;)

I feel so lost right now. Hiking is a part of my life, a part of my soul. I haven't been able to do any in 2 weeks.

I was downstairs looking for some stuff and I came across a small, half-empty bottle of Crown Royal.

This isn't anything spectacular -- except that I remember exactly where I was when I bought it and why I bought it. I purchased it in Buena Vista, CO back on July 29, 2005.

I'm sure you're asking why I remember this. Only July 29, 2005, I drove up through Buena Vista after work on my way to go 4-wheeling the next day. My intention was to sleep in the back of my truck that night; I purchased the alcohol to help me get to sleep since I hadn't done it before and I knew I was going to have issues falling asleep. I found a spot on the west side of Cottonwood Pass and parked there for the night.

July 30, the next day, was the day that I stranded myself in the mountains above Aspen. My annual "Stuck in Aspen" trip commemorates that weekend.

Last.fm in Journal Entries

Are you a last.fm user? The updated Music field on the Post an Entry page can now automatically fill in what you're listening to when you write the post. To enable this feature, fill in your last.fm username in the field under Contact Info on the Edit Profile page. This also adds a link to your last.fm profile on your LiveJournal Profile page. Then download the scrobbler client from last.fm. When it's installed, just click the Detect button by the Music field on the Post an Entry page and the scrobbler automatically pulls through the track information of what you're listening to on your music player or music program.

You can also use the feature without downloading the scrobbler client. If you're logged in and listening to last.fm over the Internet, click Detect to pull through the artist and title of the track playing. If the song changes while you're writing your entry, just click Detect again to update the Music field.

And for more musical accompaniment, last.fm also has a widget you can embed in your profile or a journal entry that displays what you're listening to in real time.



Increased Limits for Poll Results and Comments

Back in August we promised an increase in limits for poll results and comments. And now they're here. You can now view more than 2000 votes in the detailed view of poll results, and the limit for comments allowed for a post has been raised to 10,000, up from 5000. After the first 5000 comments, every comment will require a CAPTCHA.

Feedback Request on New Find Your Friends Feature

We're working on an optional feature that will make it easier for you to find out if existing friends in your web-based email contacts are LJ users. Once you find them, you'll be able to quickly add their journals to your Friends page. We know your privacy is very important to you, so we're interested in getting your feedback about this new feature. A full description, including the proposed privacy settings, is available in feedback. Let us know what you think.

India Travels Community

Have you explored the subcontinent? From the heights of the Himalayas to the beaches of Kerala, India is so vast and varied that you'll discover something new wherever you go, no matter how many people have been there before. We've partnered with travel writer Ajay Jain of Kunzum to create a community where you can share your stories, anecdotes, and tips about traveling in India. What was the most amazing thing you saw? Where did you go that can't be found with a Google search? Where do you want to go next? Selected entries will be considered for publication (with full credit, and only if you give permission) in travel books about India. So whether you've been to India, want to go to India, or aspire to write about India, you should take a trip over to india_travels.

And More

There's lots of other stuff going on, too. See lj_releases to get all the details.

Just some sunset photos over Lake Travis from The Oasis in Austin, TX. I was there on a company-sponsored trip last Friday, October 3.

( 8 more sunset panoramas )

September 28, 2008
Many areas of the Sangre de Cristo mountains are among my favorite in the state. I have never hiked the western side of these gorgeous mountains. In fact, I have only seen them from afar.

My book, 100 Classic Hikes in Colorado, has yet again become an invaluable resource in helping me find places to hike this fall. Every time I've gone hiking in the Sangres, I've always noticed the incredible amount of aspen trees there are. I desperately wanted to find a place to hike there this fall. I've missed the colors the past couple of seasons, but I wasn't going to this year.

After hiking ten miles on Friday, I wasn't sure how I was going to take another twelve miles. Luckily, these hikes aren't as difficult as hiking 14ers. My day began at 2:15 AM. As usual, I ate a breakfast, got packed up, and headed out. My initial destination was the small town of Crestone, CO. Nestled on the western slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Range, it's about a three-and-a-half hour drive from my home in Colorado Springs. I left right around 3:00 and headed south toward Canon City, CO. From there, I headed west through Salida to Poncha Springs, then south about thirty miles,then east through the town of Crestone. The North Crestone Creek Trailhead is about two miles north of Crestone.

