boulder and Bear Peaks.

I am Steve! Steve of the Mountain People!

South Boulder and Bear Peaks

We then scrambled some more and then through some thick brush at a slower-than-expected pace. We finally reached the summit and enjoyed the views towards the snow covered Indian Peaks. The day was cold and windy, so we did not stay long.

But the hike was only half over. We still had to get down the mountain.

Wendy and d-low enjoying the summit

Daylight was running out; but we were all experienced people and did not really worry. Instead, we enjoyed the wonderful lighting in the canyon and the alpen glow of the setting sun.

The real trail was reached just at dark and we then made it to our vehicles.

Afterwards Wendy, d-low and myself made our way to Southern Sun for some well deserved burgers and beers.

It was an amazing hike in the sense that though we were close to town, it really seemed like a wilderness experience. We only saw two hikers all day and did not see anyone once we left the trail. Going off trail make the common and well known areas an adventure. And hiking to a peak we have never done lets us see our town in a new and different way.

A wonderful day!

All the photos

Hike now. Work later!

One of my first backpacking trips was with my good buddy Tim.

We did "The Presies", culminating with the summiting of Mt. Washington.

We did the usual posing at the summit, bought some over-priced and not-so-good cafeteria food that tasted DELICIOUS at the time and received the usual "Did you walk up this mountain ?!?!?" We also checked out the gift shop for grins.

At the summit gift shop, I saw a t-shirt that that really called out for me.

After a decade or so, the t-shirt is in tatters. But I was able to take a picture of it, crop the photo and make a wicked cool bumpah stickah.

The sentiment is very true at times.

Hike now. Work later!

Turkey Day Weekend Trails

On Thanksgiving weekend, I had originally planned to go to the Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Alas, single digit temps at night made all of my friends opt out. I was not in the mood to spend four days by myself on the cold, cold ground!

So I just spent time around town walking the foothills.

No matter how many times I walk the hills that surround Boulder, I never tire of them.

In Spring, the wildflowers bloom and coat the hillside with a riot of color from life renewing itself. Pinks, greens, blues and reds.

Summer the light lasts a long time, makes for wonderful after work twilight strolls and allows a person to see the sun set over the not-so-distant divide.

Fall is again colorful. The cottonwoods turn yellow, the ground color is a wonderful mix of russet and orange with bright red choke cherries dotting the hill side.

And in winter? The snow covers the iconic Flatirons and makes for a view that rightfully graces many photographs.

I spent three days of the weekend reminding myself why I moved out West and why I made Boulder my home.

The exception to this foothill exploring was a chilly full moon hike on Saturday to Deer Mountain. I joined Marie and her friend Donnica for this moonlight stroll.

Deer Mountain is a favorite hike of mine. At night, with a full moon and snow, it was simply awesome. The divide GLOWED with the light of the moon.

We enjoyed the view, the hike down and then drove to Oskar Blues for some post hike food and brews.

Not a bad way to spend a weekend.