I'm posting this for those of you who may not follow my other main blog on this site, my photography blog...

Do you like the photos I post here?  Would you like a print of any of them for your wall or tabletop?  Well, I am actively selling my photography, and you can buy any of these prints!  If you click over to my Portfolio page, you can see the images that I've already posted up for sale (the portfolio is growing, so keep checking back for new work).  Also, if there are any images in my blog posts that you like, but aren't available for purchase in my portfolio/store, just let me know and I'll make them available.  I could have made the buy links for images available for all the images in blog posts, too (as you see under the image above), effectively extending my image store to my whole site, but I didn't want to make the site seem too purely commercial (you come here to read about the Colorado outdoors, not be pushed goods!), which is why I left the store separate.  However, if there's ever an image in a post that you like, just send me a message via the Contact form and I'll make it available for you.

And now through March 3rd, you can get a 20% discount on any prints ordered!  Click through to this post on my photography blog to get more details.

Well, after commenting on a blog post (on another blog) about the South Park Dirty Fondo, which I recently posted about, I received an email from a new race promoter, Shane DeMars, informing me of yet another gravel grinder popping up this year in Colorado!  This one is called the Rampart Rumble Gravel Grovel, and it's a wince-inducing 170 miles of hard riding on gravel roads throughout the Rampart Range.  It starts and ends in Woodland Park (very convenient for yours truly), and the promoter contends that the course is cyclocross bike friendly.  The gravel-grinding scene in Colorado is exploding!  Especially here in south central CO!

Like the South Park ride, scheduling on this one might be a conflict for me, though, as it's scheduled for September 22nd.  You see, Karen's birthday is on September 23rd (the next day), and I need to be fresh and full of energy for this one, as it's the big 4-0.  I've gotten away with rides on or near her birthday before, but no way will that fly this year.  I'm still deciding what I'm going to do for her birthday this year, but I do know it has to be big.

But I digress…  It's going to be long and hard, but most likely fun (and definitely scenic), so start training now!  I'll probably miss it myself this year, but look forward to your race reports. :)

OK, so finally getting back to the trip report…

The plan for the weekend was to hike both sections 2 and 3 of the Colorado Trail, a bit of scouting for my CTR attempt this summer.  It didn't quite work out that way, but it still was a great weekend and trip.

As opposed to thru-hiking both sections, our plan was to shuttle each section.  Day 1 we would hike Section 2, then setup our shuttle again for Section 3 on Day 2.  That's how it went, the first day…

We setup a car at the beginning of Section 2 (we would be hiking this section backwards), at the trail head along the Platte River (north of Deckers).  We then drove around to the end of the section to begin our hike.  Given how little snow we've been having along the Front Range, and how little snow I experienced up above Hoosier Pass, at nearly 12,000 feet, the weekend prior, we figured snow wasn't going to be much of a concern.  As such we didn't bother with snowshoes, but simply strapped our YakTrax to our hiking boots and set off.  This would prove to be a mistake.

Now, there wasn't snow for the entire trail; there were certainly plenty of sections of easy, dry hiking.  That said, there was a LOT more snow than we thought there would be, and we did end up post-holing through miles and miles of the white stuff.  It wore our calves out pretty good by the end.  Also, not far into this hike is when I found out that my hiking boots that I had just bought this last year most definitely were NOT waterproof as claimed.  My feet got soaked very early on, and I probably hiked about 75% of the hike (which was 11.8 miles total) with wet feet.  Boy, was I happy to get those puppies off when we got back to the car.

Aside from the extra snow/work we encountered, though, the hike itself was awesome.  We couldn't have asked for a better day weather-wise (I was almost too warm in just my t-shirt and fleece top), and we didn't encounter another soul out there.  As you can see from the picture above, much of the hike was through the Hayman burn area.  Despite the acres and acres of land barren of live trees, though, it was still amazingly beautiful, and it allowed us to see for miles.  And when we did get into forested areas, it made it that much sweeter.  Even though we were out there on the trail for like 5 hours, the time almost seemed to fly by, as we were just enjoying ourselves so much.

After we reached the end, and I promptly ditched my wet socks and boots*, we drove my car back to where we started to fetch Mark's car.  We decided to go ahead and drive to the end of Section 3, camp there, and would then drive back to the beginning in the morning to start our hike.