I arrived at the trailhead right around 6:30. It was still pretty dark, so I waited around for about ten minutes. There were a few vehicles parked there, but being a Sunday, the trail probably wasn't going to be that crowded this early in the morning. When I started hiking, I noticed that it wasn't really that cold. I didn't even have to put on my cap. When I reached an area where the canopy opened up, I got my first view of the aspens covering the mountainsides. I took quite a few photos, but they paled in comparison to the ones that I took in the sunlight on my way back down.

Much of the this area of the Sangre de Cristo Range is made up of Crestone Conglomerate.

These rocks-of-rocks, so familiar in local yards, parks, hiking trails and all around town, come from the Crestone Conglomerate, a member within the Sangre de Cristos formation. "It's about 5 to 6 miles long and 3 to 4,000 feet thick and was deposited at the same time as its host formation—the Sangre de Cristos—but it's much coarser grain," explains Dr. Jim McCalpin, head of Geo-Haz Consulting and the Crestone Science Center. "Crestone Peak, Kit Carson, Challenger—all the highest peaks are made of this rock. And one of the reasons they are the highest peaks is because this is the hardest rock. It's more resistant to erosion." The Crestone Conglomerate is widest underneath all the 14ers, thinning out to the north and south. It outcrops near Kit Carson and Crestone Peak.

Crestone Conglomerate rocks are a mix of quartzite, pink granite, sandstone, schists, and gneisses cemented together in a matrix of fine-grained silica. What’s the process? "Look at the San Luis Valley: it's a big basin with thousands of feet of sand and gravel," McCalpin explains. "The pressure of the sand at the bottom is intense, and the groundwater is slowly flowing through the bottom gravels. The groundwater has dissolved chemicals in it, which are present in solution, and they precipitate in the pore spaces of the gravel, and cement it like concrete. It takes a long time, but it will eventually cement any rock that's at the bottom of a pile."

A combination of its component rocks and its matrix of silica—which has a hardness of 7 on scale of 10—gives the Crestone Conglomerate above-average hardness. "You see huge boulders that have been sitting on the glacial outwash fan for 15,000 years and don't look like they weathered hardly at all," says McCalpin. "They're sitting out there thumbing their nose at erosion."

After about two miles, I reached a fork in the trail after a makeshift bridge crossing over a creek. The trail to my left actually headed up to the Venable-Comanche Loop at the Phantom Terrace, a hike that I did back in July. My trail was off to the right, however, and after taking a breather for a few minutes, I continued on. Less than ten minutes later, I crossed paths with about a dozen campers heading back down. The trail was quite wet and I inquired whether it rained the previous night. One to them told me that it had actually snowed. None of the snow accumulated, but it was interesting to note.
( narrative and lots of photos )
At about 10:15, I made it to the lake. Well, I didn't actually walk down to the lake shore -- I just sort of hung out above it because there wasn't a clear trail down to it. North Crestone Lake is one of the Sangre de Cristo's largest lakes and it was a jewel. I would have loved if I had been able to take some photos with still waters with Fluted Peak (13,554 ft) and Mt. Adams (13,931 ft) reflected off of them. Another reason I didn't hiked down to the shore was because I wanted to get back down into the foliage to take photos in as much sunlight unobscured by clouds as I could. I took a couple of panoramas, ate a snack, and headed back down.


North Crestone Lake with Mt. Adams in the background.



The trip back down was quick and uneventful. The lower I got, the warmer it became. While there were some big, puffy cumulus clouds passing over, the later the day became, the thinner the clouds were. Eventually, there were just some high cirrus clouds hanging about, which allowed a decent amount of sunlight to pass through. I stopped several times on the way down to take photos.
( narrative and more photos )


I made it back to the trailhead at 1:35. Earlier in the day, I saw a Missing Person sign posted near the trailhead. My heart went out to whoever posted it. I could imagine myself ending up like that since I hike alone most of the time. I haven't had the occasion to go backpacking for multiple days, but I'd like to think that I could find someone to accompany me instead of going at it alone. I truly, truly hope that his friends and family are able to find closure.



As of this hike, the total number of miles that I've hiked in 2008 are 292.1. Three hundred miles will be my next accomplishment!

