Another "New Dots" Hike Requires A Wade Across The Animas River

For every sortie into new territory, we connect more new dots that reveal the lay of the land. It's slow, painstaking work that requires an investment of  decades. But we love every step, as, one by one, the rugged San Juan Mountains reward us with secrets. Who knows, maybe someday all these new dots will complete the "puzzle" and we can throw away our hiking maps and apps.

New Dots!

Studies show that human beings crave/need novelty, lest we wither on the vine of life. While Bobbie and I love the excess and convenience of nearby trails, there's nothing like "New Dots" to recharge legs and soul. It fends off boredom (stagnation?) to climb out of comfy grooves every so often and break some new ground...be it a trail, changing jobs, new relationship or uprooting to someplace different. 

Happiness Is Finding A Hidden Lake...In A Secluded Basin...With A Challenging Ridge Line Summit

 The route is vertiginous, to the degree that you can almost feel the flow of talus underfoot. That the the whole hillside doesn't give way and slough downhill and close the Jeep road access is beyond me.

Exploring The Upper Reaches Of Blaine Basin, Below Mount Sneffels Seldom Trekked North Face

It is said that "familiarity breeds contempt." Perhaps that's why the grind up to Blaine Basin is among my least favorite hikes, that and the fact that a good 80 percent of it winds through monotonous can't-see-the-mountains-for-the-trees forest. Thus, I almost begged off the invitation to accompany Bobbie and good friend, Martha. 

Reflections At "The Ponds"

A negligible western wildfire haze softened the atmosphere , lending a pastel painting ambiance to our Red Mountain surround. Summer's lush green grass at "The Ponds" was on the wane, as chlorophyl beat a slow retreat to dormancy. In a week or two, our above-timberline mountain playgrounds will fade to slopes of tawny gold, and remind us of Ms Autumn's steady approach.

Old Dog, New Tricks

When it seems like you can't change what's going on around you, it might be time to consider changing what's going on inside. 

Finding Purpose By Movement In The Outdoors

To say that a Mount Abram summit begins with a serious, near vertical grind is an understatement. For some reason, it reminds of my grandparents ladder-like attic stairway, a narrow, near vertical shaft constructed with 4 inch treads on a 12 inch rise. Somehow, and at great peril, I might add, my Grandma Carder could traverse up and down that contravention of ethics and "building code" in 3 inch heels. Then, as if to elevate "perilous" to treacherous, Granddad never bothered to install a handrail.  The attic was crammed with odds and ends of "memorabilia," boxes and boxes of artifacts destined for a "someday" yard sale that never came to pass. If there is a "bright side" to getting old and crippled, it's that it will excuse long put off chores indefinitely, which, at some point, becomes forever.