It was well after dark when we reached the parking area at the end of Section 3, and the weather was starting to turn a bit, too.  The temperature was dropping fast, and the wind was picking up.  Luckily, our plan was to sleep in Mark's Suburban (those giant things come in handy sometimes), so we didn't have to worry about setting up a tent or listening to the wind whip at a tent all night.  As we retired for the evening later on, it had begun to snow.  We weren't sure what awaited us in the morning…

In the morning we awoke to fresh snow cover on the ground, cold, whipping winds, and gray skies that didn't promise much better.  In fact, it seemed to be getting worse as we sat there eating breakfast.  Also, based on all the snow we had to drive through on the forest service roads the night prior, we figured we'd be hiking through a lot more snow than we did the previous day.  That was fine for me, as I could just strap on my snowshoes, but Mark hadn't even brought his along, and he really wasn't looking forward to another 12 miles of post-holing.  As such, we decided to just call it, that we'd come back for Section 3 some other weekend.

As we drove our respective vehicles back up out of the valley, though, I noticed that as I looked away from the road on to the hillsides, there wasn't really much snow at all.  In fact, whenever we passed a trail crossing and I looked at the trail itself, it seemed pretty well packed down.  I think because of all the campsites in this area (we passed several roadside campsites as drove down the previous night, with a handful of them even being used – the Buffalo Creek area is popular even in Winter), the trails get used enough that snow gets packed down pretty good.  Also, as we climbed higher out of the valley, the clouds broke and it was sunny again! 

We stopped in at the trail head area at the other end of the trail, as I had to use the facilities anyway, and we discussed the situation.  At this point it was sunny, had warmed up, and the wind was virtually gone.  Now we felt like wusses.  It would take too much time to re-establish our shuttles for the full hike, though, as did want to be back to our families at a decent time that afternoon.  We decided to just do an out-and-back hike on the trail for a ways.  We didn't go far, only about 1.5 miles in.  Whereas snow wasn't a problem because it was packed down, the problem we did have was ice.  This was a problem because I couldn't wear my YakTrax on this day.  Because my regular hiking boots got soaked the day before, and were still wet that morning, I had to wear my heavier-duty snow boots, and my YakTrax won't fit around those (I've since bought a larger YakTrax equivalent for these boots).  I figured what the hell, and we'd just go anyway, but as the ice got worse, so did my slippage.  Also, Mark's legs were still a bit sore from the previous day's effort, so we decided to just call it short.  We still got about 3 miles of a nice morning hike along the Colorado Trail that day, though, so can hardly complain.  We're planning to go back some other Saturday and just hike that section as a day trip.

So we had one day of a solid, long hike with an effort we could be proud of, followed by a day where we were kind of girly men.  Oh well, so it goes.  It was great weekend in the Colorado outdoors, nevertheless, so no complaints at all.  And since we were getting out a bit early on Sunday, that gave us time to stop in for a tasty breakfast burrito (albeit for lunch) at the Hungry Bear in Woodland Park.  Mmmm…. :)

You can see more pictures from my trip in my Picasa album, linked below.  I didn't take a lot of outstanding pictures, but there were a few good ones, and it gives you a feel for the landscape were hiking through.

Colorado Trail - Section 2

* Regarding the wet boots… As these things were supposed to be waterproof and never have been, I brought them back to REI.  Being that it had been like 8 months since I bought them and had hiked extensively in them, I wasn't necessarily expecting much.  However, they actually let me exchange them for a brand-new pair!  I got a different brand/model this time, so hopefully these work out better.   Anyway, you gotta love that customer service.  Way to go, REI!

© South Park Dirty Fondo

The gravel grinding scene in Colorado is exploding!  I introduce to you another new 150-mile, gravel-grinding epic, the South Park Dirty Fondo.  I'm particularly happy to see this one, as I've been sitting an idea for a gravel grinder in South Park myself, so it's nice to see that there are like minds out there.  Hopefully this one gets a pretty good showing.

And now, the bad news (for me)…  It's on May 19th, which is the same day as the Almanzo 100 (back in MN)!  If I weren't already planning on spring-boarding a family vacation off the Almanzo, I'd probably back out to hit this, but the wheels are already in motion, so I gotta stick with Almanzo plan.  Hopefully they do this one again next year, as I'll be all over it if they do.

If you're going to be around, though, and looking for some great riding with beautiful scenery and a laid-back vibe, you should definitely check this out.