Found out that my biological grandfather passed away on Friday. I only spoke to him less than a dozen times thru my life and saw him even less.

Now, I'm out in Austin enjoying live music by myself becuz I wasnt going to wait for a 20 min smoking break after dinner.

I get sick of smokers. My traveling companions missed their flight today becuz they wanted a cigarette. They were lucky to get another flight in time.

Anyone on my flist pretty good with photo editing? I've always wanted to be able to create a black and white picture with a single color or different hues (such as blues contained within the photo). Can anyone point me to a tutorial where I can learn to do that?

I'm leaving for Austin, TX tomorrow AM for a work function. I'll be back Sat nite. Then I'm off to Durango, CO on Sun AM. I'll be back Mon nite.

Collectively, Maroon Peak and North Maroon Peak are known as the Maroon Bells. Not only are they two of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks, but they are two of the most photographed mountains in the world. Maroon Creek Road is just a short drive from Aspen and the road leads tourists right up to Maroon Lake. There have been so many great photos taken at Maroon Lake and people flock to it in droves -- especially in the Autumn.

My quest for Autumn foliage took me to the Maroon Bells Wilderness. There is another, lesser-known lake near the base of the mountains. It's not a long hike -- only about two miles. I've always wanted to hike up to the lake and this season seemed like the perfect time to do it. The lake wasn't my only destination, though; my hike was supposed to take me up to West Maroon Pass, a hike of about six-and-a-half miles. Like Silver Basin and Upper Cataract Lake, this is another hike I obtained from my book 100 Classic Hikes in Colorado. It has been an invaluable resource for ideas.

My day began last Friday at 2:15 AM. I woke up, got ready, and left at 3:00. Aspen is about three hours away from my home in Colorado Springs. As usual, the roads were pretty devoid of cars. I made it over Independence Pass before sunrise and through Aspen before the morning rush hour. I've been to Maroon Lake several times over the years, so I knew exactly where to go. When I reached the Maroon Lake parking area at 6:30, the parking lot was already full. There were about 50-70 cars already there. I had to drive around the parking area until I found a space off the road to park. I strapped on my pack and walked the short distance to Maroon Lake. There were about a hundred people there lining its shore -- waiting for sunrise to occur. The trailhead leading up to Crater Lake was on the opposite shore and it didn't seem like a lot of people were headed that way. I started on the trail at 6:45.

As I walked up the trail, the first rays of sunlight began to shine on the Bells. I looked up to the left; there, towering above me was 14,018-foot Pyramid Peak. While not the tallest 14er, the easiest route to the summit is a Class 4 climb requiring ropes. It will probably be one of the last 14ers that I summit as I will need to take some climbing and ropes courses before I do so.


Sunrise on Pyramid Peak (left of center> and the Maroon Bells (right side)

I was only about 1/4 mile from the lake when I met another hiker on the trail. I stopped and talked to him for about ten minutes. He was from Lakewood, CO and Maroon Lake was the first stop on a three-week excursion. We walked to Crater Lake together. He said that in addition to Crater Lake, he was planning to hike up Buckskin Pass. The other side of Buckskin Pass leads over to Snowmass Lake and Snowmass Mountain. When we arrived at Crater Lake, he let me know that he was going to be hanging around at the lake until about 2:00 and wanted me to find him so we could exchange websites. I told him that I would try to find him. He was very talkative and mentioned that he specialized in macro photography. He was still using a standard format camera and had a lot of questions about my digital camera. I shared as much as I could about it, but he seemed unconvinced as to the merits of digital photography.



While Crater Lake's water level was very low, it was still incredibly scenic. There was only one other person up there at the time. From what I've read, it's usually crawling with people. I walked across some fallen timber to the lake shore opposite the Bells and took some more photos.


( narrative and photos )
The storm was moving through quickly and hints of blue sky were peeking through. When I walked a little further down the trail, I met-up with the guy who I was talking with earlier that morning. He said that he had already taken five rolls of film. He was going further back down the trail to take some more photos and asked me to look for him again.

I stayed around that same area and patiently waited for the clouds to clear out a little bit. Once they did, I snapped some great photos.












( narrative and photos )

Looking back down at Maroon Lake from the trail.

