Red Rocks

While I was daydreaming at work, I decided in the evening I would ride my road bike over to the Red Rocks Amphitheater. It was only 8 miles away and not particularly hilly. To get to the Red Rocks, I passed over Dinosaur Ridge, which had many neat signs that described the interesting geology of the area.

One of the exhibits was this set of fossilized dinosaur footprints. I still have a fascination with dinosaurs, although not at the great magnitude as when I was a kid.

Riding up the ridge allowed me to see a much different view of my beloved Green Mountain...aka my mountain biking haven.

As I rode on the ridge, I quickly discovered that the amphitheater was having a concert. This deer seemed to be listening for the band to begin playing.

I rode up to the venue amongst the string of cars getting in. I asked some folks who was playing. They responded, "Steve Miller and Joe Cocker." As I rode through the parking alot and along the pathway leading to the seats, I probably could have guessed the band based on the entering crowd. People watching was hilarious.

I rode back atop the ridge and listened to the music for awhile. I couldn't identify any particular songs because of the highway noise just below me.

Apparently, these two rattlesnakes could hear Joe Cocker belt out "You are so beautiful" because they were getting pretty frisky with each other.

Learn something new everyday

I set forth on another mountain biking adventure on nearby Green Mountain. I realized that a path leading toward the trails can make my ride to the site much shorter. I rode into a small valley and saw three large bucks walking along.

A fawn also was nearby. It just stood absolutely still...great for picture taking.

The trail was very beautiful as always.

As I was riding back home, I stopped to watch the prairie dog colony near my place. I stepped off my bike and walked towards the cute, little guys for a better picture. My photography was interrupted by a man riding on his bike surprisingly with two wooden peg legs. "Not too close, sonny," he called. "Dem dogs ares man eaters." The bearded man pulled up next to me and looked me square in the eyes. "They may look cute and cuddly...that is their method of getting their prey." He bent down and wrapped his knuckles on his wooden left leg. "That is how I lost me legs. Prairie dog attack." I shuttered at the sight of his mangled limbs and rode quickly away from the area. I was able to catch this single picture of an advanced scout for the prairie dog assault.

As I lay in bed trying to sleep, I kept thinking about that grizzled man's story. I arose and got on the internet to discount his unbelievable accounts. "Surely, they are as harmless as chipmunks," I thought. My discovery was absolutely stunning. I quickly realized how close I had come to certain death.

Prairie dog facts

1. they are purely carnivorous creatures. They hunt everything from small toads to wildebeests.

2. they eat every portion of their prey...including the soul.

3. Their teeth can crush diamonds.

4. they can skeletize a cow in minutes.

5. They dig holes in the ground as a hunting tool rather than the seemingly obvious reason of shelter. The holes are used to trip roaming herds of buffalo so the hunting party can mob and ravage the flailing animal.

6. they have been linked to Al Quaida.

7. the term "prairie" dog comes from the latin term "puree" which means "to place into a blender." The term was linked to this phrase after colonists discovered the grisly victims of prairie dog attacks.

8. and incredibly, the prairie dog has no natural enemy.

I'll leave you all with bloodcurling cry of the prairie dog as they chillingly call to announce to each other "time to feast."

Hippyville

So after an awkward Saturday, I decided to go hiking up by Boulder on Sunday. My destination was the top of the Flatirons that overlook the town of Boulder. I have driven by the massive slanted rocks often on the way to Estes Park and have always wanted to climb up by them.

The hike was very warm, but the views were outstanding. Alot of folks were technical climbing the faces of the Flatirons, which looked like alot of fun (at least on a cooler day). Everyone had their dogs on the trail which makes the hike much more entertaining.

After running out of water and being physically drained by the heat, I took a nice mountain drive westward to Nederland. The road runs along Boulder Creek and is a very fun drive. All the motorcyclist were out winding along the canyon walls...very tempting. For my return trip, I found another windy road to zip down with the windows down and the radio blaring.

More pics
http://picasaweb.google.com/N.Marshall.80/BoulderFlatirons

M & M Golf Day

Friday was Martin/Martin's annual golfing day. As soon as I walked in the door, I could tell everyone was amped up about the big tournament. People were walking around in shorts and discussing putting strokes rather than site development and project deadlines.