Finally found some time this evening to go through my pics from my hike on the Colorado Trail last weekend.  I didn't get a lot of outstanding ones, as I didn't take a lot of time to setup the perfect shots, as my friend isn't an avid picture taker (in fact, I don't think he took one the entire time), so I didn't want to slow our progress too much.  Still, I got a few keepers and finally got 'em processed.  The views out there were awesome.  I'll get the report, along with some more pics, posted over the weekend.

Haven't been writing or processing photos much lately, as I've just been busy with other things.  I've been having my fun, though.  I've had a few good mountain bike rides with team mates, been hitting the gym a couple times a week (just cardio so far), watched the first race of the Leadville Winter Series at Copper Mountain last weekend, got in a hike with the family above Hoosier Pass, and tomorrow morning I'm heading out with a friend for a couple days of hiking on the Colorado Trail (scouting out sections 2 & 3 for CTR recon).  Hopefully I'll get back to more regular updates here on the blog soon.

Anyway, have a great weekend, everyone!  I'm off to the hills!

© http://antiepic.blogspot.com/

Introducing the AntiEpic Gravel Grinder!  That's right, kids: free, gravel-grinding bike race action is coming right to our back door!  So start getting those training miles in, if you aren't already, as April is coming up quick, and 150 miles on gravel roads is a long haul – especially if we get some of our classic Spring snows (though any snow right would be most welcome)!

This new event is being included as part of the Colorado Endurance Series, so if you're one that already tries to complete that entire series, you've now got one more race on your calendar this year (actually, more than that, as there are a couple other new ones, too).  It's being held on April 7th at 6:30am, though they state the time and date are subject to change, so keep your eye on the site.  It's already moved up a week since becoming a part of the Endurance Series (originally scheduled for 14th, but that conflicts with the Durango Gravel Grinder, also a part of the series).

I've decided I'm going to participate in this inaugural event.  It's a little early in the season for such distance for me, but I've been waiting for an event like this to pop up around here, so really want to support it.  It'll be nice not having to travel over a hundred miles to do an endurance race, and also not having to pay for it!  It's also nice to have something besides the usual road or mountain bike race around here.  Plus, I figure it'll be good training for the Almanzo in May.  If I can do 150 in April, I can do 100 in May…

This actually works out  nice as a substitute on my race calendar, as I'm no longer doing the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde as hoped/planned.  The registration on that race filled up QUICK, and we missed the boat; couldn't get in.  I'm debating on also doing the Durango Gravel Grinder, but I'm not committing to that one yet; have to see what my schedule, budget, and motivation look like as I get closer to it.  I signed up early last year, but then had to back out because I ended up not being able to fit it in, so don't want to sign up again this year unless I know I can commit.  Also have to see how wrecked I might feel after the AntiEpic, as it's only a week out from that one.  For now my schedule remains more or less the same, with the exception that the AntiEpic replaces Mesa Verde.

Anyway, I hope to see you out there on April 7th.  Start training!

Well, since my last workout post, I've gotten in a couple mountain bike rides at Ute Valley Park, one at Red Rock Canyon (including Intemann, Section 16, and White Acres), an elliptical session at the gym, and a couple small hikes.  I may not have put together a solid training structure yet, but I'm at least getting in some regularity in terms of schedule.  Slowly starting to feel more fit…

Today was a particularly fun day.  I had an unplanned hike up Mt. Fonkert with my dogs (was just going out to get something out of my car, but they insisted on continuing up the mountain, so up we went), and then later got in a mountain bike ride with a couple guys from my team.  We rode up through Red Rock Canyon to Intemann Trail, over to Section 16, up into White Acres, and finally back down into Red Rock Canyon.  It was a great ride.  There was quite a bit of ice on some sections of the trails, but nothing unmanageable as long as one was careful.

It'll probably be a run day tomorrow, either outside or at the gym.  Then on Tuesday I think it's time I finally delve into my strength training, as I definitely need to build some of my strength back up, as I don't feel like I have the punch on the climbs that I used to.

