New Morning Exercise--Hiking the Ramparts

So I decided that since the sun comes up so early every morning, and the dogs need a good walk to leave me alone, and I work well into the night sometimes, I have started a daily hike up Stanley Canyon.  I don't go all the way, that is 2 1/2 miles and about a 3 hour trek.  I only go up to what I call the twisted tree--that is a huge log that is all twisted.    Here are some photos.  In the early morning you see more wild life; wild turkeys and deer.  The bears are still staying up high, they start coming down in September to gorge...  I link this hike because there is a nice stream and the dogs love that!  Starting to see the summer amateurs.  Entire families not prepared for the day.  For the most part they are lucky and they don't have to deal with the weather or poor conditions.  Some still wearing sandals on a medium grade hike--unbelievable.

Nice Hike Ruined by Carless Bikers

Today I took the girls up Green Mountain for a hike.  I like this hike because few hikers are ever on the trail and the ones that are, are serious and respect the environment.  Few know of the trails.  Today I found one of the shortcut trails to the top was vandalized by mountain bikers.  Trees were cut down, rocks pulled from the trail and moved (you know what that does?  It starts new erosion).  You could see freshly cut trees, branches and large rocks dug up and moved.  There was the tale tale sign of mountain bike trails.   This is a path that needs to be gently used, they now created a new potential wash out.  This is a National Forest where cutting trees and moving large rocks is forbidden.  Sad.  Then when I got to the top there were what I call the "Beer Guzzling, Red Neck, Outdoorsmen" on their ATVs tearing up the mountain some more.  Again this is an area that is clearly posted "NO MOTORIZED VEHICLES".  This was a dad in his 4X4 Ford and his two kids following in their ATVs.  From the looks of it they all needed to get out an walk, they all looked like they were pushing 300lbs.   Why do people have to tear up the environment for their own selfish enjoyment?  I took a few pictures of the area to remind me what it looks like before these idiots ruin it all.  With all the rain we had last year, there is a lot of dead vegetation---those hot exhausts will surly set off a fire...

Spring is here--well almost

So this weekend I took the girls out for a 5 mile easy hike in the Spruce Mountain Open Space.  This is a nice Sunday afternoon hike, the total elevation rise is around 400 feet so its not too steep. The Douglas County Open Space Program was created in 1994 with the passage of a sixth-of-a-cent sales and use tax.  The Open Space keeps a nice separation between Denver and Colorado Springs.  The top picture is from the top of Spruce Mountain looking back toward Castle Rock.  You could almost film an old western movie out there as it still looks like you should be expecting to see a herd of Buffalo or an Indian Tribe crossing the plains.  Spruce Mountain is just west of I-25 prior to Monument "pass".   A few days before this hike we were wandering around Green Mountain over by the Academy and I could see the Crocus were just beginning to come out.  They were in full bloom at Spruce Mountain.  There is this little blue Crocus that comes up here every spring.  I transplanted one to my backyard and it bloomed for several years until other plants edged it out.  The rules for the open space are pretty strict--dogs are to be on leash--no exceptions.  This is the third time I have been on this trail, up until this hike I was the only one leasing the dogs.   I usually don't lease Bridie, she stays 10-20 feet from me at all times and comes back when I call her.  She stays away from strangers, but I did leash her when people came by.  I think the dogs like to get to the top of the mountains.  Once we get there they love to stare off into the distance.  Zamboni was watching the chipmunks, probably was thinking they would be a good snack.

This is a good hike if your from out of town, just want an easy go of it, don't want to drive too far and don't want to mess with the crowds. 

Spruce Mountain Hike

Tried out a new hike. We hit the open space today. Actually there are several open spaces between Colorado Springs and Denver. This was the hike up Spruce Mountain--small by our normal standards, but the loop is advertised as being 5.5 miles. My GPS came in at 4.6 miles. This is a pretty easy hike, the trails are wide, the incline is pretty small, maybe 500 feet, then you do a loop on top of the mountain that is pretty level.  This is a nice hike if you just want to put in miles and not worry about the elevation. You will run into a lot of people.  From the looks of it, bikes are allowed as well as horses.

Actually, I would take a horse over a biker any day.  Mountain bikers just don't seem to respect anyone else.   They think they own the trail.   From Spruce mountain you can see Monument hill, Cheyenne Mountain to the south, and North to Castle rock.  This was a windy day, but I think it's always windy up there as you can see from the sign that the far west end of Spruce Mountain is called Windy Point.  Spruce mountain is a flat top, from the looks of the geology, much older than the Pike National Forest (that is made up of Pikes Peak Granite).

