Chasing After A New Route To Ptarmigan Lake

When Ruthie, a somewhat new-in-town friend and coworker of Bobbie, mentioned that a couple of gal-friends took her on a long hike up to Ptarmigan Lake and beyond to Imogene Pass, I was impressed. "That's a big day," I said, "must of reached a tad over 13,000 feet." 
"Yeah, like 7 hours," came her reply "with lots of steep, loose conditions and a couple wrong turns on the way back."

The Highly Eroding New Face Of Outdoor Recreation, & Rough Day On The Trail To Little Giant

Bobbie and I decided it was time to go in search of some new "dots." One of her suggestions peaked my interest...a summit on 13,400 foot "Little Giant."  Turned out my "spirit" was raring to go. But the flesh...not so much.

Bike Day: Ouray To Blue Lakes Trailhead...and Back

“If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else.”   Yogi Berra

The "Stone House" Route To Columbine Pass, Then On To Oh-So-Blue Columbine Lake

A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth's eye...looking into which, the beholder measures the depth of his own (soul).  Henry David Thoreau 

Two Tickets To Paradise

"The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only paradise we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need, if only we had the eyes to see."  Edward Abbey   

Wildflowers Lag Behind "Schedule" In Spirit Basin

The forecast for Monday was good, so I knew Bobbie would be ready to head up to the mountains after her 3 day shift at Bear Creek Gift Shop.

New PR's For Dumb and Dumber In Camp Bird Grudge Match

Another week, another opportunity to finally beat Pal Leon in the "Summer Series," Man on Bike against Man on Foot. We are told by our parents—as well as most "successful" people like Bill Gates and Colonel Sanders—that it is struggle that shapes us more than triumph....that failure is the foundation upon which success is built.  Hmmm. It's either bull-hockey or I'm long overdue for the big dubya.