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Vedauwoo Cold and Rainy
We were planning on two or three days of hiking and climbing in Vedauwoo, so we didn’t hurry there on Saturday. We arrived after noon and I took off to scout out climbing within hiking distance. I ended up scouting for a couple of hours, enchanted as always with this place, always drawn to look…
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Do You Know This Dog?
This is Jezze, believe it or not, in her fashionably short summer haircut. I’ve never seen what she looks like under all that hair – like a little lamb whose fleece is black as coal!
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Book: The Blue Nile / Alan Moorehead
This book was given to me by a man who’d been touring the world by bicycle for 10 years while I was on my own little ride around the country. I expected a book about adventurous explorers, and there is some of that, but I quickly learned that most of the exploration of the shorter…
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Movie: Rabbit-Proof Fence
Having done some desert hiking last summer, we really related to the three half-caste aboriginal girls who escape a white reculturation camp to walk home through hundreds of miles of desert while being pursued by trackers and police. Based on a true story, it doesn’t seem to be over-dramatized. It’s definitely critical of the whites…
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Name the evergreen
This tree is fairly widespread here in Colorado, and becomes more so as you go north along the continental divide. It tends to grow in thick stands, especially in burn areas. In fact the spiny, pitch-covered cones rely on heat from forest fires to open and can stay on the branch for several years. Needles…
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Abyss Lake Trail
This trail starts fairly high up the south side of Guanella Pass, intersects the Rosa Lee trail, and continues to Abyss Lake. From there one could climb Mount Evans and Mount Bierstadt without the throngs that crowd the other routes to those summits. We had a leisurely breakfast at the Cutthroat Cafe in Bailey, and…
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Live Music: Olga Kern and the CSO
I’ve been looking forward to this concert for months. The first half, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra playing Sibelius’ Finlandia and Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major, was an excellent primer. Jeffrey Kahane, the conductor, gave a really fine introduction, without notes, and seemed to revel in the performance. I had heard Finlandia before, but it…
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Quickie at Golden Cliffs
We didn’t have much time, but we figured we could squeeze a climb or two in (yes this post is about climbing) before meeting my Dad for a concert. Just like we thought, the place was clearing out in the afternoon, and we got right on a popular route. It was hot, but tolerable. A…
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Live Music: Kevin Utter and Doc Fergy
I was looking forward to seeing the university’s “mighty Wurlitzer” organ played, and Kevin Utter did not disappoint. Blind from birth, Kevin’s seeing eye dog waited patiently beside the giant organ console during the entire show. Both Kevin Utter and his saxophone accompanyist Harry “Doc Fergy” Ferguson are really good at educating the audience while…
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Backyard Jungle
The effort I’ve expended cultivating a small jungle in our back yard finally bore fruit today when I observed these two lovely garter snakes mating in the foliage.