Back in the Mountains!

7-13-06

Start: Bear Creek Lake Park CG, CO

Destination: Kerr Gulch Rd., CO

Elevation: 7600 ft.

Miles: 14.1

Weather: Hot

We got a later start than we'd normally have when we camp, but we didn't get much sleep last night. So we slept in and took it easy.

We walked up a huge hill in Mount Falcon Park. I believe it was around a 2000 ft. elevation gain in less than 4 miles. Thank goodness for switchbacks! The crazy thing is these people that pedal bikes up there! Then they FLY down at amazing speeds bouncing and jumping and sliding sideways down around the sharp corners and along edges with steep dropoffs. They're nuts! I gotta' try it sometime... :)

Here I am talking about the "Oh my - the steep hills! Oh my oh my oh my!" Well, we are in the Rockies! I really had fun on that trail. There were a lot of other trail users to talk to, and it really felt like we were hiking again. And the views were awesome. We got to see Denver from way high up. That was really cool. And after being teased going in the mountains, outta the mountains, and back in, we're finally in for good. To the divide!

We got a call from Hickory today, our Indiana hiking buddy. He's in Georgetown!! We should be able to meet up with him on Saturday. We can't wait. And Tatoo Granny, who mom and I met up on Rampart Range Rd picked him up from the airport and drove him there. Ahhh, the trail magic. The hiking community is just amazing. I love it.

Then as we trudged along Kerr Gulch Rd. in the late afternoon's hot sun, a car pulled up - it was Bonnie, Harv's wife - of the Ashley House B&B in Bergen Park. Harv is the map and turn-by-turn guy for the ADT. We were being hosted by them, and we were in need of a shower. We were getting yucky, and we were very sweaty. So we got showers, mom did laundry, and we had a great dinner with Harv, Bonnie, and Bonnie's sister Gale who is visiting. Harv went over several maps with me in his office, which was nice. He pointed out a couple of tricky spots that we need to be extra careful in and use our GPS faithfully. We are in the habit already, so we're feeling good about it.

Now I must plug in my waypoints and go to sleep. Until tomorrow... I have to remember to talk about the freakin' rock mom found - and carried!!

posted on Friday, July 14, 2006 9:17 PM