And the first day with sub-freezing temperatures.
Monday, September 21, 2009
The Last Day of Summer
Is also the first day of snow.
And the first day with sub-freezing temperatures.
And the first day with sub-freezing temperatures.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Autumn Traditions
It's only a few days until autumn.
The forecast includes snow.
As always.
(well, almost always.)
The forecast includes snow.
As always.
(well, almost always.)
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Photos and Rambling
Fall is rolling in. Yesterday was cool and damp. This morning, there was fresh snow on Pikes Peak. The snow line is clearly marked.
As usual, thoughts turn to blogging when the weather changes.
Here are a few photos from the spring and summer.
This first photo was taken this past spring. I'm not totally sure where I was when I took it, but it looks like this is a view of Garden of the Gods from the south. I think I was in Red Rocks Canyon Open Space and thought the foggy view was a nice contrast to the red of the Fountain Formation. It's clearly from before the oaks leafed out in the spring, which probably puts it in April or possibly May, 2009.
This second photo is of some newly planted sedums. I went to a plant exchange. Skybird, a member of the Rocky Mountain Gardening Forum on Gardenweb, graciously brought some hardy sedums to share.
I planted them out carefully, and set them on our upper deck where they would be safe from extreme weather and the depredations of our vicious predators, namely the deer and rabbits.
The plants were gone the next morning, less than 12 hours after they went outside. Gone. Disappeared. Vanished. Completely gone, down to the ground, no sign they'd ever been there, only the identifying sticks left behind.
I suspect Alien Abduction.
Chances are that the vicious predator was some kind of squirrel or chipmunk. It's even possible that it was a bird, though they usually leave some kind of detritus when they nibble.
In any case, the sempervivums I got from the same exchange stayed indoors for the summer. I'm considering some kind of squirrel-proof cage to put them in after the weather cools, so they can color up a bit for winter.
This third photo is of part of our yard in mid-June. We had a cool, wet summer, and thus a very nice wildflower display. These are the small penstemons that bloom in early summer, probably Penstemon strictus.
This last photo is of sedums blooming at Loveland Pass. The elevation is nearly 12,000' above sea level. Even though it was the middle of August, the weather was quite brisk. The temps were in the low to mid 40s and the wind was chilly. We went for some short hikes at the pass and at other areas nearby.
And that's it for today's photos!
What else... EE still has some scouting and band photos to upload. We had a busy summer involving all the usual fun -- scouting, band camp, karate camp, pottery camp, swim lessons, playing with friends, fighting with siblings, reading zillions of books, playing too much 'puter, watching too much TV, hiking, biking, playing tourist, and everything else. We only had one or two weekend days free for the whole summer. Even now that school has begun, our weekends are still very busy.
We set up our big goldfish tank. One day we'll get photos of that uploaded. The cats are very fond of it. We often find one of them sitting on top of the tank in the morning, staring wistfully at the fish below. He used to dip his paws into the water, but we put something over the open area so that he could no longer go fishing. The fish seem oblivious to the cats. They sure notice us, though! That's because we feed them.
As usual, thoughts turn to blogging when the weather changes.
Here are a few photos from the spring and summer.
This first photo was taken this past spring. I'm not totally sure where I was when I took it, but it looks like this is a view of Garden of the Gods from the south. I think I was in Red Rocks Canyon Open Space and thought the foggy view was a nice contrast to the red of the Fountain Formation. It's clearly from before the oaks leafed out in the spring, which probably puts it in April or possibly May, 2009.
This second photo is of some newly planted sedums. I went to a plant exchange. Skybird, a member of the Rocky Mountain Gardening Forum on Gardenweb, graciously brought some hardy sedums to share.
I planted them out carefully, and set them on our upper deck where they would be safe from extreme weather and the depredations of our vicious predators, namely the deer and rabbits.
The plants were gone the next morning, less than 12 hours after they went outside. Gone. Disappeared. Vanished. Completely gone, down to the ground, no sign they'd ever been there, only the identifying sticks left behind.
I suspect Alien Abduction.
Chances are that the vicious predator was some kind of squirrel or chipmunk. It's even possible that it was a bird, though they usually leave some kind of detritus when they nibble.
In any case, the sempervivums I got from the same exchange stayed indoors for the summer. I'm considering some kind of squirrel-proof cage to put them in after the weather cools, so they can color up a bit for winter.
This third photo is of part of our yard in mid-June. We had a cool, wet summer, and thus a very nice wildflower display. These are the small penstemons that bloom in early summer, probably Penstemon strictus.
This last photo is of sedums blooming at Loveland Pass. The elevation is nearly 12,000' above sea level. Even though it was the middle of August, the weather was quite brisk. The temps were in the low to mid 40s and the wind was chilly. We went for some short hikes at the pass and at other areas nearby.
And that's it for today's photos!
What else... EE still has some scouting and band photos to upload. We had a busy summer involving all the usual fun -- scouting, band camp, karate camp, pottery camp, swim lessons, playing with friends, fighting with siblings, reading zillions of books, playing too much 'puter, watching too much TV, hiking, biking, playing tourist, and everything else. We only had one or two weekend days free for the whole summer. Even now that school has begun, our weekends are still very busy.
