Jenkinson Lake - August 17, 2009

Cindy and Karen joined us today for an 8 1/2 mile walk around Jenkinson Lake which is located in Sly Park. This is a good place to go when your time is limited and you don't want to drive very far. An early start is a must because it can get very hot in the stretches where there is no shade. Cindy is now a full fledged member of the "Best Day Ever" gang, complete with voting rights.




























The big controversy of the day was is this a nature walk or a hike? I came home and looked up the definition of both to see if I could find the answer to our question. Nature walk is defined as a walk on a nature trail, while the definition of hike is to take a long, vigorous walk; tramp or march, esp. through the country, woods, etc.





























I don't think anyone worked up a sweat, but what some consider a walk may be considered a vigorous walk to someone else. The bottom line is as long as you are out walking and enjoying nature instead of laying on the couch, it doesn't really matter what you call it






























We weren't the only ones enjoying the beautiful lake.





























A word of advice, when nature calls while you are in the woods, it is always a good idea to make sure there are no bees in your pants before you pull them up.






























If you don't heed that advice, you really can't blame those with you for laughing.





























and laughing.............

That's not very nice.






























It doesn't matter if you call this a nature walk or a hike, as long a you call it a "Best Day Ever"

MONTERA -MCKNEE RANCH AUGUST 8, 2009

Polly and I did this hike about three years ago during  our Everest by the Bay obsession. I remembered the mountain was covered with a variety of plants that were so pretty they almost looked fake. What I forgot was how steep portions of the hike were, how much poison oak there was, how little shade there was and hot it can get going up hill five miles without shade.   I still love the hike, but will add it to my list of hikes that are best done in the spring.  I realize it sounds like I am whining, but I'm not.  I am simply documenting the facts so I don't forget next time.

It appears that Bart is very excited about participating in this weekends best day ever. However, in reality, the source of his excitement was his Friday night poker games.  Apparently he won big and is giving  Polly and Cindy a play by play of his winning hand. 

After about an hour we finally had to remind Bart of the "no personal phone calls while hiking" rule. By then he had already called everyone he knew and a few people he didn't know and tell them about his big win at poker the previous night.

The hills were a glow with the pretty colors of the poison oak.

As steep as the hike was, we had had no problem going up hill at all. We are all in good enough shape that we can keep up with most hikers, young and old  alike. However, going down hill, we were slipping and a sliding while the young hikers flew passed us. I asked the others if they knew why we were so slow when going downhill. Their answer was "because we are old".  I felt sure their was a better reason and decided to study the young hikers as they passed us by. I was determined to figure out how they could be so quick without slipping and landing on their butts.   After closely watching as they passed us by, I noticed they all had two things in common; 1) they walked with confidence and 2) they had a slight bounce in their walk.  I decided to add a little bounce to my walk to see if it helped.  Amazingly enough, it did and I was able to cut my slippage in half.  As far as the confidence, I am very confident that if I speed up  I will fall and am likely to break something that will take forever to heal because I am not as young as I use to be. That is not the same as being old.

Our planned lunch spot was located at the bottom of this trail.  As Cindy started down the narrow trail, we noticed it was overgrown with poison oak.  We decided it would be in or best interest to find a different lunch spot.

Not bad for a last minute change of venue.
.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Finally something to distract Bart from his tales of last nights poker game. This is when he declared this his best day ever.

"Best Day Ever",  I think that goes without saying.  Don't you wish you had joined us?

GARY'S BEST DAY EVER

Donna and Gary ventured out without me today. Gary found another "sanctioned" walk he could do in the area that would add to the stockpile of miles he has been collecting. It was a 10k walk that would take them through the historic town of Manitou Springs.







The walk also passes by the Cog Railroad which is where the Barr Trail begins. Gary said that he knew how much Polly and I really wanted to hike this trail and decided he would give it a try. He was determined to be the first in the family to compete this hike. I was stunned as he was telling me this. After all, this is a 12.6 mile hike and he would not receive any credit. Obviously Gary must be a little more competitive than we thought. I have to hand it to him, he must be in a lot better shape than I realized to consider even doing a portion of this hike.








Here are Donna and Gary at the trailhead right before they set out on their hike.












