Boulder Colorado, Part 1: hiking

So apparently once I stay in a place for more than two days my posting schedule goes out the window.  I've been in Boulder for a week and a half, and haven't posted a thing!  Let's see if I catch up.  This post will be about hiking. 

If I'm counting back correctly, I think there have only been three days here in Boulder that have not included either a hike or a bike ride.  Let's see if I can list the places I've been so far...

Thursday: biking around Louisville, got lost and ride ended up a bit longer than expected.
Friday: Zero Day (toilet repairs)
Saturday: Lily Mountain, just outside of Rocky Mountain National Park
Sunday: somewhere in Rocky Mountain National Park
Monday: Clear Creek Canyon in Golden
Tuesday: Mount Sanitas in Boulder
Wednesday: Continental Divide in Rocky Mountain National Park
Thursday: Walker Ranch south of Boulder
Friday: Zero Day (sink and bathtub repairs)
Saturday: Mesa Trail in Boulder
Sunday: Zero Day (festival in Fourmile Canyon)

Not too shabby!  Rather than go through each hike in detail, I think I'll just throw a few pictures down and see if I can create a summary of the general area...

This is at the base of Mount Sanitas, and shows how brown the grass is everywhere (fire danger is extremely high, and less than a month ago a fire near Boulder burned over 6000 acres, destroying over 150 homes).  Up at the top of this hike, I had a view looking over the Boulder area.  One of the amazing things about the front range of the Rockies is just how sharp and sudden the change between flat plains and steep mountains can be. 

Yet once you get past the front range, there are lots of rolling hills.

 

But it is still incredibly dry.  The panoramic below shows some fire damage from ten years ago.  Dead trees are still standing.  Let me just mention that this hike was also extremely windy.  I was fine down in the protected valley, but as I hiked up and around the corner, it was like hitting a wall!

 

In choosing a hike in Colorado, it's very important to consider the elevation.  I went up to the Continental Divide for one hike, and while it was in the 70s in Boulder that afternoon, I saw snow...

 The picture below is right before the snow...  I was hiking too fast (my hands were cold!) to get any good pictures once the flakes started to fall. 

Most of the time I was hiking by myself.  But on the weekend, Erin and friends joined in on the fun.  I thought I might be nervous or worried or just generally not have fun hiking by myself, but other than a few moments of vividly imagining what I should do to get help should I need it, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  No doubt, hiking with friends is more fun, but hiking solo leads to some truly quiet moments (and you can go slow and no one will know).  Here's a picture of Erin at the top of Lily Mountain.

 And, of course, one of the highlights of any hike is the wildlife.  I saw lots of strange, almost iridescent blue birds, black squirrels with big ear-tufts, a moose, two foxes, and a bunch of elk! This bull elk has over 30 in his group, and we watched him chase off another bull who was eying some of his ladies. 

 

 We also saw one fox up really close.  Hiking along the Mesa Train, this fox came around the corner, saw us, and just kept coming!  Maybe fifteen feet away it stopped, looked at us, pooped, then continued on by!  I was a little nervous - wild creatures shouldn't come that close, at least not in the day.  I'll skip the pooping picture, and share one as it left:

Overall, I have to say that the Boulder area is awesome for outdoors activities.  There were lots of people on the trails in Boulder proper, even during the work week, so this is a place where it seems like everyone loves the outdoors.  On one hike, I was passed by an older lady in hot pink yoga pants.  Very embarrassing!  There were also rock climbers, mountain bikers, and runners everywhere.  But there are so many trails that I also had a few hikes where I didn't see anyone for miles.  What a beautiful area!