Aside from all that… The pic above is from a hike I took with the family yesterday on the Intemann Trail in Manitou Springs.  We started at the cemetery trail head, and walked out a little ways past the middle school.  At that point the girls were starting to get cold hands and feet, as the temperature was dropping due to the cold front moving in, so we turned around and went back.  The girls all had great fun, though, and in fact, Katelyn said several times, "This is one of my favorite trails!  We'll have to hike it again in Summer!"  Though hopefully we'll get there again before Summer…  Our timing was perfect, too, as right when we got back to the car, it started to snow.  We warmed up by going down to Savelli's Pizza and ordering up some breadsticks and bacon-cheeseburger pizza.  It was a pretty good afternoon.

Over MLK weekend in January, we made use of the free National Parks weekend, and finally made it out to Florissant Fossil Beds.

In February I was to enjoy a ski vacation out at Tahoe with my friend Gene, who lives out in Sacramento.  However, it was just before that scheduled trip that I injured myself and thus couldn't ski.  The trip was already booked, though, so we just changed our plans and headed for wine country and the Sonoma Coast instead.  It was a great trip!

In March there were no grand adventures or trips, but we did acquire a new member of the family.  Meet Cosmo!

In April I really stepped up the amount of hiking I was doing.  The above photo was taken on a hike I didn't previously blog about, a long, almost 6-hour hike up in the mountains south of my house.  It was an awesome hike, but also a bit scary.  About 20 minutes after this photo was taken, and I was on my way down the mountain, I would first take a spill in some snow that would almost have me sliding down the hillside.  However, I managed to grab hold of the tree I was next to when I hit the ground and was able to prevent myself from sliding down.  However, all of my body weight jerked hard against the one handhold due to gravity, and it really messed up my shoulder; still plagues me a bit to this day.  At least I saved myself though, right?  Well, not even a minute later I lost my footing again, and this time I wasn't able to stop myself.  I was sliding down the mountain on snow rather fast, when all of the sudden I just see a rock edge and then…  …sailing through the air…  …and then 15 feet or so later, bam!  My feet plant in some snow and I immediately reach my hands out to the stump that's in front of me and manage to stop my face about an inch form the jagged stump.  I tell ya, my face was nearly implanted into that stump – scariest moment of my life.  Ironically, even though it was snow that sent me flying, it was also snow that saved me, as if I hadn't landed in soft snow and thus had my feet plant down in something, I don't think I would have been able to stop before hitting that tree stump.  Severe injury, or even death, was possible.  Scariest moment of my life, and this was just a routine hike…

In May, I got to spend some time in Minneapolis after racing the Almanzo.

In June, I finally made my long-awaited return to the Tour of Colorado.  It had been 8 years since I'd last ridden it.  This year's route included the Peak to Peak Highway, pictured above.

I think July was the "mack daddy" of all months for me.  I got to hike on the south slope of Pikes Peak, made a second summit on Cameron's Cone, added another 14er to my resume with Quandary Peak (picture above from that hike), and finally summited the mountain I've been dreaming of summiting for years, Mount Guyot.  Of course, I would split my knee open on a rock while coming down from Mt. Guyot, landing myself in the ER and needing stitches for the first time ever in my life, but it was so worth, and I hardly even think of it as much of a negative because the hike was just that awesome.

In August, I'd add another 14er and a couple 13ers to my resume – Mt. Sherman, Mt. Sheridan and Gemini Peak.  I also had a repeat summit on Pikes Peak, as I took part in the Pikes Peak Ascent again this year; the first time in six years.  My friend, Mark, and I also made a run at the Buffalo Peaks, pictured above, but alas, didn't make it as bad weather moved in shortly after this pic, and we had to abandon our attempt about 500 feet short of the first summit.  Maybe next year…

On a hike with the kids in Garden of the Gods on Labor Day weekend in September, I discovered that my UV filter and newly acquired polarizer didn't work so well in tandem, creating a bit of a vignette when shooting in wide angle…

October brought general Fall family fun (and beauty) around town.  Above is pictured the family walking along the creek in Manitou Springs, heading back toward our car after enjoying ourselves down at the annual Emma Crawford Festival.

In November I finally I made it out to the Rocky Mountain Wildlife Foundation wolf sanctuary, out by Guffey.  Loved it!

December, as you can imagine, centered much around family and the holidays.  In early December, we headed up to Fairplay to take part in their annual holiday festival.  One of the activities setup by one of the local businesses was free cookie decorating and baking for the kids.  The kids got to decorate the cookies, the owner would bake them, and then we got to take the cookies with us.  The girls loved it!  There was a reporter/photographer there from the local country newspaper, too, and a picture very similar to the one above was published in the paper!