I reached my truck and packed up. Along the way, I stopped on the side of Maroon Creek Rd. and took some final photos on my way out. As I did, I heard a thunderclap reverberate against the mountains. It was a good thing I got out of the mountains when I did.
( last bit of photos )
After taking those last photos, I headed back home around 1:00.

September 22, 2008
The Gore Range is located north of I-70 in Colorado and extends into the southern portion of Routt County. While not the highest mountains in the state, the peaks within the Gore Range are jagged and rocky. The mountains are named for Sir Saint George Gore, a rich nobleman who traveled west in 1855 on a notorious hunting safari. It was reported that he bagged 2,000 bison, 1,600 deer and elk, 100 black bears, and untold numbers of smaller game.

I have never hiked anywhere within these mountains. My 14er quest takes me to other mountain ranges since the Gores don't have any 14,000-foot peaks. One thing I didn't know about this range was the number of large lakes that it contains. Since my 14er hiking is over for 2008, I decided that this autumn would be a good time to explore these northern mountains on my quest for autumn foliage.

I woke at 2:15 on last Monday morning and was out the door by 3:00. My drive would take me on a familiar route -- Hwy 24 through Woodland Park, Divide, Lake George, and towns in-between. At Hartsel, I turned north and headed through Fairplay, over Hoosier Pass, and through the towns of Breckenridge and Dillon. My hiking guide said that the trailhead for Upper Cataract Lake was near Green Mountain Reservoir, about twenty miles north of Silverthorne. After a three-and-a-half hour drive, I arrived at the trailhead at 6:30. It was still dark outside, so I decided to wait around for a few minutes. At 8:44 AM Mountain Time that morning was the Autumnal Equinox. As the sun rose on the eastern horizon, I wanted to capture the last sunrise of the summer of 2008, so I hung around near the trailhead to capture the moment. It was a melancholy moment for me. I am such a summer person, as my photos and posts reflect. While the sunrise was beautiful, a part of my soul wept at the passing of yet another summer.


The final sunrise of Summer 2008 looking east from within the Gore Range. I've accomplished so much this year.

The Surprise Trail was about five-and-a quarter miles long. While it continues past Upper Cataract Lake, the aforementioned lake is the most popular destination. Along the way is Surprise Lake and Cat Lake lies just below Upper Cataract. It must've rained the previous night as the trail was wet and muddy in areas. While there was only a 30% chance of rain that day, the moisture in the air would most likely keep the skies cloudy for the better part of the day.

As I found out during my hike near Crested Butte two days earlier, I found the trees in this area in transition -- still mostly green than not. I headed up the trail at a very good pace. When I crossed a creek, I thought about filtering out some drinking water, but decided that I could hold of doing so. Since my destination was a lake, there would likely be plenty of water to filter higher up. This would allow me to eliminate the extra water weight.

At about 2.3 miles, my path crossed the Gore Range Trail -- a 54.5-mile trail traversing the heart of the Gore Range. I took a print-out from my coat pocket. Because I didn't read through the entire guide beforehand, I completely missed my destination during my hike on Saturday -- Silver Basin. Had I read the trail's entire description, I would have been able to navigate my way through. I wasn't going to make the same mistake this time. According to my hiking guide, I would only be on this portion of the trail for a short distance before I made it to my first destination -- Surprise Lake. As I hiked along, I noticed some "no camping" signs attached to some trees to my left. Upon closer examination, I spotted some water through the trees. Surprise! Had it not been for the signs, I would have walked right past it. I weaved my way through some boggy areas and hopped across a couple of fallen tree trunks t the water to take a couple photos. The sun wasn't too high in the sky yet.


Surprise Lake is one of the smallest lakes in the Gore Range.
( narrative and photos )
I didn't encounter anyone on the trail at all. It was a Monday, so I suppose it wasn't that out-of-the-ordinary. I passed Surprise Lake and then the Surprise/Gore Range Trails junction. Only a short distance beyond the junction, I finally crossed paths with a couple hikers. They asked how far Surprise Lake was from there; it was only about half a mile away. The man asked me if I saw any hunters scoping out the area because elk season was about to start, but I hadn't seen any. We bade farewell and I started back to the trailhead.

Along the way, I took a few more photos -- more on the artistic side.

Finally, as I was about to reach the trailhead, I snapped a few more photos.

I made it back to my truck at about 1:00, packed-up, and headed home.