We set up our big goldfish tank. One day we'll get photos of that uploaded. The cats are very fond of it. We often find one of them sitting on top of the tank in the morning, staring wistfully at the fish below. He used to dip his paws into the water, but we put something over the open area so that he could no longer go fishing. The fish seem oblivious to the cats. They sure notice us, though! That's because we feed them.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Crestone Needle
Since we didn't complete all three peaks on the Aug 29 trip, Rick and I returned on Sept 10 with the summits of Crestone Needle and Humboldt Peak as our goal.
Again, we started out plenty early, meeting at IHOP at 3:30AM and starting the hike at 5:50AM. It started to get a bit light in the east around 6:30.
On the last trip, we climbed up Broken Hand Pass in the dark. This time it was light but that just kept reminding us of how much we had left to go. On the way up, Alpenglow on the face of Crestone Needle lit up the whole valley.
We got to the top of the pass and then headed along the back side of the ridge over to a couple of gullies where we made the final ascent. The gullies here were steeper but the rock was generally good and solid.
At the top of the gully, there is a short walk along the rugged summit ridge to the peak itself. This is Rick negotiating the last few hundred feet. Directly above his head is Broken Hand Peak.
We gained the summit at about 9:15AM and were the only ones there.
It was 11:30AM when we completed the descent back to Lower South Colony Lake. Then up the other side of the lake toward Humboldt Peak. Although not as tough a climb as the gully portion of Crestone Needle, a mile of negotiating a path through large boulders took its toll.
We finally gained the summit of Humboldt about 1:30PM. The weather was deteriorating so we didn't spend long up there, just long enough to find the summit log and the geocache. We got sprinkled with snow and rain on the way down, but there was no lightning.
A couple of other interesting sights -- some Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep and a nice fossil of a fern rounded out the day.
Again, we started out plenty early, meeting at IHOP at 3:30AM and starting the hike at 5:50AM. It started to get a bit light in the east around 6:30.
On the last trip, we climbed up Broken Hand Pass in the dark. This time it was light but that just kept reminding us of how much we had left to go. On the way up, Alpenglow on the face of Crestone Needle lit up the whole valley.
We got to the top of the pass and then headed along the back side of the ridge over to a couple of gullies where we made the final ascent. The gullies here were steeper but the rock was generally good and solid.
At the top of the gully, there is a short walk along the rugged summit ridge to the peak itself. This is Rick negotiating the last few hundred feet. Directly above his head is Broken Hand Peak.
We gained the summit at about 9:15AM and were the only ones there.
It was 11:30AM when we completed the descent back to Lower South Colony Lake. Then up the other side of the lake toward Humboldt Peak. Although not as tough a climb as the gully portion of Crestone Needle, a mile of negotiating a path through large boulders took its toll.
We finally gained the summit of Humboldt about 1:30PM. The weather was deteriorating so we didn't spend long up there, just long enough to find the summit log and the geocache. We got sprinkled with snow and rain on the way down, but there was no lightning.
A couple of other interesting sights -- some Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep and a nice fossil of a fern rounded out the day.
Crestone Peak
On Aug 29, I went with two friends to the Sangre De Cristo Wilderness to climb Crestone Peak, Crestone Needle, and Humboldt Peak. We met at an IHOP parking lot at 1AM and started hiking at 3:30AM. The "standard route" begins on the east side of the Sangre De Cristo mountain range, just south of the town of Westcliffe. The route leads past a couple of glacial lakes and over Broken Hand Pass, down the west side, then finally up the last 3000 feet to the summit through the "Red Gully."
It was dark until we got to the Red Gully; I took this photo of the pass on a different trip. The pass is that low notch in the rugged ridge between Crestone Needle on the right and Broken Hand Peak on the left.
The Red Gully is a slightly softer layer of rock that has formed into a small canyon. Most of the gully is solid rock but there are stretches where every step is on loose rock. It is a challenge to keep from knocking loose any rocks and endangering those below. Everyone we saw was wearing a climbing helmet.
At the top of the Red Gully, you come to a notch between East Crestone Peak on the right and Crestone Peak itself (from where the photo was taken). You can see my climbing partners in the center of this photo just as they reach the saddle. The other side (left) is a sheer 3000-foot cliff.
We finally gained the summit at around 9:15. This photo shows me, Rick, and Mark on the summit with Kit Carson Peak in the background.
By the time we got back down the Red Gully then back up to the top of Broken Hand Pass, weather was moving in so we decided to head back to the car.
It was dark until we got to the Red Gully; I took this photo of the pass on a different trip. The pass is that low notch in the rugged ridge between Crestone Needle on the right and Broken Hand Peak on the left.
The Red Gully is a slightly softer layer of rock that has formed into a small canyon. Most of the gully is solid rock but there are stretches where every step is on loose rock. It is a challenge to keep from knocking loose any rocks and endangering those below. Everyone we saw was wearing a climbing helmet.
At the top of the Red Gully, you come to a notch between East Crestone Peak on the right and Crestone Peak itself (from where the photo was taken). You can see my climbing partners in the center of this photo just as they reach the saddle. The other side (left) is a sheer 3000-foot cliff.
We finally gained the summit at around 9:15. This photo shows me, Rick, and Mark on the summit with Kit Carson Peak in the background.
By the time we got back down the Red Gully then back up to the top of Broken Hand Pass, weather was moving in so we decided to head back to the car.
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