 If you like to take pictures, this is the place,  I noticed several falcons using the updrafts off of the "mountain" to hover above the green space looking for food.  The rock formations are unique, the open views are great for "field of view" shots---it just offers a lot of opportunities for the photographers.  I took these with my sony Cyber-shot, because I wanted to hike the trail rather than shoot the trial.

If you like to take along the dogs, note that there are several warnings posted about "Dogs must me on leash at all times---no exception".  The fine is $50 if you are caught with your dog off leash.  I came across a handfull of dog owners, none of which had their dogs leashed.  Only one person (an idiot) had their dog with them (a St Bernard) not on a leash, or even a sign of a leash.  I could tell his dog wanted to eat mine for lunch, he could hardly handle his dog.  

Hiking Video

Just a short clip of hiking photos, as we enter the last phase of Winter, some of the best conditions of the year are coming.

Christmas Eve Hike

On a quiet sunny day in Colorado Springs, just after a fresh snow storm, it makes good hunting for the falcons. This large falcon was sitting quietly waiting for a mouse, rabbit, fox or something tasty to move. Just as we came upon her she swooped down on something, but came up empty.  We love hiking this time of year.  Its quiet, there are few people out and the air is fresh.   Bridie takes the opportunity to take snow baths, I think she learned it from Zamboni.   We came across fox and rabbit tracks, no mountain lion this time.  She was probably well out of the area by now hunting somewhere else.  Its usually slower going in the snow, especially when its deep, but we seem to have more energy than hiking in hot weather.  There is a certain pace you set every time you hike, too slow and you get fatigued, too fast and you tire out.  Just right, and you can have a nice enjoyable time.  Today was just right.  Bridie insisted on going through the denser parts of the hike.   She must have found the scent of something as she usually stays about 20 feet out and may circle back, but this time she had her nose to the ground and was determined to find whatever it was she was tracking.  This was a short hike, 1/2 up Green Mountain.  We did not have the time to do the whole thing.  We may do that Saturday, test out the GPS that Santa is supposed to bring.  Merry Christmas!

Mountain Lion in my hiking area

This morning we went out for our exercise (walking the dogs through the foothills) on one of our normal trails and it was obvious that we were the only ones to be out on this trail for days. The snow as fresh and undisturbed. About half way up our trail we came across some fresh tracks that I normally have not seen in this area. They were very fresh (probably early morning) and the paw prints were larger than Bridie's, my golden retriever, whom has huge paws for a dog. The tracks came down an access road and went off into the "forbidden area" (the academy shooting range). They went one way. The dogs picked up the scent and we followed the tracks up the road until they went off west, were they came through some heavy scrub oak. Further up the trail we followed some deer tracks and once again came across these tracks once again.

We followed them up the side of a hill and along a narrow trail I never knew was there.   We finally had to stop following them as they once again came out of very thick scrub oak.   I knew right off they were not bear tracks, I have seen enough of them to know, and they definitely were not dog tracks.  They were mountain lion tracks. You can see the comparison from the picture and the prints.  We were hiking between the posted hunting times at the Academy  (5-7 Dec and 11-13 Dec).  This is a time when they allow hunters to come in and weed out the herds.  Funny thing is we usually see deer tracks, deer droppings, elk, you name it, and usually in abundance.  We came across only two sets of deer tracks.  It could be the cat was keeping them away, or that these "hunters" scare off the herds.    This cat was probably larger than my dog Bridie based on the size of her tracks.  They were one way tracks and we could not follow them into the shooting range area.   In this picture below you can see where we first came across them.  The cat was following the road and went off to the right into the brush.  We looked for signs of snagged fur or something other than the tracks, but this cat seemed to navigate well through the brush as there were no branches broke off or twigs snapped.  Unlike the bear we came across this fall where entire branches were snapped off and you could clearly see the path through the brush.   Finally this is the area where the cat went.  Probably plenty of rabbits or smaller game to chase.  We stay out of here even though the range is miles off on the other side of a ridge, we don't want to loose our hiking privileges.  That is one thing we worry about as access to the Academy is basically open; some idiot wandering off into restricted areas prompting the Academy to close off entire areas.