I’ve been having a great time romping around the mountains of Boulder, CO. What a playground!
I started off with the basics like Mt Sanitas and Green Mountain. More recently, I decided to go bigger: A big loop over Green Mountain and Bear Peak. My two-day backpacking adventure was the biggest yet for sure, but the summit of bear peak was just astonishing. I took tons of photos:
The classic self-portrait on Green Mountain.
On the way from Green Mountain to Bear Peak. Looks like a long way to walk.
Bear Peak Panorama.
Self-portrait on Bear Peak.
Apologies if the panoramic photo looks hacked-together. After all, I know Ted King, and I am No Ted King!
…I was COLD. I put on another layer of wool. Then my down micropuffy (orange, pictured below). Then I added the bivy cover to my sleeping bag. Finally I put my framepack under my butt as insulation (which helped a lot). I still woke up at 3am and needed a hot bowl of oatmeal to warm the body and refuel the furnace that was burning all night. I thought about breaking camp then and hiking out, but managed to get some solid hours of sleep and woke up to the bright morning sun.
Mmm…candy. After a touch-and-go night’s sleep, this little gem hit the spot, and gave me the energy to carry on in good spirits!
I headed down Eldorado canyon, still without a definite plan on how I was getting home.
Morning in Eldorado Canyon. If you look really closely, you can see the train winding across the other side of the canyon (near the bare, brown area on the distant mountainside).
It warmed up quickly, and soon I was hiking in shorts. Apparently Eldorado Canyon is a hotspot for rock climbing. I had never seen rock climbers doing their thing before. Terrifying! Those folks are crazy, let me tell you what. They are up darn high, with nothing but jagged rocks below!
Rock climbers. (Look closely, just above the trees)
Rock climbers, closer up.
After a quick dip in a very chilly South Boulder Creek and some lunch, it was the full length of the Mesa trail through Chataqua and back to my neighborhood. It was nearly 80 degrees, and as I got closer to town, there were so many people it was like an amusement park. And another 13-mile day, lucky me!
Some sun, some miles in the legs, and lots of thinking (sometimes about nothing).
I headed out for a short day hike on Friday morning, went about two blocks, and turned around. A day hike just wasn’t going to cut it; I needed to get some freedom and space after all the restrictions the doctors have placed on me. So I grabbed my hammock, some tried and true Rudy backpacking fuel (instant black beans, oats, nuts, etc), my sleeping bag, and my beloved coke-can stove…and that’s about it. No plan…or maps.
Beautiful day!
After about six hours, thirteen miles, and a bunch of uphill, I ended up at Walker ranch, and found the perfect spot.
A comfy home for the night. You'll have to excuse the facial expression; I was pretty tired.
No, you’re not allowed to camp at walker ranch. Actually, there’s nowhere I can find within walking distance of my house where you are technically allowed to camp. But between the hammock and micro camp stove, I would defy anyone to find any sign that I had been there. I could camp in the same spot every night, and using this style would never wear the natural surroundings; even after weeks there would be no trace. I think that’s a pretty cool aspect of the hammock.
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows though. I was COLD…
I still didn’t know where I’d go in the morning. Down Eldorado Canyon seemed the natural choice. Then…hitch-hike up route 93 back to Boulder?? We’ll see…I’ll break this story up into two installments to cater to the attention span of the TV-era (also so I can go get my day started). The rest tomorrow!
Thanks to all of you who offered advice and suggestions on how best to spend the next several months. It certainly gave me a lot of great ideas, and most importantly, got me excited about all the possibilities.
So it’s no secret that I’m a fan of the scientific method, math, and all that exciting stuff. So naturally I’ve created an impartial way to decide by distilling the suggestions and giving y’all a chance to pick your favorite.
And yes, Nate, I think I’ll take up running either way. Well maybe it would wait until after the AT hike…
I just finished two days of thorough psychological testing to evaluate my brain in all aspects; memory, speed and accuracy in general cognitive processing, perception, reflexes, and a few basic physical tests. It feels like I just finished my spring finals; that was exhausting! Most of the results are still forthcoming.
I did find out a few things. The psychologist said it was apparent that I had some kind of left/right imbalance, characterized by a deficiency on my left side. My left hand was both slower and weaker than my right, even though my left is my dominant hand. And my oversights in visual perception were almost all on the left side.
She also made some recommendations based on what she’s seen in my medical records and during the testing. First, no bike riding for a least a couple months. Probably no more racing ever, since another concussion at this point could make me a vegetable. And no driving. Also, no going to high elevations, particularly anything above 8,500′. Oh, and no drinking either (oops).
Man, I can’t do anything! How am I supposed to get around? The bus is a good option, but at $2.50 each way, it gets pricey (I could just about take a cab for that if I’m only going a few miles), especially if I take a couple round-trips per day. So I’m mostly walking. It feels like rock-bottom in a way, but it has actually been a blessing in disguise. It is so relaxing and gives me time to think (and thinking takes a long time nowadays!).
All the stress of the four hour testing sessions (two days in a row) left me needing to blow off some steam. Impromptu backpacking! A night in the woods can cure anything. Well actually, I can’t really cure a thing, but it always makes me feel better. Of course, there was some excitement. Report coming soon!
Hey, so I can’t ride, and maybe I’ll never race again, but I can still live the good life, no? If I’m going to relax and kick back (or write MATLAB simulation code for modeling novel geothermal energy extraction systems), I’m going to do it in style and comfort.
My portable hammock by Boulder Creek. Close enough to the Boulder Public Library to get wifi.
I bought a basic backpacking hammock on a whim through a QBP order awhile ago, and man, it was worth it.
La vida dolce
I bought some nylon webbing at the hardware store and cut it into two 10 foot lengths. A friend very generously sewed one end of each piece into a loop, and voila! I can wrap the rope around a tree, loop it back through the sewn loop, tie a loop at the convenient length of the free webbing end, and clip that loop to the hammock. Repeat with the second webbing on another nearby tree for the opposite end of the hammock, and I’m carried off to a reclining nirvana.
Hammock diagram, not to scale. The hammock is in red, and the webbing is drawn in orange. The webbing is drawn as a black dashed line when it passes back through the looped ends, for clarity. The clips at each end of the hammock are also drawn in black.
The only problem is that I keep falling asleep instead of getting my work done. Darn!
Fortunately (?) I have some experience dealing with head injuries (lucky me), so I have been keeping busy, being patient, and enjoying myself as best I can. Last time, it took me awhile to discover that I could fulfill my exercise addiction with activities other than riding. I’ve done Mt. Sanitas a couple of times, Green Mountain, and I plan to keep exploring. Maybe I’ll start running.
The one and only Lauren Gifford is in town to look at CU Boulder for her Ph.D., and we’ve been living it up:
The summit of Mt. Sanitas
Lauren riding on the rack. I get so much satisfaction out of carting people around on my commuter bike. It's just a normal rack with a cushion.
I had my first ever taste of Absinthe at Lauren’s behest.
Absinthe House rooftop. Rolling in style. The bandaid looks much nicer than what's underneath.
Probably not the best thing for a head injury, but sure made for a mellow and enjoyable Saturday afternoon.
Kubler Absinthe. Done properly, with a sugar cube and 1:1 water dilution to bring out the bouquet of flavors. On the right is a rather poor glass of Sauvignon Blanc (it was happy hour).
Some fun times (and Yam chips at West End Tavern) with Hannah and Mike, and a tasty bowl of Sherpa stew with Corey later on rounded out a great day.
