Colorado Day 2

Sunday, April 23, 2017

I decided to do my hiking today in the Arapaho National Forest so I made a stop by the visitors center in Winter Park. They had some really good trail info sheets. After discussing some of the trail options with the staff, I picked one of the more difficult ones - Jim Creek Falls. It is 3.45 miles one way and climbs from 9,230' to 10,454' in elevation.

WHAT WAS I THINKING????

I didn't make it all the way to the falls as you will find out below. However, I did hike 8.3 miles in a totally snow covered terrain. It took a little over 3 hours and I climbed about 800' in elevation (twice - on the trail and then again when I took the maintenance road). The natural sounds of the creek and forest along with the beautiful scenery was breathtaking (or is that still the altitude? Naw, I'm breathing great).

The trail head was a short drive from the visitor's center. I should have had a strong clue as to how hard the hike was going to be when I saw the beginning. The entry walkway had knee deep snow and ice piled on it.

The trail got a little tricky, but it was very much worth the effort.

You had to be careful while walking as some of the underlying ice was melting causing you to sink every now and then.

The actual trail head was about .3 mile from where I parked and started on the wooden walkway.

This is Jim Creek.

The trail went through some tall willow trees.

At times the trail followed close to a ridge line. Glad I had my hiking pole for stability.

I stopped to take this picture and

as soon as the picture snapped I broke through the snow and went in knee deep. No injuries!

Another shot of the creek.

Tall pines framing the mountain in the background.

For about the first 2 miles of the trail there had been hikers before me and the trail was easily followed. I meet 2 women on their return trip and they said they stopped a little further down the trail and decided to go back. Where the women turned around there were NO footsteps on the trail lying ahead. At first the trail was still fairly easy to follow, but then I began going on instinct. Virgin trail.

After one of the choices, I soon had to turn around and go back to where I thought I had seen a split in the trail. I then traveled the other way and went for a fairly good distance. Then the snow banks between the trees began to all look like they could be the trail. So I decided to go back and call it a good hike anyway. The sound of the creek was all you could hear. It was so peaceful being out there alone.

The point where I decided to go back.

This shows how deep the snow and ice are as they have drifted between and around the trees.

Back at the trail head is a park maintenance road so I decided to hike up it for a while.

There were some beautiful mountain views.

Per your request, this is for you Aunt Polly. It is more of an iceman than snowman or maybe a polar bear.

One last shot of Jim Creek before going back to the car.

It was a very strenuous hike but even with the tired aching feet and legs I loved it!

Colorado Day 1

Saturday - April 22, 2017

Traveled a little north today to visit the Rocky Mountain National Park. First order of business was to stop at the Kawuneeche visitors center and secure my "Lifetime National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass" for seniors age 62 and over. The passes are currently $10 but are going to $80 sometime this summer.

While at the center I had a really good discussion with the park ranger about what trails were open. She shared a lot of information about the condition of the different trails and made some suggestions on which ones to check out.

There were some beautiful lakes along the route to the park. Shadow Mountain Lake and Grand Lake are the largest.

The park ranger said they had about 4 inches of snow yesterday.

This is an old miner's cabin located at the Holzwarth Trail head. The cabin was built by Joseph Fleshuts in 1902. He abandoned his 160 acre homestead in 1911 for some unknown reason and was never heard from again. 


This is the Kawuneeche Valley.

Part of the Never Summer Mountain Range. The Arapaho Indians called the range Ni-chebe-chii, which translates into 'Never No Summer". Wishing to avoid the use of a double negative, the U.S. Dept. of the Interior settled on Never Summer Mountains.

The Colorado River runs through the valley. This is just a few miles from the head waters of the river which flows over 1,400 miles through the Grand Canyon to the Gulf of California.

Holzwarth Historic site is where John Holzwarth came to the valley in 1917 and settled with his family at the foot of the Never Summer Mountains. He built a homestead and started a cattle ranch. His location next to the new national park soon began attracting guests. The family decided to open a guest ranch and built cabins to rent out.

At the age of 71, wishing to preserve the aesthetic value of his property for future generations, John Holzwarth Jr. sold the ranch to the Nature Conservancy in 1974. Holzwarth stated that he could "live with and die knowing that this valley will be for all and not a select few." Upon further reflection he added that "It was a wonderful experience having the ranch; I am a part of it." In the following year the Nature Conservancy transferred the property to Rocky Mountain National Park which preserves the historic site.

The road was closed to vehicles at the Colorado River Trail Head but people were allowed to walk the road. So, off I went. Hiked for a little over an hour and climbed about 1,200 feet in elevation over 3 miles. I was real pleased with my breathing and exertion level. The high altitude didn't seem to have any affect on me. 

I loved seeing the "naturally" snow flocked trees.

Taking a short rest break. The sun was beginning to warm it up.

Snow banked on the side of the road where the plow had gone through.

Looking back down on the valley where I hiked earlier.

 
The snow melting created these little water brooks. The sound was so soothing.

Looking down on the road which I walked up.

After my hike I was definitely ready for a good hardy meal and rest.

Antarctica - Journey's End

As the old saying goes "All good things must come to an end." I can't even begin to describe all the wonderful experiences I had on this journey.

I was blessed to have some fantastic travel companions and made some new friends.

Our program director Andrea was a true delight. She had a wonderful personality and made the journey so much fun.

There were 4 program directors for the entire ship. Top: Marta and Andrea  Bottom: Sebastian and Martin

Martin, Andrea, Sebastian, and Marta

They all helped make this a fantastic journey.

The dreaded Drake passage was fairly calm and easy going for the trip across to Antarctica. I did experience a little sea sickness the first day but nothing major (so thankful for the motion sickness patches).

Ship's Log: Thursday, January 19 - We woke up to a very subtle rolling to remind us that we were at sea. While the Drake Passage is notorious for its rough condition, we have been lucky to experience the opposite phenomenon known as the Drake Lake! The wind that was blowing though, was coming from the east, which is unusual, as it almost always comes from the west.

The return trip was not so smooth. Even with the patch I was really sick for one day and didn't venture very far from the couch in my cabin.

Ship's Log: Thursday, January 26 - Our final night on the Drake brought what some of us had hoped for – a little shake (but not too much). From around 2-4:00 am M/V Corinthian was tossed well enough to wake many of us from our sleep, before subsiding as we neared the southern tip of South America. Soon after reaching the protected waters of the Beagle Channel, the Bridge reported 50 knot winds with 70 knot gusts off Cape Horn where we had been only a couple hours before.

The program directors put together a short video of our journey and it captures the essence of this most fantastic experience. I hope you enjoy it.

WOW!!!! is about all I can say at this point. Who knows where my next journey will take me.