Blogs from Colorado, United States, North America - page 168

Let me just say that, although I grew to love the highways of central america, what with their beautiful views, potholes, insane bus drivers, roadside tamale and banana saleswomen, and the occasional military checkpoint (yes, my car is a piece of shit, thanks for reminding me AK-47 wielding 19 year old), it was damn good to be back on the most epic of highway systems, the crazy scattered grid that makes up America's great road. I ripped up highway I-94 from my hometown of Wilmette, IL and rode it up into Milwakuee, WI. If you are ever in the area and looking for porno and bongs be sure to stop into Superb Video in Kenosha just over the border. A quick jump from Milwakuee over to Madison where I-94 meets back up with its little sister ... read more

Distance: 9 miles Difficulty: moderate-difficult The end of April brought a continuation of the warm and windy conditions that had been in place for most of the spring. I finally found out that the weather pattern was due to the La Nina water phenomenon that had taken root in Pacific. This event was (according to one meteorologist at KUSA/9 News in Denver) the reason why we were seeing so much wind and why the mountains were still getting pummeled by blizzards. Whatever the case was, I knew I needed to get in a longer hike in preparation for my trip out to Moab that was coming in just a few days. Mt. Falcon was the toughest and longest hike that I had done up to this point in the season. Mt. Falcon Park is yet another ... read more

Distance: 5 miles Difficulty: easy-moderate With spring weather taking hold, I was finally able to get onto more of a regular hiking schedule. While the weather was steadily warming up in the Denver area, the mountains continued to get pummeled by storms that seemed to be dumping feet of new snow on a daily basis. I generally expect the months of April and May to be occupied by lower elevation hikes that may not be as scenic as the ones I do in the middle of the summer. That said, there are certainly some interesting places to visit while waiting for the mountains to thaw out. White Ranch is one of Jefferson County’s most popular and easily accessible open space parks, thanks in no small part to its proximity to the Denver area. The park occupies ... read more

Distance: 6.5 miles Difficulty: Easy Ah, the unpredictability of the Colorado Spring! After some warm but extremely windy days at the end of March, I had to wait until the middle of April for my next hiking opportunity. Thanks to the weather pattern that sat over the entire state for most of the spring, wind was an ever-present pest on most of my hikes. With the temperatures finally starting to warm up for good, my dad and I headed to Rabbit Mountain on the border between Boulder and Larimer County. As I’ve mentioned before, Boulder County is one of the best places for open space parks within about an hour of Denver. In fact, Jefferson County is really the only other county that competes with Boulder for open space park acreage. Rabbit Mountain, which occupies the ... read more

Distance ~ 5 miles Difficulty: moderate As I’ve mentioned before, March weather in Colorado is inconsistent at best. Nice days without rain or snow tend to be few and far between. After an unusually warm first day of the month, winter took over again, and the hiking would have to wait. Warmer weather finally returned at the end of the month, so my dad and I decided to play hooky and head up to the Boulder for my second (his first) hike of the year. We were greeted by beautiful clear skies and a light wind that kept this moderate hike very comfortable. The South Mesa Trailhead is a very popular area at the southern end of the city of Boulder’s open space territory, just east of Eldorado Canyon State Park. The trailhead represents the southern ... read more