I thankfully departed from work early and arrived at the course at 11:30am. My scramble partners were a ski bum with golf skills and two complete newbies to the game. After the third hole, one of the amateurs, a Taiwanese hydraulics guru sprained his thumb and was a cheerleader the rest of the round. We shot a respectable 1 over with 95% of the shots coming from the two experienced golfers. We were threatened by wind and rain (and the distant rumbling of thunder), but we completed our round without incident.


After golfing we were treated to a fantastic BBQ buffet, including mac and cheese! Prizes were awarded to long drive, closest to the pin, and overall scores. I won a closest to the pin award (which was surprising because I was at least 30 feet away) and received a $50 gift card to the course's pro shop. Sweet!

Colorado Mountain Biking Guide

After three separate mountain biking rides, I feel that I can help the average sea level off road biker adjust to real "mountain" biking.

Expect the following:

To get bloody
To be weary of mountain lions
To be passed by all the Colorado natives
To fly over the handlebars
To have a small fire be set in the top of each of your quads
To wonder why you can't downshift any lower
To cuss every stinkin' loose rock on the path
To wish you were back home on the couch watching Southpark with some chips and salsa
To have half a dozen "Oh S#&$% !!!" moments
To have your brakes not be as strong as you would like
To wonder "how much longer can this trail be"
To have your rear wheel lift up as you descend
To become out of control
To see beautiful scenery




To have a blast !!!

In a van down by the river

After two weeks in the Denver area, I thought it was time for a road trip. After looking at the map and hearing such great things about the area, I decided to drive to the Collegiate Peaks region by Buena Vista. After an amazing 2 hour drive, I began searching for a campsite. After driving by 5 "full" campsites, I began getting desperate. Thankfully, I drove by a hillside with an abundance of tents just randomly dispersed. I liken the accommodations to an outdoor hostel, although I didn't pay anything. Since it was already getting dark and I was getting up early anyways, I just slept in the back of my Explorer. It was surprisingly comfortable and I could clearly see all the stars in the sky through my windows.

After waking up at 4:00am, I pulled away from my "campsite" and went in search of water for my hike. The campsites near my trailhead only had old-fashion water pumps, which I'm sure were not what the campers wanted to be hearing that early in the morning. Serves them right for taking all the campsites! (By the way, it was very irritating to see empty campsites which were supposedly "reserved." Grrrr!)

Mt. Princeton

My destination was Mt. Princeton, #20 peak in Colorado, at 14,197 feet. Rather than taking a jeep trail along much of the path, I chose a less traveled route to the top. Hiking along a trail while a 4x4 kicks up dust on you didn't sound like fun. The peak rose 5,000 feet from my trailhead in only 3.5 miles. That is steep!! The famous Long's Peak climb is the same elevation gain, but twice as long a hike and on a much better maintained trail.

The trail was very rugged and steep. There were no switchbacks or man made steps. Just a path leading you straight up. Thankfully I didn't notice any altitude related issues. The views were amazing. I uploaded my pics for anyone interested in seeing more cool scenery.
http://picasaweb.google.com/N.Marshall.80/MtPrinceton

When I finally reached the summit, I walked around a bit to see the entire panorama. I was amazed to discover a Golden Retriever sitting happily next to a few hikers. I had never seen a dog at this high of an elevation, although most of my hikes have been at National Parks, which generally don't allow pets on trails. "Moose", like all Goldens, seemed to be in good spirits. I don't think a dog could have taken my route, unless if he was part mountain goat or something.

The only people I came in contact with were folks on top who had taken the other route up the mountain. Not a single person took the route I took on a pleasant Saturday. Amazing!

The hike was pretty dang tiring, but still a good adventure. Two 14ers down, 53 to go.

M&M Perks (Part 2)

On Sunday, I drove over to Evergreen to take a quick hike. The drive there through the canyons was very cool. My destination was Maxwell Falls, which turns out was nearly dry and not that big in the first place. The trail did take me to some neat overlooks though.

On Wednesday morning, I was invited to play with golf with some guys from work. Our tee time was at 6:15am. We went out played 9 holes before work. I shot an odd 52...14 over on the first 5 holes, 2 over on the last 4. M&M is very flexible with their work hours, so we we just stayed late to make up the time.

Another thing that I think is cool at M&M is every week they have a informal class during lunch where they present a topic in engineering. Lunch is provided!