Here are Donna and Gary at the top of Pikes Peak not looking any worse for the wear. These are the only pictures Gary was able to provide. He told me he was very disappointed that he didn't have any pictures of the actual trail going up to Pikes Peak. Apparently the batteries in his camera went dead right after they took the picture at the trailhead. Unfortunately, he had to wait until he made it to the top to replace the dead batteries. Sounds a bit fishy to me.














Donna and Gary made it back to Manitou Springs. Gary decided he still wanted to compete the sanctioned 10k walk so he could get some credit for the day.














I almost forgot, according to Steven, he was so impressed that Gary made it to the top, he rewarded Gary by allowing him to drive the train back down the hill.

Garden of the Gods- July 20, 2009

Donna and Gary met me in Colorado to check out the newest member of the family, Zoey Kathleen. Please feel free to call her Kathleen for short if you would like, it is after all, a beautiful name.








Donna and I had planned to hike a portion of the Barr trail, which is the trail that will take you to the top of Pikes Peak. Unfortunately, I am still recovering from last weeks fall and was forced to cancel that hike. Now that I am thinking back, Polly was a bit jealous that Donna and I were hiking that trail without her. You don't suppose....?









Donna and Gary are members of a walking club called Star Trekkers. Gary loves to walk and has no problem completing a 10k walk. However, there is one condition, he must get credit for the walk. When visiting new cities Gary looks for "sanctioned" walks so he can make sure he gets the proper credit. No credit, no walk. I'm not sure how it works, maybe the miles are like the blue chip stamps we collected years ago. Once he gets a book full of miles he can turn it in for something really nifty that you could buy at the store for $9.99.











Gary did his research and located an 11k walk through the Garden of the Gods,which is a beautiful place to walk with or without credit. He and Donna set out for this walk with only the clothes on their back and one bottle of water each. No, that was not a typo, they each only had one bottle of water for an 11k walk in 85 degree weather and an altitude of 6,500 feet .
















Gary is hoping this will get him extra credit.





































In the meantime, Alex and I were off on our own adventure. Our plan was to take the car and go find something to do. Instead we decided to take some of the little spur trails to see what we would find. After all, Alex had a hiking stick and had every intention of using it. He was determined to do some rock climbing and found the perfect spot for it.






































Would someone take the camera away from Gary?






























I am pretty sure Bart said the sun would set to the west................ or was it the east?














It didn't take Donna long to see the error of their ways. Realizing that if she went on, the buzzards were likely to find them before we did, she did the smart thing and gave Gary her remaining water and went in search of a cool place to wait for Gary to complete his walk.













Donna sent a rescue team with water to find Gary.
















This is what a Colorado "Best Day Ever" looks like.

LOCH LEVEN JULY 12, 2009

Polly, Cindy and I had just spent a wild weekend with our friends at a cabin near Donner Lake. I can't go into any detail because you know they say "what happens at the cabin, stays at the cabin". All I can say was a good time was had by all and we were ready for a good workout. This is Cindy's second hike with us, a couple more hikes and she will no longer be considered a guest. She will become a member of the "best day ever gang", however, it will take a while longer before she is given decision making power.









Our hike today was Loch Leven and yes, it is my favorite hike. Loch Leven is located right off 80 about 20 minutes west of Donner Lake. It is a seven and a half mile hike and takes you to three beautiful lakes.










Loch Leven offers a little bit of everything. The hike begins in very rocky terrain.






















But quickly turns to this lush greenery.

















Before you know it you are headed into what feels like a rain forest.





















The only problem with allowing Cindy to join the best day ever gang is she never gets dirty. That makes the rest of us look bad.


















Cindy got to experience natures obstacle course.


















Unfortunately I tripped over a rock. As I hit the ground I felt a rib pop and for a brief moment thought we would be calling for that Ranger Rescue. Luckily that was not necessary. No worries, there was no permanent damage, but we were forced to cut the hike short and didn't make it to the upper lake to our favorite lunch spot.



















Since we were so close to the middle lake, we settled and ate lunch there before heading back to the car.















Somehow this doesn't look like we settled?















A nice swim in the lake would really make this a best day ever.