I rode my mountain bike from my apartment to Green Mountain, a big mountain biking destination for Denver folks. The hills were absolutely killer...going up and coming down (potentially a literal "killer" for the latter.) Have I mentioned I need a new mountain bike? :)

The view of Denver from on top was very cool. I think I could see Long's Peak when looking towards the north.

M&M Perks

Life at Martin/Martin is slowly getting better. I was pretty homesick my first week. This week, I am meeting more people and getting myself more comfortable. The work is pretty interesting. I have been design checking a fancy stream crossing bridge. My next project is a rehab of an old railroad trestle that is being turned into a pedestrian crossing. A picture is below.


Here is my sweet cube at work. I'm supposed to be getting a couple of flat screens sometime soon. I can see mountains out the window when I stand up.

This is the view out the windows of the break room (you can't see the mountains very well in this pic, but they are there!). We are provided a great view from our building because it sits on top of a hill.

The break room also has a nice pool table. It certainly seems weird to be sitting quietly in my cube doing calculations and hearing someone crushing the cue ball on their break.

This pic from the break room is for all my KDOT buddies. Yeah, that's right. Free "judo!"

Real "Mountain" Biking

My first week at Martin/Martin wasn't bad, but it did make me miss the folks at KDOT. Not knowing a whole lot of people makes the day go pretty slow. I did enjoy getting to sleep in an hour later than normal though. :)

I was invited to play for the Martin/Martin men's softball team. Thankfully, I played very well and earned a permanent spot on the roster. After a long week of learning the ropes at my new joint and running a bazillion errands, I was eager to bust out of the city limits and get out into nature.

My friend Sara is the perfect tour guide for a newbie to Denver's finest outdoor activities. We decided to go mountain biking on the Waterton Canyon trail. The first 5 miles is a wide dirt road running along a beautiful river that cut the steep canyon. The weather was perfect and the animals abounded. Early in our ride, a bunch of big horn sheep ran around on the canyon bluff and on the biking trail.

After eating lunch at the end of the dirt road, we turned to the single track. The trail wasn't particularly technical, however the grade made both of us pretty tired. Flying down the hill was a blast, however it certainly seemed alot longer going up than coming down. The nerdy civil engineering side of me was excited to check out the Stronita Springs Reservoir dam.

The return trip was tiring even though it was downhill because of a strong headwind. We encountered a solo one-horned sheep standing in the middle of the road. "Billy goat gruff" started hissing/growling at us. We both biked gingerly around him and back to the trailhead.

Real mountain biking was lots of fun! I will definitely need to invest in a new bike.

The Big Move

So after an awesome two weeks of farewell celebrations with friends and family, I finally needed to say goodbye to Kansas and head out West. I did my best to prepare for moving day by packing everything up well and moving stuff downstairs. Regardless, moving is always an adventure. Big thanks to Nate Grizzle for the Rolla labor and HL being there in spirit. Moving day became very interesting after we quickly filled my dad's truck and a borrowed trailer, but had a bunch of my stuff remaining. I had to leave some non-essentials behind.

The trip out on I-70 was pretty uneventful until the last leg of our journey. My mom and I were watching the Denver horizon being illuminated by the holiday fireworks when I struck a piece of shredded semi tire turned up in the middle of the road. The "bang" totally freaked out my mom and made me concerned about puncturing a tire. The car drove fine for a few miles until we start hearing a smacking noise on the driver's side. I pulled over to find that my lower plastic trim piece had been torn away and was ready to fall off. Thankfully, the fix involved snapping the piece back in and off we went to the motel.

My new apartment is located just south of 6th avenue in Lakewood. It is an ideal location for zipping out of the city and into the mountains. It is a 5 minute drive to work and eventually I will ride my bike there (once I get all my errands done with.)

Move-in day was very strenuous. My new apartment was on the third floor, so we flatlanders had to carry everything up the stairs at altitude. After carrying up the mattress, my dad had to relax for awhile. All he was missing was his friend Jack and some diet pepsi.

We eventually got everything in my apartment and got the place livable. My mom got the kitchen good to go....well at least for making spaghetti-o's and cereal. We celebrated with an outstanding trip to Pizza Hut and gallons of ice tea.

Sunday was the day of rest. I took the folks out to Echo Lake near Mt. Evans. It is only a 30 minute drive from my place! It was pretty rainy, but still very beautiful. It was a pleasant conclusion to an exhausting weekend.